When neuroscientist Andrew Huberman appeared on the SmartLess podcast, hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett pressed him on a topic of personal interest: nicotine. With Hayes admitting to using Zyn nicotine pouches, the conversation opened a discussion on this controversial stimulant.
Huberman began by acknowledging nicotine’s unique properties. “Nicotine is a very interesting stimulant. It is a stimulant, but it’s perhaps the only stimulant that also relaxes you at the same time,” he explained.
This dual effect creates what he described as an “alert but focused” state that puts users “in the groove” in a way that is “so alluring to humans.”
The Stanford professor was clear about the dangers of traditional delivery methods. “We know that smoking, vaping, dipping, and snuffing all cause cancer. And I did put vaping in there. Vaping is perhaps safer than smoking, but still causes lung damage,” Huberman stated firmly.
He shared his personal experience with vaping products, noting they increased his blood pressure and anxiety tenfold.
However, Huberman made an important distinction about nicotine itself. “Nicotine itself is not carcinogenic. This is very important. Doesn’t cause cancer, right?” he clarified.
But he was quick to add the downsides: “It does raise blood pressure and it increases vasoconstriction,” which refers to the narrowing of blood vessels that can contribute to stroke risk.
The most surprising part of the discussion came when Huberman addressed nicotine’s potential benefits. “There is decent evidence in animals and humans that nicotine not delivered by vaping, dipping, smoking, or snuffing can be protective against Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s because it seems to protect neurons against degeneration, which is the hallmark feature of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s,” he revealed.
He even shared an anecdote about a Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist who chewed “no fewer than five pieces of nicarette” during their first meeting 15 years ago, explaining it was “protective against Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.”
Despite these potential benefits, Huberman emphasized caution.
“The biggie is that nicotine delivered in any form is highly highly habit forming,” he warned. While stopping short of calling it formally addicting, he noted, “I know many people that start with one pack of Zyn a day, one gum, one four milligram gum. Pretty soon it’s two, pretty soon it’s four. Pretty soon it’s a canister every three, four days.”
Huberman acknowledged his own occasional use: “I’ll occasionally take a piece of nicarette. But I don’t do it very often. I won’t do it more than once every couple of weeks because I love the potent effect.”
He explained his reasoning: “If you take a stimulant of any kind, caffeine, nicotine, any stimulant of any kind regularly, pretty soon you need it just to get to baseline.”
For those who do use nicotine and want to offset some negative effects, Huberman offered practical advice. He recommended vasodilating activities like sauna use, hot baths, or hot showers to counteract the vasoconstriction, and suggested avoiding nicotine late in the day. He also mentioned that men over 40 should consider low-dose tadalafil (the generic form of Cialis) to help with blood pressure and capillary health.
