Aug. 3, 2025

Nicotine Reconsidered: Healing Molecule or Addictive Toxin?

Show Notes
Transcript

Welcome to Chasing Eden, where we challenge conventional wisdom about health, science, and medicine. I'm your host, Caroline Thompson, and today we’re tackling a taboo topic: nicotine. Despite its reputation, nicotine isn’t the true villain of tobacco—it’s the delivery system.
We’ll explore its potential therapeutic benefits, its presence in everyday foods, Dr. Bryan Ardis’s perspective, and what research—especially from France—reveals.By the end, you’ll have a deeper understanding of nicotine’s complexity—and why the narrative around it may be overdue for a major revision.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Welcome to Chasing Eden, where we challenge conventional wisdom about

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health science and medicine. I'm your host, Carolyn Thompson, and

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today we're tackling a taboo topic, nicotine. Despite its reputation,

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nicotine isn't the true villain of tobacco. It's the delivery system.

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We'll explore its potential, therapeutic benefits, its presence in everyday foods,

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doctor Brian Artis's perspective and what research, especially from France reveals.

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By the end, you'll have a deeper understanding of nicotine's

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complexity and why the narrative around it may be overdue

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for a major revision. Let's begin with what nicotine is

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chemically and physiologically. Nicotine is an alcalollloid found not only

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in tobacco, but in trace amounts in egg plants, tomatoes, potatoes,

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and particularly green peppers. That means most of us ingest

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small doses every day through common vegetables. Once consumed, nicotine

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stimulates nicotinic acidylcholine receptors in the brain and nervous system.

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It triggers dopamine, serotonin, and nora epinephrine, boosting mood, attention

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and focus. It acts as an appetite suppressant, with studies

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showing it slows gastric emptying and lowers insulin and hunger cues.

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Nicotine also modulates immune activity via receptors on immune cells,

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potentially calming overactive immune responses. Despite decades of demonization, nicotine

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patients have used nicotine patches in experiments for depression, ADHD, Alzheimer's,

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and Parkinson's, often with very promising results. Many of these

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studies date back prior to birth control pills, when controlled

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nicotine could be administered independently of cigarette smoke. Doctor Brian

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Artist has taken a contrarian position. Nicotine, he says, is

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a nutrient, not a poison, when used separately from smoke.

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In his YouTube and podcast remarks, he points out that

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nicotine in isolation actually elevates focus, it supports immune resilience,

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and even eases symptoms in viral illness, notably COVID nineteen.

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With out the toxicity of smoke or added chemicals. Doctor

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Artists argues that the real danger actually comes from the

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combustibles tar carbon monoxide, for maldehyde and other additives, and

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not the nicotine itself. Nicotine in patches or lozenges is

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largely free of those toxins, making it far safer than cigarettes.

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This is very interesting because on doctor Artist's website he

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has a whole video discussing nicotine and he goes he

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takes a real deep dive. So you got to be

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ready for this one because there's a lot of information

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to take in. But one of the things that stood

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out to me was the French study and COVID nineteen.

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So one of the most discussed and controversial nicotine studies

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was the French COVID data. A pair hospital study found

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that smokers who were over eighty percent less likely to

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be hospitalized or develop symptomatic COVID nineteen than non smokers.

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So they found that they were eighty percent less likely

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to be hospitalized or develop symptomatic COVID nineteen if you

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were a smoker than the non smokers of similar age

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and sex. Researchers hypothesized nicotine may block SARS CoV two

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from binding to receptors or possibly reduce inflammatory over reactions.

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In a planned clinical trial that was launched, they used

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nicotine patches for healthcare workers and hospitalized patients. They were

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hoping to verify a protective effect, but smoking was absolutely

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not encouraged. Only patch based consumption was allowed in the study.

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While a hypothesis is very preliminary, it has certainly sparked

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a major interest in nicotine's ability for immune modulating capacity.

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Yet still experts do caution that tobacco smoke is harmful

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and that observational studies don't prove causation, and many concluding

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reports have mentioned methodological limitations and possible funding bias. So

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here are some known benefits and known risks. Nicotine has

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shown potential in several domains cognitive improvement and reaction time, neuroprotection,

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potential preventative effect in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's mood regulation. Some

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researchers note antidepressant effects in low dose form control a

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diminished appetite and insulin response that helps individuals manage blood sugar,

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but it's essential to acknowledge known downsides addiction potential, especially

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when smoked or vaped, cardiovascular over stimulation, heart rate and

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blood pressure, sleep disruption, anxiety, and mood swings, especially with

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long term or high dose use, teen brain development, interference,

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risk of gateway effects in youth. Nicotine is best understood

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as a biochemical tool one that requires respect, medical oversight

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and caution, especially in younger users. This is all found

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in various articles researched, one of them is very wellmined

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dot com and several other YouTube research as well. So

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here are some closing reflections and takeaways, because I like

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to give you both sides of the argument and not

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just the one that I might be a little bit

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biased about. So where does all of this leave us? Okay,

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nicotine is not the same as cigarettes. It's found in

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our food. The toxins and combustion are the root causes

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of disease, not the nicotine molecule itself. Nicotine in controlled,

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non smoking context shows potential therapeutic promise. The French COVID

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studies propose preliminary question marks, not definitive proof, but they

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do open intriguing lines of inquiry. Doctor Artists who I

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highly recommend you go to his website and listen to

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the episode where he discusses nicotine. The episode is called

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Let's see why they want to ban nicotine around the world. Okay,

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he has a growing number of biohackers or doctor artists,

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and a growing number of biohackers. They encourage the reevaluation

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of nicotine, not as addiction propaganda, but as a tool

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for focus, immune resilience, and perhaps cognitive longevity. There are

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a lot of testimonials about the benefits of nicotine and

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what it has done for people to give them energy

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and health and to help them to breathe better. Even

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people are talking about how they are breathing better. People

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are claiming that they had long COVID and that they

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no longer have it because they started using nicotine patches.

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There's a lot of things, a lot of information where

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people are talking about using nicotine and what it has

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done for them. So what is your takeaway, Well, recognize

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the difference between nicotine and smoking. View nicotine as a

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contextual compound, not inherently evil. I would say keep an

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open mind and stay tuned to the emerging research, but

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use discretion. Never expose children or adolescents to nicotine products.

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And I just want to thank you for joining my

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show today. If this episode broadened your perspective, please subscribe,

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leave a review and share it with someone seeking health clarity.

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Until next time, stay inquisitive, stay empowered, and keep chasing

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Eden