After years as a public health villain, nicotine is having a comeback. Some wellness influencers claim that nicotine from vapes and pouches isn’t actually bad for you. In fact, they say, it can sharpen your focus and ease stress.
“I’ve been in this field for going on 30 years, and the industry pushing nicotine and tobacco is always coming up with new iterations and tactics to try to hook people,” says Amanda L. Holm, MPH, who manages the Tobacco Treatment Service at Henry Ford Health. “And this would seem to be the newest one.”
Why Nicotine Is Being Sold as a Natural Brain Booster and Stress Reliever
Nicotine is a stimulant. When you use it, you feel a quick burst of alertness and positive mood. “That’s what influencers are keying in on—they’re noticing those initial effects,” Holm says.
Older research does suggest that nicotine can sharpen thinking in smokers and nonsmokers alike. It triggers the release of dopamine, a brain chemical that drives feelings of reward and helps you concentrate.
What makes nicotine so appealing to wellness influencers is that the stimulant is found naturally in plants. “But natural doesn’t mean safe,” Holm notes.
Does Nicotine Actually Improve Focus and Reduce Stress?
Nicotine may sharpen focus and ease stress—at first. But your brain adjusts quickly, and over time you need more nicotine to get the same effect. Eventually, you need it just to feel normal. “When you don’t have it, you notice symptoms of withdrawal,” Holm says. These include:
- Anxiety
- Cravings
- Depression
- Headaches
- Irritability
- Mood swings
Because the next dose of nicotine makes these symptoms disappear, people often mistake nicotine’s addictive pull for genuine stress relief. “What it’s doing is relieving the withdrawal symptoms that it itself has caused,” Holm says. “It’s not actually solving any of the issues that might be contributing to stress.”
Henry Ford Tobacco Treatment Services
The same goes for focus. For regular users, that sharper feeling is often just a return to their baseline.
Nicotine Health Risks
Many people assume that nicotine in a vape or pouch doesn’t carry risks. While you may avoid the harsh chemicals found in cigarettes, nicotine alone can take a toll on your health.
As a stimulant, nicotine spikes heart rate and blood pressure in the short term. “And high blood pressure over time is certainly problematic,” Holm says. It can increase your risk of heart attack, stroke and heart disease.
Because it boosts alertness, nicotine may also disrupt sleep. “Lack of sleep has a whole host of health effects,” Holm says. Sleep deprivation is linked to a higher risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart issues.
Holm also stresses the negative effects of addiction. “Being addicted is not fun,” she says. “It’s constraining. It’s something that you’re dependent on, beholden to, and it’s uncomfortable to go through withdrawal.”
If You Want to Quit Nicotine
To improve your odds of quitting, seek support. “People can quit without support, but their likelihood of success is much, much lower,” Holm says.
Effective support programs often combine counseling with medication to blunt the effects of withdrawal. You can get counseling over the phone, through a mobile app or in person. Your primary care provider can be a great starting point.
“Once you can get yourself free of using the addictive and harmful product, then you can go on and live your life,” Holm says.
Reviewed by Amanda L. Holm, MPH, who manages the Tobacco Treatment Service at Henry Ford Health.
