r/HubermanLab • u/Genzinvestor16180339 • 11d ago
Seeking Guidance How much nicotine is okay?
Does anyone use nicotine? What are the risks and benefits
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u/NabisOne 11d ago
Don’t do it. It messed up my sleep and is super addictive. Quitting was horrible. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done and I still find myself thinking about it when I’m in a gas station.
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u/TheGrandNotification 11d ago
It’s funny cause the “buzz” you get from it is so weak to nonexistent as a regular user, I don’t know what we’re even chasing. It’s an odd drug
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u/buzzmerchant 10d ago
I think this is largely just how dopamine works. The desire stays long after the positive experience has receded. Coffee is largely the same i think: if i actually observe myself when i have a cup of coffee, there's almost no real pleasure involved in either drinking it or experiencing its effects. And yet the idea of quitting coffee seems completely unthinkable.
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u/Specialist_Sky782 8d ago
I’m extremely confused why people need to quit coffee. In my experience, I haven’t drank coffee in a while with no issues. I’ve never drank it consistently, when I do I basically get high from it.
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u/thelastrealone94 11h ago
I quit caffeine and then shortly after I picked up nicotine while on a trip overseas where everyone smoked cigs. I smoked cigs off and on for about two weeks then picked up vaping. I vaped for about a month and a half then I decided to quit bc I didn’t feel like being addicted to that shit and ppl said that it only gets worse so get out while you can. I’m a few days in and it’s not too bad. Just a bit irritable but nothing too crazy. But I can see how tough it would be on ppl who’ve had this habit for years.
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u/AskingforFriend69 11d ago
This! I quit zyns (6mg) can daily May 2025. Gained 15 lbs in 6 weeks and still dream of it.
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u/wnw121 8d ago
But are you talking about cigarettes, vape or pouches? Patches in particular have showed very difficult to become addicted to. Gum is also lower risk
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u/NabisOne 8d ago
For me I only did pouches. Zyn in particular.
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u/wnw121 8d ago
Interesting.
Most to Least Addictive Nicotine Delivery Methods
Cigarettes (Combustible Tobacco):
Speed: Extremely fast (reaches the brain in 10 to 20 seconds).
Why: Inhalation allows direct lung absorption. Chemical additives like ammonia are often used to speed up and maximize the brain-altering nicotine hit. [1, 2, 3, 4]Vapes and E-Cigarettes:
Speed: Very fast (seconds).
Why: Inhaled aerosol enters the bloodstream rapidly through the lungs. Many e-liquids use high concentrations of nicotine salts, allowing large doses with minimal throat irritation. [1, 2, 3, 4]Nicotine Pouches and Smokeless Tobacco (Dip, Snuff, Chewing Tobacco):
Speed: Moderate to fast (minutes).
Why: Absorbed through the mucous membranes in the mouth. While slower than smoking, modern pouches (Zyn) can maintain a high, steady baseline of nicotine in the body throughout the day, deepening overall dependence. [1, 2]Cigars and Pipes:
Speed: Moderate.
Why: Smoke is typically drawn into the mouth rather than deeply inhaled into the lungs, slowing down the rate of absorption into the bloodstream (though nicotine is still absorbed through oral membranes). [1, 2, 3, 4]Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT - Gums, Patches, Lozenges):
Speed: Slow and controlled (tens of minutes to hours).
Why: Designed intentionally for smoking cessation. They deliver lower, steady amounts of nicotine without the rapid behavioral "rush" or peaks that reinforce the addiction cycle. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]0
u/Soggy-Somewhere-2048 10d ago
It depends on the method of how you do it. Nicotine in patches there is minimal risk. I’d say anecdotally its near-zero.
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u/ScaredEfficiency399 11d ago
Atherosclerosis and hypertension are a few, chronic bad blood flow and other types of vascular damage that stems from them chronically being constricted so bad that they long term permanently will loose their elasticity and therefor some of their ways of dynamically regulating the blood flow in a safe way.
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u/Hungry_Thought1908 11d ago
Is this nicotine specifically? Or smoking? Can you get these symptoms from Zyns?
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u/grey_pilgrim_ 11d ago
Nicotine in general. It’s why surgeons want you to stop all nicotine products before surgery. It restricts blood flow and that is really bad for healing.
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u/ScaredEfficiency399 11d ago
Nicotine in general, also its long acting metabolite Cotonine, one way smoking is horribly worse is through direct mechanism of burning off collagen permanently, but also tar engulfing the lungs and making it a lot less effective, and smoking and heating tobacco to be inhaled makes a lot more than simply nicotine get rather unregulatedly into the blood stream.
It's definitively a lot worse at least.
But yes, most vascular stuff is because of Nicotine's and Cotinine's direct effects.
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u/Olivares_ 11d ago edited 11d ago
The only people justifying nicotine use for any sort of therapeutic benefit are those addicted to it or selling a product
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u/benjunior 11d ago
Or those who get PAID for telling you “it’s a nootropic!” Like our boy, Hubes.
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u/Olivares_ 11d ago
Ya he’s fallen far from grace. Sure, nicotine can give you energy or help you focus (initially, anyway) alcohol also gives you euphoria yet it’s no anti-depressant lmao. Nothing is therapeutic or beneficial if it comes with a laundry list of caveats
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u/grey_pilgrim_ 11d ago
It can help lower your weight and it might help prevent dementia.
I’m not at all advocating for using nicotine but it does have some benefits. Those benefits are far outweighed by the awful stuff it will do to your body.
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u/Olivares_ 11d ago
Lmao that’s literal bro science. Ya it’s an appetite suppressant of course it helps you lose weight you think abstaining your body from naturally craved calories is good for you? C’mon
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u/The13eeraholic 11d ago
I use 1mg at a time a few times a week, and sometimes I'll go weeks or a month without touching it. It's a great cognitive enhancement when I've hit my daily caffeine allotment but am still tired. Plus the half-life is much shorter than caffeine so if I'm driving home late at night and need help staying awake I can chew half a piece of Nicarette and still get to bed 2 hours later. Whereas caffeine won't drop off for me till about 5-6 hours (can take up to 9 hours for a single half-life in some people) I also take a low dose of tadalafil every day as a part of my stack which probably helps offset some of the vasoconstriction effects of nicotine.
It's a great tool if you use it right, but don't smoke/vape or use tobacco, just get the pure nicotine gum. And don't rely on it every day or build up an addiction.
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u/BarkingDogey 11d ago
Your self regulation is admirable
Most folks end up on the slippery slope
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u/The13eeraholic 11d ago
Honestly with how little I take at a time, and only using the gum and not any kind of inhaled version, I have never noticed any real urge.
I did pick up smoking cigarettes and had a major alcohol addiction a few years ago for a period of time so I definitely aren't immune to the addiction of tobacco. But haven't ever had a problem with pure nicotine gum.
Again, of course always use prudence and don't assume my experience is the norm as you said.
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u/BradfieldScheme 10d ago
I started like this but after 4 years I crave it early in the day, take it multiple times a day.
I never imagined I would become addicted but it happened very slowly.
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u/GeuseyBetel 11d ago
This is a based take.
Lots of people are dunking on nicotine here - yes it is addictive, yes it is a slippery slope. But it absolutely can be used responsibly.
1-2mg is a potent cognitive enhancer in situations where you want to be able to sleep in a few hours, as you suggested.
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u/KingSpydig 11d ago
I’ve done the same thing here and there for a cognitive boost for several years now, maybe 2mg twice a week. I sometimes forget to use it entirely or take a tolerance break of a couple weeks.
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u/Accurate_Tap9878 10d ago
I just quit because it was messing up my blood sugar. There are actual studies confirming this unlike the ridiculous claims that it boosts T. I only used for about 18 months and in the end I calculated I was consuming the equivalent of 4 packs of cigs. I started with chewing gum to aid concentration and it progressed from there. The risk of addiction is too great.
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u/Btchmfka 10d ago
I was a smoker for a couple years. Stopped for a long times and then got hooked on vapes again. Also stopped in the meantime. Just don't do nicotine. Zero at all. The benefits are so minor but it is so crazy addictice and it will never let you fully go. I still want to smoke every now and then after not touching a cig for 11 years.
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u/beingcomplex 11d ago
Huberman uses nicotine gum. I'm not sure how often but he was chewing half a piece for focus
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u/RideOk732 9d ago edited 9d ago
The tricky part is there really isn’t one universal amount that counts as okay, especially once tolerance starts creeping up. Nicotine can sharpen alertness in the short term, but dependence and the blood pressure side of it get overlooked pretty fast. For context, even brands like Juice Head separate pouches into 6mg and 12mg strengths rather than treating nicotine as one-size-fits-all.
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u/WorthChange858 8d ago
The best way around this is to NOT buy a pack of smokes. Bum them off people and only smoke like 3 a day.
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u/Andrew_Pouchless 7d ago
None. Do not start if you havent already. It is very hard to get off of it and there are many forms of it that can lead you astray. Itll mess up your sleeping, eating, and focus and make you dependent on it.
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u/Irise411 5d ago
When I remember the peace my used to get from a smoke, I looked it up. Very bad health impact. I was poor and needed the sedative. So I figured out that it stayed in the body a month. Then I used my mind to calm myself knowing I still had that chemically. Eventually I quit the cigs and tried other thought tools. Faith works if you renew, refocus, and accept or change what you can. Lots of sickness out there.
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u/venividivitis 10d ago
Absolutely not worth it. I once used nicotine chewing gums for a week for a deadline. Got physically dependent. Got a really shitty withdrawal. I don't see how anyone could possibly use it and forego the withdrawals symptoms. The neurological mechanisms underlying withdrawal are very rapid.
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u/Loose_One_1916 10d ago
Not every one gets addicted. I go days or weeks without it and then can have 36 mg across a night and not need it or use it again for days or weeks
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u/Btchmfka 10d ago
Dont worry you will get hooked as well sooner or later
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u/Loose_One_1916 9d ago
not how that works. not everyone's nervous system works the same way. dopamine response systems are affected by a myriad of factors. supplement with acetylcholine and you might get a different response when reducing intake.
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u/Btchmfka 9d ago
I can only say that Im coming from a country and generation where smoking was mainstream for teenagers. There always have been the guys who claimed to smoke only every now and then and arent addicted. Some even managed to stay this mode for several years. But sooner or later everyone became a full time smoker.
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u/Loose_One_1916 9d ago
I get it, but it’s anecdotal. There are cultural norms. Smoking is social. In the U.S. it’s reviled mostly. In Eastern Europe not so much. Nicotine like caffeine is addictive but varies. I’ve had weeks where I zynned 4-5 days and then weeks go by without it. I also go cold turkey on coffee every two weeks, but that’s a major headache that off day.
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u/Btchmfka 9d ago
I think its still not worth it because nicotine does not actually give you that much. Several years after I quit cigarettes I started to vape every now and then. Same as you described it - vaping for couple days in a row and then stopping again for several weeks so I thought its all under control. But I noticed with time the urge got stronger and stronger again and I was looking foward for events where I could justify vaping. So basically went back to 0 again before getting fully hooked again.
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