Speaker: [00:00:00] Smokers have a noticeably lower Parkinson's risk and nicotine is the [00:00:05] reason. Nicotine is a longevity drug and there are studies of cognition [00:00:10] and aging. The MCI trial showed transdermal nicotine, that's a patch, improve memory in [00:00:15] older adults. Nicotine does improve memory even in healthy younger people.
Tolerance can [00:00:20] build really fast. often within days of using it every day. But if you're keeping it [00:00:25] to that under, you're unlikely to have that happen. My nicotine journey, [00:00:30] I use per day for five years straight without getting any [00:00:35] dependence. And it was magic four hours when I did it. I want to get into some real world [00:00:40] use templates.
Like, how would you use this up? You're listening to the [00:00:45] Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey.[00:00:50]
Hey guys, quick reminder. If you're listening to this on your [00:00:55] favorite audio podcast app and you haven't been over to my YouTube channel, check it out. [00:01:00] Just search for The Human Upgrade or find me under Dave Asprey BPR. I post full video [00:01:05] versions of every episode and a bunch of other cool content outside the pod.
It's a great way to go deeper into [00:01:10] the content and connect with other biohackers like you. So leave a comment for me. Yeah, I'm actually going [00:01:15] to read them. And poke around while you're there, there is a lot of stuff specifically for you. It really [00:01:20] helps and it means a lot to me. This is part two of the [00:01:25] nicotine episode of The Human Upgrade.
And up to this point, you've kind of learned the [00:01:30] entire landscape to understand what nicotine is and why nicotine is not [00:01:35] equal to smoking. And you've learned how nicotine locks onto nicotinic [00:01:40] receptors and how it sharpens your attention, your motivation, and all the evidence [00:01:45] behind anti inflammatory signaling pathways.
And you've learned the real benefits backed by human data, [00:01:50] and how there's this inverted U curve. So using too much isn't good for you, and using [00:01:55] nothing isn't really good for you. And that there are real risks. You can be addicted, especially above 10 [00:02:00] milligrams a day, higher blood pressure, bad sleep, Insulin sensitivity [00:02:05] and why context matters.
Nicotine is a powerful substance and [00:02:10] you've learned the delivery methods. You can use a spray, [00:02:15] patches, and why you don't want to vape and why you don't want to smoke. And you've also learned how speed of absorption drives [00:02:20] Are you going to get addicted or not? And also whether you're going to go on a little journey or not, [00:02:25] because things like Hoppe, which hit very quickly, uh, yeah, you could have a beautiful experience, but if you [00:02:30] do it all the time, you're going to want a beautiful experience every day.
So now it's time for the [00:02:35] part that most people skip. It's how do you apply all this stuff in a way that's [00:02:40] intelligent and useful for you? So anyone out there can try nicotine, just put one of [00:02:45] those little plastic laden pouches in and see what happens. You'll probably throw up. [00:02:50] Very few people talk about how you can dose nicotine, how you can time nicotine, [00:02:55] why you might want to stack with other compounds, why you might want to cycle it, and how to stay in [00:03:00] control so you don't become heavily addicted.
So, that's what this [00:03:05] episode's all about. First of all, just like with caffeine, there are [00:03:10] genetics that control how fast you clear nicotine. CYP2A6, [00:03:15] or CYP2A6, is how cool people talk about it, is a gene. And that [00:03:20] gene controls metabolic speed of chewing through nicotine quickly. So if [00:03:25] you're a fast metabolizer, you'll have shorter effects and you're gonna want to re dose.
[00:03:30] And slow metabolizers keep nicotine for longer, so they feel it harder, and they have a [00:03:35] high risk of side effects. So depending on your genetics, one milligram may [00:03:40] be really strong for you, or it may just last for a half hour and it was kind of cool. The same [00:03:45] thing, imagine two people drink coffee. I've got my danger right here so I can record this episode for you.[00:03:50]
Well, one feels it for an hour. The other one feels it for all day. That's your nicotine metabolism. It's your [00:03:55] liver speed that changes everything. And if you have your genetic testing, you can look that up. [00:04:00] There's also something called NMR, which is nicotine metabolite ratio. [00:04:05] And this is the ratio of 3 hydroxycontinine to continine.
This is something you [00:04:10] could measure in saliva or blood, which is an estimate of your [00:04:15] CYP2A6 activity. If your ratio is high, you're a fast metabolizer. If it's low, you're a slow [00:04:20] metabolizer. So you could think of this NMR lab test as a [00:04:25] speedometer for how quickly you burn through nicotine, or you could just look up your genetics and see [00:04:30] which of those alleles you have.
Or, if you're like most people, you You may not have your [00:04:35] genetics and you're not going to get a special nicotine test because hey, life is too short to spend all your time waiting to [00:04:40] get blood drawn, even though I'm going to be helping you with that with Axo. Health. [00:04:45] So what should you do? You could actually try nicotine at a very low dose and see how long it [00:04:50] lasts, which is probably going to be a pretty good sign of how you're doing, but these are the mechanisms [00:04:55] behind it.
Use it earlier in the day for deep work. And just like [00:05:00] caffeine, even if it's within eight hours of bedtime, well, you might have some [00:05:05] issues with it. A lot of people use it right before bed, but they're regular users and their receptors are [00:05:10] acclimated to it. And if you're sensitive to the patch, or if you have lots and [00:05:15] lots of dreams, nicotine, you know, three hours before bed or right at bedtime could either [00:05:20] stop you from sleeping, or it could give you pretty crazy dreams.
And, if [00:05:25] you were to say, drink a big thing of danger coffee, and take some [00:05:30] nicotine here, how about I do a lozenge while we're talking, 1. 5 milligrams, [00:05:35] it's gonna melt over the next maybe half hour. Um, if you do something like that, [00:05:40] it's going to make you really focused. But if I drink three coffees and I use six milligrams of [00:05:45] nicotine, I'd probably get a bit edgy.
But the combination of caffeine and nicotine [00:05:50] is one of the most potent cognitive enhancers you could ever experience. If you want to write, [00:05:55] I don't know, nine major books, including four New York Times bestsellers and a bunch of [00:06:00] other bestseller list things, maybe nicotine and caffeine are something you [00:06:05] should consider.
At least it worked for me. Here are some things that you could take with nicotine that could [00:06:10] change your experience and enhance your experience. Remember, we're using nicotine as a [00:06:15] stimulant and as a cognitive enhancer and as a nootropic and possibly as an [00:06:20] exercise enhancer. So you could take theanine, same as you might with coffee, [00:06:25] one to 200 milligrams.
It's going to smooth out stimulation if you just get too wired from nicotine [00:06:30] or coffee. You can take something called citokoline. CDP choline is [00:06:35] another name for it, or alpha GPC, and that's something I'm less a fan [00:06:40] of, but I'm, I use it just at very low doses, that'd be about 150 milligrams. These things [00:06:45] support acetylcholine, so if nicotine gives you a headache or brain fog, you probably need more choline.
[00:06:50] If you're working under a heavy workload, and, uh, like me, I've just [00:06:55] been. on more constantly for the last six months than I ever have been in my life. It's just been [00:07:00] constant productivity, not anxiety, just go, go, go, go, go and getting a lot [00:07:05] done. So to do that, rhodiola, one or 200 milligrams, which is a [00:07:10] part of the motivation 101 supplement from subgrade labs that gives you stress resilience [00:07:15] under workload, which stacks well with nicotine.
So if you're using danger coffee, And nicotine. [00:07:20] And you're saying, okay, I'm a little bit wired and I have 12 hours of work [00:07:25] today and I have jet lag. Well, that would be a good thing for rhodiola. Take [00:07:30] rhodiola in the morning, maybe at lunch, not at bedtime. And magnesium glycinate at [00:07:35] nighttime, if you use nicotine that day, can help with sleep disruption.
Now, if you're into nootropics, [00:07:40] like me, and you have some advanced compounds like galantamine or huperzine [00:07:45] A, These are things that boost acetylcholine, but they do it by blocking your [00:07:50] body's ability to break it down. Don't do that with nicotine unless you're very highly [00:07:55] experienced and you go very slowly because insecticides work.
Have you ever seen someone spray a [00:08:00] roach with bug killer and it turns on its back and it starts twitching? That's acetylcholine out [00:08:05] of control. Too much acetylcholine equals muscle tension and you just don't want that. So [00:08:10] don't block your body's to break down acetylcholine. Just give it more acetylcholine [00:08:15] precursors.
Like CDP choline. Acetylcholine is an important [00:08:20] neurotransmitter because it's how your brain pays attention and gets energy. So a small boost of [00:08:25] acetylcholine sharpens you. But if you turn it, all of it on, it's like every light in the house is on [00:08:30] at once, it's overwhelming, it's messy. and it can cause really bad jaw tension [00:08:35] usually first, calf cramps, or low back pain.
Just, just your whole body is [00:08:40] like tight. Too much acetylcholine is also a source of nausea. It can make you sweat and have [00:08:45] brain fog and irritability. If you do that on nicotine, it's just going to be even worse. [00:08:50] So. Start slow on your nicotine, and use these things to smooth it out, [00:08:55] and sometimes one milligram is all it takes.
On my nicotine journey, [00:09:00] I used one milligram per day for five years straight, without [00:09:05] getting any dependence, and it was a magic four hours when I did it. In fact, you're probably [00:09:10] better off using, as I've said earlier, five milligrams or less on a normal day. And on an [00:09:15] intense day, under 10 milligrams. If you always religiously keep it there, I don't think you're likely [00:09:20] to have any sort of physiological dependence.
You might get some psychological. You [00:09:25] go above 10, especially on a regular basis, and if you want to stop it, you're going to get some [00:09:30] pretty interesting side effects we'll talk about. Now, let's talk about nicotine tolerance [00:09:35] and dependence and control. Because I see a lot of people who are just sucking on zen [00:09:40] all day long and I don't think that's good for you And I've gone through phases where [00:09:45] I probably overuse nicotine, especially when I'm traveling really heavily because I [00:09:50] really like nicotine So I'm understand sometimes I may [00:09:55] have gone way too far on that for brief periods of time because well I did [00:10:00] tolerance can build really fast often within days of using it every day But if you're [00:10:05] keeping it to that under five milligrams You're unlikely to have that happen.
It's only when you start [00:10:10] taking, you know, six milligrams or 12 milligrams at a time. That's not really going to [00:10:15] work because your brain starts making more receptors over several days. Think of [00:10:20] it like nicotine's a loud co worker. And the first time you notice everything [00:10:25] that they say, you hear them every day, and eventually they're just always talking.
Just kind of tune them out. [00:10:30] And that's why cycling nicotine matters. Like maybe you take off a day, but you don't go to [00:10:35] these high days. Maybe you have a high day and a low day. And if you've started using it every day, [00:10:40] especially above 10 milligrams, listen to this. This is important. Step down the dose [00:10:45] and frequency.
You can use a nicotine patch for a little while to smooth your [00:10:50] landing. Make sure you get extra sleep, extra hydration. Nicotine has a physiological [00:10:55] period of about two to three days. Same as caffeine. If you quit coffee, cold turkey, you get [00:11:00] headaches for a couple of days, and then you're fine. The problem with nicotine is it [00:11:05] actually is really, Psychologically addictive.
So you just, you want it because it actually [00:11:10] feels good and it works really well and it, it helps your mitochondria. So you might still [00:11:15] have thoughts about it, but the physical symptoms will [00:11:20] peak after three days if you've been on low dose. If you're on very high dose, [00:11:25] And you go cold turkey, you are likely to have whole body intense muscle [00:11:30] cramping, like really intense, and it can stay on sometimes for months.[00:11:35]
I had a friend whose whole abdominal cavity was just rock hard all the time [00:11:40] because he got tension there. I went from, I guess, 40 milligrams a [00:11:45] day, uh, down cold turkey. A few years ago when I was figuring this stuff out, I have [00:11:50] never had muscle cramps in my life like that. I don't normally get strong muscle cramps, at least I didn't when I was a kid, and I didn't know [00:11:55] about magnesium, but holy crap.
This was 10 pain, and I've had my bone marrow [00:12:00] taken out. So, if you want to go cold turkey, get some patches. It's not that big of a deal. Just ramp down [00:12:05] and you'll be fine. Do not go cold turkey if you're on high dose. I did mention, [00:12:10] if you have your last dose, maybe before 4 o'clock, well, you're going to be [00:12:15] tempted to have one after dinner because, well, nicotine's really great, and every [00:12:20] movie made from the 80s and before, people smoke after sex.
That's just how you [00:12:25] do it, because the combination of nicotine and oxytocin, that's [00:12:30] a really good feeling. So there'll be times when you do it at night, but it might affect your [00:12:35] sleep. And so You should do it in the early afternoon, but you might [00:12:40] not. And if you're a Burning Man, you're probably going to do more, more of it.
Just don't keep doing more of it. [00:12:45] So keep your uses at each time to 0. 5 to 2 [00:12:50] milligrams per dose. And if you feel like you need more per dose, [00:12:55] Something's off. Look at your sleep, look at your nutrition, look at all these other episodes, look at your stress levels. If you do [00:13:00] 2mg, you wait a half hour, do 2mg, wait a half hour, do 2mg.
You're gonna have a really good time [00:13:05] if you don't get nauseous from it. But after that, you're at 6mg. You're probably done for the day. So [00:13:10] just keep that in mind. If you're using lozenges, what you [00:13:15] can do is you just put the number of lozenges you're allowing yourself that day [00:13:20] into your pocket and that's all you've got.
And you can take the six milligrams and you can break them into three pieces. They're [00:13:25] going to be about two milligrams a piece. So that'd be one or maybe two lozenges a day. [00:13:30] When should you just never use nicotine? If you are pregnant or trying [00:13:35] to get pregnant, don't do it. The good news is unless you're already on nicotine, your [00:13:40] body probably won't let you use nicotine.
A friend who didn't know that she was [00:13:45] pregnant had one milligram and threw up for the next two hours because mother's bodies [00:13:50] love to get rid of toxins as fast as possible by throwing up. So this is really serious. [00:13:55] No nicotine if you're trying to conceive. And thank you if you are trying to conceive because the world could [00:14:00] use some more healthy babies right now.
You listen to the show, you're probably getting healthier. One of the reasons [00:14:05] that nicotine feels good, Especially for men after sex is that when men [00:14:10] ejaculate our prolactin levels go up and prolactin makes you tired and [00:14:15] kind of apathetic and nicotine has the effect of suppressing that it's not the best way to suppress [00:14:20] it, but it is something that just feels good after sex.
That's probably why [00:14:25] that men at least are drawn to it. Women don't have that same effect. Now, if you're a guy and [00:14:30] you're looking at fertility, nicotine is a double edged sword. That's because short term or [00:14:35] low dose nicotine, like one or two milligrams a day, It has pretty much no effect, or [00:14:40] maybe even a positive effect by stimulating libido, and it doesn't harm [00:14:45] sperm.
But if you're doing greater than 10 mg a day, and this [00:14:50] is, you know, a zin or two, you get increases in oxidative stress, [00:14:55] and you can have testosterone reduction. zin all the [00:15:00] time, you can actually, meaningfully, 20 percent lower your testosterone. So high dose nicotine is not [00:15:05] really good for us, even though it might feel really good.
And again, smoking is bad for [00:15:10] fertility at any dose. If you've had a recent heart attack, you have serious arrhythmias, or you [00:15:15] have blood pressure that's out of control, you need to get that under control. Nicotine can be really good for you [00:15:20] metabolically, but not under those conditions because the stimulation after a recent heart attack, you obviously don't want that.[00:15:25]
If your heart's already twitchy because of arrhythmias, you don't want that. If you have severe [00:15:30] reflux, nicotine, especially oral, could be really bad for you. If you have active GI [00:15:35] ulcers, however, a patch might work. And, anyone with cancer [00:15:40] or undergoing cancer treatment should talk to your oncology team first.
This is because [00:15:45] nicotine has the very beneficial effect of increasing angiogenesis. [00:15:50] This is your body growing new blood vessels where it needs it. You want to put on more muscle, [00:15:55] well, you need more blood flow. You want to make your brain work better, you might want to grow some blood vessels. [00:16:00] However, if your cancer treatment is trying to starve cancer cells by cutting off the creation [00:16:05] of new blood vessels, So if you have cancer, talk to your [00:16:10] cancer team who's treating it about which mechanism you're using.
On the other hand, nicotine does [00:16:15] increase PGC 1 alpha, and it's good for your metabolism at low doses, so it could be [00:16:20] beneficial, but this is a double edged sword, and I wouldn't want to go that one along.[00:16:25]
Now, if you're a professional athlete, [00:16:30] That means over the counter nicotine replacement therapies are legal for you, and [00:16:35] they're legal in many countries. And nicotine is not prohibited by WADA, [00:16:40] and it is on the monitoring program, so agencies watch for misuse. [00:16:45] And of course, WADA is thinking about banning it because it works.
And just a shout out here to [00:16:50] WADA. I want to thank you guys for creating a list of everything that increases human [00:16:55] performance and oftentimes longevity. The fact you're banning it for our professional athletes is evil and wrong. [00:17:00] And I think you're going to go to hell for that. So let's stop with all of this [00:17:05] stuff.
Next, I want to get into some real world use templates. Like, how would you use this [00:17:10] stuff? First of all, Many nicotine products contain artificial [00:17:15] sweeteners or microplastics, especially artificial sweeteners. I am not a fan of [00:17:20] those. I've been opposed to those for a very long time. You don't want NutraSweet.[00:17:25]
You don't want sucralose. You don't want acyl sulfate and potassium because all of them [00:17:30] have documented problems. If you did use something that had a very trace amount of [00:17:35] sucralose, it's probably not the end of the world, but I really don't think you want to use any of that if you can avoid it. I'm [00:17:40] not a fan of just uncontrolled nicotine, I just think that throwing the baby out with the bathwater [00:17:45] would not be in your interest, and certainly it's been really beneficial for my brain and my [00:17:50] metabolism, and it's just worth talking about.
So don't take a bunch of [00:17:55] poison in with your bubblegum flavored nicotine, you want something that's more [00:18:00] natural. And we'll get into that eventually. This is not a sponsored episode or anything like that. [00:18:05] Now, if you want to get a microdose focus, and this is most [00:18:10] people who might consider nicotine as a longevity or performance enhancing substance, not [00:18:15] interested in heavy use, for that, You're talking 0.
[00:18:20] 5mg to 1mg. You can do it with an oral spray in much of the world, but not the U. S. The oral [00:18:25] spray is more addictive, because it hits more quickly, but at least you feel it. [00:18:30] Or, you can take like half of a 2mg gum, or just a full 2mg gum. [00:18:35] You chew it a couple times, and then you tuck it in your mouth. If you chew gum [00:18:40] that has nicotine in it over and over, then you're going to get a lot of nicotine at [00:18:45] once, and you'll get nauseous.
And Nicorette doesn't make anything that has safe sweeteners in [00:18:50] it. All of their products, especially their gum, are things I would not put in my body, unfortunately, even though they're the largest [00:18:55] global player. There's no excuse for Nicorette using all these artificial chemicals and something like that.
If [00:19:00] you were to take this, call it one to two milligrams, at the start of a deep work block, or [00:19:05] before you go into a really important meeting where you want to be dialed in, or maybe an exam, [00:19:10] you need to test yourself to see what dose puts you in flow. And [00:19:15] using that, and very likely some danger coffee, and maybe one or two hundred [00:19:20] milligrams of theanine, you're going to a different experience.
Now you're going to want to [00:19:25] re dose maybe after 60 to 90 minutes if you still need it. So your [00:19:30] total daily intake is 2 to 4 milligrams for an on day. [00:19:35] If you do this, you have a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease, [00:19:40] you'll have more PGC 1 alpha, you'll have had a really productive day, and you have a [00:19:45] very low risk of dependence.
If you were to do that, and not do [00:19:50] it every single day, the benefits far outweigh the risks. And this is [00:19:55] the best way to use this. And I did it this way, or one milligram per day, most of the [00:20:00] time, for five years. With no addiction whatsoever. Keeping it low. And [00:20:05] it was after that that I got into some problems because I thought my brain really likes it.
I'm just going [00:20:10] to use it more. If you're going to have a big presentation or a long podcast, today I [00:20:15] have seven long podcasts. And yes, I can do that because I do my nicotine and I do my [00:20:20] danger coffee and a whole bunch of other nootropics I've covered in other episodes. So my cognitive resilience [00:20:25] ability to focus is so relaxing.
It's just, it's always there. And I did not [00:20:30] have this in my twenties or thirties. And it's not just from nicotine. It's not just from coffee. [00:20:35] It's from optimizing mitochondrial function and neurochemistry. But, oh my god, what a gift. So, [00:20:40] if you're going to do that long presentation, you're going to be going for like 90 minutes straight.
You need to be fully focused, fully [00:20:45] engaged. I like to do one milligram of spray because it hits quickly. I'm going to do that 10 minutes before I [00:20:50] start. Or, I could chew a little bit of toxin free gum and just tuck it in. Let it [00:20:55] soak in. And then, you want to keep some nearby. So if you, in the middle of it, you're going, oh man, [00:21:00] I'm starting to feel less focused.
I'm having a hard time just being in flow. Do one more. [00:21:05] If you're having a hard time sleeping, you don't really want to do this after lunch. So it's kind of the same [00:21:10] protocol, but it's that you might a half hour in say I need a little bit more and oh my gosh, maybe you didn't sleep [00:21:15] last night. So you have three milligrams or four milligrams during that time.
That's totally fine. [00:21:20] Fast entry to the system works better. Now. I've kind [00:21:25] of mentioned pouches a few times. Don't use the pouches because of the plastic that's in them. [00:21:30] If you're into biohacking, you're also into longevity, and that means that putting [00:21:35] microplastics in your system will drop your testosterone, your other sex hormones, and it's just not good for [00:21:40] your brain.
So, I'm really concerned about that. It's the fabric that's in those things that's the [00:21:45] issue. Now, let's say that you are traveling over the [00:21:50] Atlantic, and you know you're going to have gel As a matter of fact, I owe you [00:21:55] an episode on jet lag, because I have mastered it. I don't get jet lag anymore, [00:22:00] and it's so cool.
And, anyway, let's say you don't know how to do that yet. Let's just say you have a [00:22:05] really, like, crappy day. You didn't sleep last night, you're jet lagged, whatever. You can get jet lag. [00:22:10] a 14 milligram nicotine patch and you can put it on when you wake up. Now [00:22:15] that's 14 milligrams that enters your body over a 24 hour period.
I usually put it here on my [00:22:20] shoulder. And that works pretty well, but you take it off by mid afternoon, [00:22:25] which means you had 14 milligrams, you had it on for 25 percent of the day, you got [00:22:30] 25 percent of the dose. And if you're still flagging after that, maybe you do a [00:22:35] little bit of nicotine gum or nicotine lozenge.
And just stop at three o'clock so you [00:22:40] get some sleep that night. And let's say, like most people, you've drifted into doing it daily, [00:22:45] and you're saying, all right, I'm doing a little too much, I want to back off. [00:22:50] So, you stop doing oral, and you move to the patch. And you [00:22:55] put the 7 or 14 milligram patch on, you usually start with 14, and you do that for [00:23:00] 3 to 5 days, and you don't use anything oral.
If you want to be really fancy about it, get a [00:23:05] locking time lock safe. They have ones that are cheap. And you just set it [00:23:10] for 7 days, and throw your nicotine in there. It'll be locked up, and then you just don't have to think about it. If it's not locked up, you'll [00:23:15] probably think about it and you might even use it.
They tell you on all the patches, do not cut the patch. [00:23:20] That's because they make more money when you buy small patches. I take the 14 milligram patch and I cut it in half [00:23:25] and now I have a 7 milligram patch. So first week, I'm going to use 14 milligrams. Second week, [00:23:30] I'm going to use 7 milligrams. And on that week, you need to focus heavily on [00:23:35] creatine.
And you go to daveaspire. com slash creatine for my favorite creatine. And make sure you [00:23:40] hydrate the crap out of yourself. DaveAsprey. com slash electrolyte for my favorite electrolyte. Of course, [00:23:45] I put discount codes in there for you. That way you can just always find it. And you don't need to go lift heavy and [00:23:50] destroy yourself in the gym.
You probably won't want to. So go for a walk or something. Get in the sun. Get some sleep. [00:23:55] You're really going to feel most symptoms when you withdraw from nicotine in the first three days. After [00:24:00] that, It's like, I kind of wanted that, but you aren't feeling like you're a zombie. So you manage that [00:24:05] with a patch.
And here's some things you can do with your biohacking lifestyle stuff [00:24:10] that multiply the effect of nicotine. Try one milligram of nicotine when [00:24:15] you're fasting in the morning or you have a low carb morning. So say you put some butter, maybe some [00:24:20] MCT oil in your danger coffee. And you put that one milligram, two milligrams of [00:24:25] nicotine orally, and wow, that is just a morning to remember.
[00:24:30] You can do it with red or near infrared light in the morning, anchors your circadian rhythm. You got that [00:24:35] acceleration in the morning, and that means you're less likely to use it in the evening. [00:24:40] And you can do normal things like, you know, moving every hour and things like that. And look at your heart [00:24:45] rate variability from your fitness tracker.
And look at what happens to your sleep if [00:24:50] you're using nicotine that day or not using it, and try it in the evening and look at [00:24:55] what happens. The same thing, you drink a glass of wine, you can see what happens to your sleep, take nicotine before bed, [00:25:00] if you can fall asleep, then you know you're probably addicted.
And if you do fall asleep, your sleep won't [00:25:05] be as good. Here's why nicotine works. Is a longevity drug. I did my [00:25:10] first podcast with Dr. Nicotine from Vanderbilt university, something like a decade ago. [00:25:15] And I wrote about this in the New York times bestselling book headstrong about cognitive [00:25:20] function and. I looked at all the research on neurodegeneration, and the [00:25:25] idea is do things that stop neurodegeneration and lower your risk so you don't die of Alzheimer's or [00:25:30] Parkinson's or something like that.
And smokers have a noticeably lower Parkinson's [00:25:35] risk, and nicotine is the reason. And receptor stimulation protects [00:25:40] dopamine neurons in preclinical data. Now, these are smokers, so they're [00:25:45] getting all the oxidative stress, all the bad things, and nicotine. Don't smoke. But if your [00:25:50] family is at risk of Parkinson's, there is definitely an argument that you [00:25:55] should at least wear a 7mg patch or do some oral nicotine.
There are studies of cognition [00:26:00] and aging. The MCI trial showed transdermal nicotine, that's a patch, improved memory in [00:26:05] older adults. And this is probably because as you get older, you drop in [00:26:10] acetylcholine levels. Problem is we need to replicate that study for everyone to believe it. But that's [00:26:15] how it works mechanistically, and nicotine does improve memory even in healthy [00:26:20] younger people, so there's a case for memory if you have brain fog.
From a mitochondrial perspective, [00:26:25] and if you've been listening for a while, you know that I'm a mitochondrial fetishist, and I think mitochondria are really at the core [00:26:30] of a lot of our consciousness, our ego behavior, and our willpower and our energy. [00:26:35] Some mitochondrial rich tissues benefit from nicotine stimulation, and [00:26:40] others can get stressed with high doses, like your heart muscle.
So, nicotine [00:26:45] can either charge your cells with more energy via something called PGC 1 alpha, or it can [00:26:50] drain them. It depends on the tissue type and the dose. This is why 10 milligrams or less, [00:26:55] on a regular basis, is a really good idea, and why going into these heavier doses is [00:27:00] not a good idea, even though, yes, I have done it.
This is where [00:27:05] it gets controversial. So many people hear nicotine, and in their brain, they're [00:27:10] like, They think tobacco and smoking, and they smell the cigarettes, [00:27:15] and they get a revulsion to it. Guys, in your consciousness, separate nicotine [00:27:20] from smoking. They are simply not the same thing. Smoke is full of bad stuff.
There's a thousand [00:27:25] chemicals in smoke that are not in pure nicotine. Nicotine is not a DNA [00:27:30] mutating carcinogen, but smoke is. But, as I mentioned earlier, [00:27:35] nicotinic receptors promote blood vessel formation. And if you have tumors [00:27:40] that are relying on growing new blood vessels, that can be a problem, at least in some models.[00:27:45]
So if you have cancer, you should be tracking yourself with whole body MRI or other testing [00:27:50] things and working with your oncologist. And if you've had cancer, you should get an annual whole body MRI. [00:27:55] You go to daveasprey. com slash MRI and I'll send you a link to save you some money [00:28:00] on how you can get one of these tests because they're really important for longevity.
And [00:28:05] if you haven't had cancer, you should still do it every couple of years because it tracks changes. Now here's where it gets [00:28:10] really interesting at the cutting edge of research on pure nicotine, not smoking. [00:28:15] Schizophrenia. Nicotine patches have improved something called sensory gating [00:28:20] in some studies, and that could be helpful for schizophrenia.
I think if you have [00:28:25] schizophrenia, you ought to be under medical care, and you don't want to just self medicate all willy nilly, but watch your circadian [00:28:30] rhythm and ask your doctor about nicotine, because the studies are interesting. You'll also find that there are a lot of [00:28:35] schizophrenics who smoke. In fact, a lot of people who smoke are self medicating for something else that is [00:28:40] present, and it's ADHD.
ADHD is so common, and some trials, they're [00:28:45] pretty small, suggest attention benefits, and at least some ADHD types. I [00:28:50] think you have ADHD, nicotine would probably feel really, really good for you, it's very likely, [00:28:55] but you're also at higher risk of overusing it, and this whole episode is about how to [00:29:00] use it without falling into the levels that can be actually not good for you.[00:29:05]
Now, if you have [00:29:10] IBD and autoimmune issues, Interesting. Alpha 7 receptor [00:29:15] agonists can calm gut inflammation, and what do you think nicotine is? Hmm. So it turns [00:29:20] out that in some models, low doses of nicotine could calm gut [00:29:25] inflammation and help with autoimmunity. Right now, in the world of Parkinson's research, they're [00:29:30] looking at selective nicotinic agents.
So these are basically subtypes of nicotine that could [00:29:35] support dopamines in the part of the brain that fails first in Parkinson's. So there's [00:29:40] some very interesting things to pay attention to here. Now, this is interesting because if you [00:29:45] have IBD, And you have GERD. Would oral nicotine be good for you?[00:29:50]
Probably not, but the patch might be. And when it comes to Alzheimer's, here's what's [00:29:55] happening now. The National Institute of Aging has funded a multi center study called [00:30:00] MIND that's coordinated by Dr. Paul Newhouse at Vanderbilt, who first [00:30:05] proposed the mechanism in 1986 that nicotine not smoking helps [00:30:10] Alzheimer's because he observed that and then tested it for many years.
And he's never used nicotine [00:30:15] himself because he doesn't want to make the study biased, which is kind of cool. This is a large, two [00:30:20] year, double blind trial testing daily nicotine patches and mild cognitive impairment, [00:30:25] which is the first stage of Alzheimer's, to determine their functional benefit. It's [00:30:30] underway right now.
So, let's see what happens with that, but I would absolutely [00:30:35] say, if you have Alzheimer's, Or a relative with Alzheimer's, if you put a 7 or [00:30:40] 14 milligram patch on their arm, and then they suddenly become lucid, and you can talk to them again, [00:30:45] that's pretty good evidence that it's doing something. And if you were to stack that with some [00:30:50] ketones, go to daveaspire.
com slash ketone, and I'll tell you my favorite one and get you a [00:30:55] discount code and all that, but the combination of ketones and Nicotine [00:31:00] on someone with Alzheimer's can be profound. And before my grandmother passed at [00:31:05] 101, when she had a little bit of nicotine and some ketones, we could talk [00:31:10] about her work as a PhD nuclear engineer instead [00:31:15] of watching infomercials together.
It was a very, very big difference. So, an hour or two of lucidity [00:31:20] could be yours if your loved one is willing to do these two things. So [00:31:25] there you go, nicotine is not the same as smoking, and I know so many people [00:31:30] are triggered, the comments are going to be full of people saying blah blah blah, guys, don't smoke, okay, but [00:31:35] nicotine, it is addictive, it is not free of risk, but the benefits of [00:31:40] low dose, under 10 milligrams, ideally around 5 milligrams, far outweigh the [00:31:45] risks, and smoking, Causes disease because of the stuff in the [00:31:50] smoke, not because of nicotine.
And we need to separate those two in our mind. And if you're going to leave an angry [00:31:55] comment below, I'm going to just going to think you didn't listen to the whole episode because this is how it is. [00:32:00] The reason nicotine works is it sharpens your attention because it activates nicotinic [00:32:05] receptors. It gently bumps up your dopamine and it turns inflammation [00:32:10] down in the body, which is kind of cool.
So. Benefits are real, [00:32:15] and they are dose dependent, and respect that inverted U curve. That means doing [00:32:20] too much gets you lower benefits, and doing none at all or not enough gets you lower benefits. [00:32:25] It's going to be personal to you based on your detox pathways. Time it well, [00:32:30] and if you have lab tests on the nicotine metabolite ratio, that'll tell you something, but [00:32:35] it's okay if you don't.
Keep doses very small. Skip days every now and then so you don't [00:32:40] get too addicted. And at five milligrams, you're probably not going to get very addicted. And [00:32:45] keep your sleep protected by not doing it before bed, at least not most nights. And, for [00:32:50] sure, try a little nicotine right after sex. You'll thank me later.
That's it [00:32:55] for today's nicotine masterclass. This has been a part of my biohacking [00:33:00] cognitive enhancement wonk devity stack for a very long time. [00:33:05] And it's controversial. It's controversial as all hell, but it shouldn't be. We're just talking about science. We're talking about [00:33:10] data. We're talking about pathways.
And this is very real and People do it wrong. They do [00:33:15] wrong all the time people do fasting wrong I had to write a second book on fasting because people didn't read the [00:33:20] first one apparently and they were over fasting I'd write another book about keto because my first book said you need [00:33:25] to clean cyclical keto and people stop doing cyclical So doing it well and [00:33:30] doing it with elegance and doing with knowledge This is how you would make nicotine work for you instead [00:33:35] of accidentally against you.
It's a powerful nootropic, time it right, and [00:33:40] share this with a friend who smokes. So they'll quit smoking and use oral nicotine. And [00:33:45] share this with a friend who shames you because you use an occasional low dose nicotine. Your friend is [00:33:50] wrong. The evidence is so good, and you will like your life better on a [00:33:55] very, very low dose of nicotine that does not contain artificial sweeteners, and does not contain smoke, does [00:34:00] not contain tobacco, and all that other crap.
So if you want to master this as a nootropic, it's [00:34:05] relatively affordable at these low doses. It's very potent, as potent as coffee. [00:34:10] And if I didn't know that tattoos are actually bad for you, I would match [00:34:15] the caffeine tattoo on my bicep here with another nicotine one on the other bicep. [00:34:20] But one tattoo is enough for me.
See you next time on the Human [00:34:25] Upgrade Podcast.