Huberman has said that he doesn't take nicotine. He also doesn't recommend anyone taking nicotine.
It is also especially important to highlight that Huberman continuously underlines the negative health effects vaping and smoking have on the body. The topic of smoking and vaping should be separated from the potential benefits of pure nicotine.
Nicotine as a nootropic
Nicotine can aid with focus and concentration. The effect is due to it binding with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which then trigger the downstream release of dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmitters.
Eventhough Huberman doesn't use nicotine, he has pointed out several times the potential benefits of using small amounts of nicotine, and how it can be used as a nootropic. Instead of Nicotine, Huberman uses Alpha GPC, which stimulates nicotine release in the brain.
Huberman tells an anecdotal story about his friend, who is a Nobel Prize-winner and who uses large amounts of nicorette gum as he feels helps with his focus.
Smoking & vaping
While nicotine itself is not considered harmful for the body, Huberman highlights the negative health effects of smoking and vaping. Everyone should change smoking and vaping to less-harmful delivery methods, such as nicotine pouches, if they want to use nicotine as a nootropic.
- Nicotine itself doesn't cause cancer, it is smoking or vaping that does it
- Huberman compares vaping nicotine to smoking crack cocaine as they have similar speed of entry into the bloodstream
- Speed of nicotine absorption is what makes vaping extremely addictive
Nicotine pouches
While Huberman does mention nicotine pouches in somewhat positive light, it is good to take a note on the dosage of those pouches. Many nicotine pouches contain 4 mg or more of nicotine, which are large doses for people unaccustomed to nicotine.
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Huberman mentions already 4 milligrams as high one-time dose for nicotine
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Many popular nicotine pouches contain easily over 10 mg of nicotine
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High nicotine content of pouches makes you more prone to addiction
Huberman & Peter Attia
Also Huberman's friend Peter Attia has talked about using nicotine as a nootropic. He himself has used nicotine gum and lozenges for 10 years to improve his focus and concentration.
Peter Attia feels that the risk from nicotine gum and lozenges is far less than prescription stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin.
Nicotine's effect on sleep
Sleep expert Matthew Walker told to Huberman on Twitter how nicotine disrupts sleep significantly, and thus shouldn't be consumed.
The negative effects of nicotine:
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Increases light stage 1 and stage 2 NREM
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Increases the amount of time you are awake at night
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Decreases the amount of deep NREM sleep
Conclusion
Huberman doesn't recommend nicotine. Period. However, if you are using, or planning to use nicotine, keep in mind its extremely addictive properties, and stay away from smoking and vaping.
Nicotine also can have a negative impact on health, as it increases blood pressure temporarily.