The Other Side of the Coin for Nicotine

Share this article on Social Media

When one thinks of the word nicotine, it is generally associated with smoking and consequently cancer and death. Such may be a common notion, but there is actually another side of the coin pertaining to this substance: Nicotine is good for the health. By this, it means nicotine alone and has nothing to do with smoking. The substance, in its pure form is actually safe and non-toxic. One may well keep in mind that there are over 4,000 odd chemicals consumed when smoking a cigarette, and it is basically some of these chemicals that are hazardous to health and not nicotine.

Photo of Nicotine Chemical formula
Compared to smoking cigarettes, which kills 6 million people around the world every year, nicotine on its own is less harmful.

Some of the poisonous substances found in a cigarette are tar, arsenic, carbon monoxide and ammonia, and they should well be considered as the culprits behind health perils such as emphysema, lung cancer and death. One can in fact find it interesting to know that the substance is a natural part of the food chain. Without even realizing it, a majority actually have a regular intake of the element as it is generally found in trace elements in common foods as well as in vegetables such as bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, cauliflower, chili peppers and some teas. Being a common substance in such common foods, one should well consider that nicotine merely has a bad reputation.

When it comes to this misunderstood element, it may well be like saying that eating grapes is bad because they are in wine and that having too much will kill. This common misconception ought to be rectified as one might actually be surprised that nicotine has a plethora of health rewards, but only in its pure form. It can be reasonable to say that the substance may have been desecrated as it is predominantly connoted with smoking. In fact, at the mere mention of the word “nicotine”, the naïve may even shudder as what comes into mind is disfigured, filthy lungs.

With proper education and awareness pertaining to this element, however, one can well be enlightened to the fact that the substance may have been merely implicated with the ill-effects and dangers of smoking. The fact is, the substance can improve one’s mood as it switches on the receptors on the brain cells’ surface causing them to release dopamine which is a chemical neuron-transmitter that instigates feelings of pleasure and happiness. Other than this, nicotine is also helpful when it comes to alleviating or treating some serious illnesses. Findings in researches indicated that the element helps improve memory and concentration, and due to this, more studies have been conducted concerning the positive effects of nicotine in diseases like schizophrenia and depression.

The substance has in fact been believed to reduce the chances of getting and alleviating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. These facts may indeed be astounding, but in due time, more individuals may become aware that nicotine is a naturally occurring substance which is inherent to the natural food chain. Suffice it to say that the benefits of nicotine may have well been abused and incorporated by manufacturers into cigarettes giving the public a malign and mistaken belief when it comes to the use of the substance.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top