Nicotine gum for weight loss

Chewing nicotine gum as a weight loss supplement.

I've been trying to do some reading about this topic, but the available research is slim to none. It almost entirely focuses on nicotine gum as smoking cessation aid. The idea seems pretty simple though. Nicotine is a stimulant and appetite suppressant, so popping in a piece when you are feeling the desire or craving to eat, especially when you know you're not hungry and don't need food, should lead to a reduction in caloric intake and eventually some weight loss.

I did find a study that gives a slightly encouraging outlook on this idea.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12126990/

It actually suggests that nicotine resets your metabolic set point for weight, which is a really interesting idea. The major problem with this study is that it only included 7 study participants, so it's worlds away from being called "reliable research." But, it does give some context to the weight loss that almost all smokers and tobacco users experience.

If anyone knows of any "good" research on this topic, I would encourage you to link to it here. I'm sure there's a lot that I haven't found on my own and would love to read it.

While at Sam's last week, I picked up a few packs of 2mg nicotine gum, and I'm currently experimenting with it to see what it does for me. I'll report back in another week with my findings. So far, I've found that it gives you a really good "high" for about 15-20 minutes after you start chewing it. A little light headedness, a quick improvement in mood, and just a general sense of feeling good. Plus it opens up my sinuses and improves my breathing in a really remarkable way. But, this is a short lived improvement, 20-30 minutes at the most.

At the moment I'm only using it once, sometimes twice a day at most. And only 2mg dose. I honestly don't like it. The nicotine burns the back of my throat while I'm chewing it. I'm not worried about bulking as I'm trying to cut weight right now. And so far I haven't noticed a reduction in pumps, but I'm not using it anywhere near my workouts either.

As far as BP, it does elevate it, but only slightly. I had one of my guys take my BP at work yesterday 20 minutes after I started chewing a piece. My regular BP is right at the top of the normal range, and the nicotine took me to just a few points outside of range. I'm definitely keeping an eye on it, though.

I am. Honestly, I don't think nicotine is addictive for me. Back when I was in the Army I would chew Redman when we had field problems. For 2 weeks I'd chew 2 bags a day cuz we were going non-stop for 20 hours a day, but when we got back to garrison I never even thought about it. I only used it for the energy boost; but never had the desire to use it otherwise.

Stimulants are something I never really enjoyed. Even caffeine I don't like. Now opiates..... that's a different story. I'm glad I don't have easy access to those.

The one thing I'm noticing about the gum, for appetite suppression, is that it is a very short lived effect. I chew a piece or 2, and for the next 20-30 minutes my appetite goes away completely. But then it immediately comes roaring back, even more intense than before. I'm sure it's dose dependent, but I'm not trying to use huge doses of this stuff, either. If I can't figure out how to make it last a little longer, it will have very little usefulness for me.