Many people find their bowel movement becomes easier after having a cigarette or two, so they get confused and wonder, "Does nicotine make you poop?". Nicotine affects the users in many ways, both in the short-term and long-term.
When speaking of nicotine, most people associate it with various types of cancer (i.e., lung cancer), as it is found in tobacco products. Is nicotine a natural laxative, or does it just weaken your digestive tract?
You will find out the answer here.
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Where Can You Find Nicotine?
Nicotine is a nitrogen-containing chemical and is widely used as a stimulant drug. It is found in plants of the nightshade family, one of which is the tobacco plant. This chemical is highly addictive, even as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
Normally, nicotine isn't sold as a product. Rather, it is an ingredient of cigarettes, chewing tobacco, nicotine patches, nicotine gum, and other tobacco products.
Surprisingly, tobacco plants are the main, but not the only, source of nicotine. Some plants that we eat every day contain nicotine too, albeit a very small amount of it. Other plants of the nightshade family include potatoes, eggplant, red peppers, and tomatoes.
Nowadays, with the help of technology, synthetic nicotine was created. Also known as 'tobacco-free nicotine', synthetic nicotine is almost the same as tobacco-extracted nicotine, save for the taste and odor.
In other words, it has the same kind of chemicals and molecular structure as natural nicotine. However, it doesn't contain other toxins found in tobacco. This type of nicotine can only be found in e-liquid (made for e-cigarettes).
A SUMMARY
Nicotine is included in tobacco products, some plants are used as food (potatoes, eggplant,etc.) and e-cigarettes.
What Are the Effects of Nicotine?
Nicotine is considered a drug. And drugs of any kind pose health risks, so it’s best to be cautious when consuming nicotine. Do take note that, as a drug, the effects nicotine has on each person is different, based on a variety of factors.
Some of the most important factors are the person's height, weight, and health conditions, whether that person is used to nicotine, the amount of nicotine taken, and whether it's taken with other drugs.
Shortly after nicotine enters your system (mostly by smoking tobacco products), it will affect the adrenal glands, the pancreas, and parts of your brain. As a result, your blood pressure increases, you will feel your breathing and heart rate become quicker.
On the other hand, studies have shown that consuming nicotine can help raise alertness, improve your concentration level as well as memory. Plus, it stimulates the release of beta-endorphin and dopamine, which helps reduce anxiety and relax your mind.
However, most people get their daily dose of nicotine through smoking, and this can lead to many health problems in the long run. Some of the common diseases include stroke, diabetes, pneumonia, asthma, back pain, etc. Worse of all, smoking nicotine-contained products may cause cancer (liver, pancreas, cervix, ladder, etc.)
People who have to experience passive smoking can also encounter the health issues mentioned above. If you are a smoker, I strongly advise you not to smoke in public and/or near other people who don't smoke.
So, Does Nicotine Make You Poop?
Does nicotine make you poop?
I'm sure that after knowing about the effects nicotine has on your mind and body, you would be a little terrified by now and wonder, is nicotine a natural laxative, or is it something more harmful?
To answer your question: we don't know yet, as there isn't any scientific research proving the link between nicotine and your increased bowel movement.
However, there are some possible explanations:
Nicotine is only a stimulant and doesn't affect us negatively.
Sadly, as I have said above, a lot of people get nicotine through smoking, and with the additional chemicals in tobacco products, smoking brings more harm than good, especially to the digestive system.
1. Peptic Ulcer
Ulcers are directly linked with stomach acid. And stomach acid is more or less affected by smoking. Plus, according to some research, smokers have a higher chance of being infected with H. pylori bacteria – the cause of peptic ulcers.
In short, people who use tobacco products are more likely to develop peptic ulcers and heal from it far slower than people who don't smoke.
2. Heartburn
The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is a muscle that acts as a valve to keep the stomach acid away from the esophagus. Smoking not only weakens this muscle, but it also affects your stomach acid and injures the esophagus.
Consequently, this leads to more frequent heartburn.
3. And Other Digestive Issues
We all know that smoking weakens our body's immune system and decreases blood flow, which can result in inflammation in the digestive tract. Colon polyps, Crohn's disease, and Gallstones can happen when our digestive tract is inflamed.
Read more —
Some Fast Facts About Nicotine
I know it's pretty scary to read all the harmful effects of smoking, so here are some quick facts about nicotine – the chemical that makes it hard for you to give up smoking. Hopefully, it will give you a different view of nicotine.
Conclusion
That was a pretty long (but informative!) article. To sum it up, you asked us a question: Does nicotine make you poop? And our answer is: NO, not really.
Because smoking can affect your digestive system negatively, so should you have an irresistible urge to poop after smoking, then you should probably visit the doctor to get some check-up done.
