Video summary
Dr. Andrew Huberman addresses the growing prevalence of nicotine pouches by comparing them to other forms of nicotine delivery like smoking and vaping. He notes that while nicotine can induce a state of alertness and calm beneficial for learning, it is highly addictive and raises blood pressure. Crucially, he argues that frequent use of these pouches does not enhance cognitive performance but rather merely alleviates the deficits caused by withdrawal symptoms, similar to how caffeine restores a baseline level of function after abstinence. For nicotine to act as a true performance aid, usage should be occasional and limited, ideally once or twice a week with low doses, rather than daily consumption which fosters dependency.
The discussion extends to the history of nicotine delivery methods, moving from smoking to vaping and now to oral products like pouches. Huberman explains that while vaping is chemically safer than smoking per puff, its ease of use in various locations has led to higher overall consumption rates, potentially offsetting those safety benefits and causing new health issues. He draws a parallel to cannabis edibles, where the ability to ingest large doses easily can trigger severe adverse reactions like psychosis in susceptible individuals, whereas controlled methods allow for safer experiences. The core issue with modern nicotine products is not necessarily the chemical itself, but the behavioral data showing that people are consuming far more nicotine than ever before due to the convenience and palatability of these new delivery systems.
Huberman also touches upon the physiological effects of nicotine, specifically its role as a vasoconstrictor which can negatively impact sexual function, though he acknowledges that pharmacological interventions like low-dose tadalafil exist to counteract this. However, he cautions against using one drug to combat the side effects of another, describing it as an unhealthy "push-pull" dynamic. He emphasizes that young people should be aware of the addictive nature of nicotine and its cardiovascular risks, suggesting that society will likely continue to find ways to consume these substances rather than quitting entirely. His personal experience involves long periods of abstinence from caffeine and alcohol to prove his independence from such stimulants, yet he recognizes that for many, especially in social settings, these products have become a normalized part of life.
Finally, the transcript highlights the unique design and marketing aspects of nicotine pouches, noting their tactile appeal and how they fit into pockets, which contributes to their widespread adoption among men. Huberman shares an anecdote about childhood beef jerky products that looked like tobacco and were placed in cheeks, illustrating how humans have always found ways to ingest substances discreetly. He concludes by promoting the importance of evidence-based supplements from companies like Momentus, contrasting them with the supplement industry's tendency to make unsupported claims. The video ends with a reminder to maintain good eye health by looking at distant horizons regularly and directs viewers to resources for learning more about these topics and purchasing recommended products.
Read the full video transcript
People of the UK and Ireland, if you are
coming to see me on tour this October, I
want to hear from you. I want to hear
the problems you're dealing with, your
most unhinged stories, and I will be
bringing some of you up on stage to talk
about them. So, if you're coming to see
me live, go to chriswillson.live/stories
and submit what you want me to talk
about on stage. You might actually get
to come and see me and look at everyone
while we unpack what you've done with
your life. Chris Williamson.
I'm seeing pouches everywhere. What's
your opinion on nicotine and pouches?
>> Same. Look, I consume caffeine every
day. I love caffeine. Nicotine is sort
of similar. Although caffeine is safer,
obviously it can even improve health.
Nicotine will definitely make you feel
alert and calm. Unlike other stimulants,
which is a very unique state that's
great for learning, right? Sets you up
for learning. Doesn't let you learn, but
it so excuse me, it doesn't make you
learn, but it lets you learn.
Raises blood pressure. Highly addictive.
And and here's the thing people don't
realize. If you take 3 to six milligram
pouches multiple times per day, it's not
going to have a cognitive enhancing
effect. It's just rescuing the deficit
from nicotine withdrawal.
>> Like if you don't drink caffeine for two
days, you're not going to feel good. You
drink caffeine, you'll feel good. It's
bringing you back to baseline. Okay? So
if you want nicotine to be a performance
aid, you use it occasionally. meaning
you know 3 to six milligrams once or
twice total
twice per week maximum but how many
people do you know that are
>> to not develop a dependency
>> or just not do it very often and then it
does something I mean this is how I feel
about a lot of energy drinks I love them
but I'll take them when I really want to
dial in really want to like I I slept
last night but not quite as much as I
would have liked I'm time shifted and
and so on um so this morning I drank one
of yours and one of uh Derek's um that's
a the old the old twin turbo. Yeah, very
good.
>> The twin turbo and and that's a lot.
But, you know, I thought we had a pretty
good workout.
>> Yeah, you performed well. Well, the
previous uh mode of delivery was smoking
and then we moved on to vaping pretty
quickly and vaping became massive.
>> So, talk about the history of this.
Humans have found a way to get their
nicotine. Smoking causes cancer. Okay.
>> Not good.
>> Dipping, snuffing,
not good. Cancers. Okay. Oral nicotine.
Oh, vaping. Turns out it's not good for
us. really not good. The chemicals
associated with it probably a bit safer
than smoking, but this is really wild.
The behavioral data say because you can
do it anywhere pretty much people are
doing far more of it. They're taking in
far more nicotine and they're coming now
having issues lung issues and issues
related to nicotine. smoking was less
healthy and maybe more dangerous per
puff, but because the number of puffs
that you're consuming from vaping,
because you can do it in more places and
it's more tasty and there's less fatigue
from it means that maybe the healthier
delivery mechanism of vaping versus
smoking is more than offset to the point
where it's more dangerous.
>> Right. Wow.
>> In the same way that, you know, cannabis
you don't say is good or bad. Yes, it
nukes REM sleep, but that's very, very
bad. um it can cause psychosis and
certain males have a predisposition to
psychosis. But you'd say um smoking
cannabis people are able to put
themselves into a plane of high that is
not freaking them out. They can take one
to bong you know when I was in college
everyone just like did bong reps like
you know and then but you knew if you
could do half a one or one or you you
wouldn't go like four and then wait and
see what happens.
Um, some people did that. That didn't
work out so well. But with an edible,
the problem is people can ingest, you
know, 100 150 milligrams of THC like
that and then they're freaking out. In
some cases, it can trigger a psychotic
episode that lasts a long time or
doesn't reverse. And so it's the ease of
ingestion. So that's the vaping thing.
The the oral nicotines,
they're here to stay. Humans have since
the discovery of nicotine have found a
way to get their nicotine. Same with
caffeine. They've just found a way to
they're not going to quit. But a lot of
young people using nicotine, they should
just be aware of how addictive it is and
the fact it raises blood pressure.
>> And I think that, you know, usually you
can scare guys out of it a little bit by
just saying, "Oh, it's vasa
constriction." And, you know, that can
have some sexual side effects. But
nowadays, people are using
pharmarmacology to combat
pharmarmacology, you know, and thanks to
Mike Eisenberg and other people, you
know, like I've said, you know, the the
tadal lowd dose tadalapil for um for
prostate health, but then people go,
well, if you take a little bit more,
then it then it's a, you know, it's like
a sex drug and like that kind of thing.
It's, you know, anyway that it was
developed as a prostate drug, but it's a
vasoddilator. Does it does that combat
the vasoc constriction of nicotine?
Yeah, in theory. Uh but you now you're
you're doing like sort of a pushpull
bad language. You're now doing a
pushpull between you know one one set of
effects and another set of effects. And
you know I would say this is just by
observation um you know people in their
teens 20s 30s even early 40s you really
want to get away with it using as little
pharmarmacology as necessary. This was
why for you know during my manopause
monk mode era I did a thousand what
manopause monk I went monk mode which is
>> manopause you're too young for manopause
>> manop no manopause is end of 20s listen
uh I got I told you
>> we got to return to that manopause is
end
>> manop manopause
>> your androgens dropped at the end of
your 20s
>> it's a colloquial bro science term that
I use to describe when guys stop
behaving the way that they did in their
adult infanties
>> I have so many thoughts about that hat
and none of them Good. Please take that
off.
>> Um, so,
uh, a lot of the time, like when I when
I was doing my period of personal
development, becoming a a proper human,
I did 1,000 days without alcohol and 500
days without caffeine because I wanted
to prove to myself I don't need to use
any of these things. I don't need to
buttress my life with this. I wanted to
have that in the back of my mind that if
there was ever a period because I I knew
for the rest of my life that I was going
to be like around parties, I was going
to be around like caffeine. That's like
my thing, right? And now I have a
company that does it. something that's
kind of interesting. So, we've been
doing these, which are these pouches,
and those I think by the end of next
year, we could do more volume in
pouches, more revenue in pouches than in
cans because of how many people want to
dial back their nicotine.
>> So many people feel like I'm not in
control of my nicotine usage and the
delivery mechanism has been locked in
>> and and these are and it's easy to take
and and we'll talk about the canister.
By the way, if you write a 600page book,
uh, what happens is you stare at things
up close, your eyeball lengthens, and
you become myopic.
>> You've worsened your eyesight because
you wrote the book. You literally
literally damaged your own.
>> But at the end of this year, right after
this book promotion tour is done, I'm
going to spend a lot of time staring at
horizons and hiking in the mountains and
um and I might even go hunting this
year. So yeah, that's why I'm wearing
these. I mean, look at this. Is crazy.
This prescription.
>> You tried to You made me put them on.
No, you're blind. They're like bottle
glasses. tool bother.
>> Um, so yeah, when you stare at things
too close, you become nearsighted. So,
kids, adults,
>> be careful. Don't
>> get some long view vision each day. My
vision at a distance is great, but up up
close is lousy. So, the other thing
about this that um and these canisters
is it's interesting, you know, that um
I'm not trying to diverge topics here,
but you know, like we'll get to
peptides, I'm sure, but you know, the
pens that the GLPs use, the pen with
needle, you know, has basically gotten
people over their needle phobia. It
turns out it was the plunger people were
afraid of. I don't like needles. Do I
have to inject myself? Turns out if you
put the needle at the end of something,
it looks like a pen. Everyone's pinning
themselves. Men, women, people are just
pinning themselves. Um, these canisters
are interesting because they have like a
tactile feel. It's a little bit like
like chips at the casino. But when I was
a kid, um, there was a a jerky.
>> Do you remember this? There was a beef
jerky that came in a canister that
looked like tobacco. and kids. Oh, this
stuff was was horrible. You would take a
pinch of beef jerky and you'd put it in
your lip. We were like nine years old,
10 years old. And then you'd eat the
beef jerky eventually.
>> He was cosplaying as your dad
>> kids. Uh my dad didn't chew. He did
occasionally smoke a cigar pipe. My
grandfather smoked a pipe that did.
>> Yeah. So it was like you would So we
were like little kids. We were little
kids walking around lipping beef jerk
beef not licking lip beef jerky. And so
and it was they clearly figured out that
like candy cigarettes and you know and
and so there is something about the pow
the candy. There it is. Jerky stuff. No,
no, it's called jerky stuff. That looks
so gross. Oh my god.
>> It looks like uh the stuff that you find
in your pocket.
>> It's called jerky stuff. Look at this.
Ready? There you go. Jerky stuff.
>> And you would you would stuff your cheek
or you'd stuff your your lip.
>> Wow.
>> Yeah. This was a thing. Yeah. So it was
>> it was kind of like jerky flavored
sawdust.
>> It was and also it had barely any it was
probably like four grams of protein per
the entire
>> and you would pay more for it and it was
because it was you know a good way to
take in something. So these canisters
are also very reinforced. Yeah. It's
really tactile. It's nice and also like
you know it's your back pocket. Guys
love carrying something in their back
pocket. Nobody wants to carry the man
purfs.
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