Supplement

Nicotine

Nicotine is a stimulant best known from tobacco that switches on nicotinic receptors on nerve cells, shaping attention, alertness and mood. The evidence is limited, but in one small trial of healthy non-smoking men, reaction time improved, while a separate study in 67 people found mixed effects on anxiety. Other outcomes, including blood pressure, libido and fat burning, showed no clear difference, and the studies were few and small.

Sources: PMID 22038536; PMID 20731637

Updated 30 September 2026
How we grade
11 studies cited

Best evidence: Grade C
Conditions studied: 13
Outcomes: 36
Graded outcomes: 0047

Evidence by condition

Strong
Moderate
Limited
Very limited

13 conditions

Cognitive Improvement

Cognitive Improvement: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Anxiety Symptoms Mixed effect			1 study	31 people
Studies that measured anxiety symptoms Nicotine increases neural response to unpleasant stimuli and anxiety in non-smokersAddict Biol · PMID 20731637
	Reaction Time Small Improvement	Improves (the measure goes up)	Small effect	1 study	28 people
Studies that measured reaction time Nicotine differentially modulates antisaccade performance in healthy male non-smoking volunteers stratified for low and high accuracyPsychopharmacology · PMID 22038536

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI): outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Studies	People
	Anxiety Symptoms Mixed effect		1 study	67 people
Studies that measured anxiety symptoms Nicotine increases neural response to unpleasant stimuli and anxiety in non-smokersAddict Biol · PMID 20731637
	Blood Pressure	Improves (the measure goes down)	2 studies	67 people
Studies that measured blood pressure Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trialNeurology · PMID 22232050 Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialJ Sex Med · PMID 17971108
	Cognition	Improves (the measure goes up)		67 people
	Depression Symptoms	Improves (the measure goes down)		67 people
	Memory	Improves (the measure goes up)		67 people
	Weight	Improves (the measure goes down)		134 people

Low Testosterone

Luteinizing Hormone: improves
Prolactin: improves
Testosterone: improves

Low Testosterone: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Luteinizing Hormone Small Increase	Improves (the measure goes up)	Small effect		12 people
	Prolactin	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	12 people
Studies that measured prolactin Effects of intravenous cocaine and cigarette smoking on luteinizing hormone, testosterone, and prolactin in menJ Pharmacol Exp Ther · PMID 12893845
	Testosterone	Improves (the measure goes up)			12 people

Female Sexual Dysfunction

Blood Pressure
Libido: improves
Heart Rate: improves

Female Sexual Dysfunction: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Blood Pressure No effect		NoneNo effect	2 studies	25 people
Studies that measured blood pressure Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trialNeurology · PMID 22232050 Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialJ Sex Med · PMID 17971108
	Libido	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	25 people
Studies that measured libido The inhibitory effects of nicotine on physiological sexual arousal in nonsmoking women: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trialJ Sex Med · PMID 18331269
	Heart Rate	Improves (the measure goes down)			25 people

Male Sexual Dysfunction

Blood Pressure
Libido: improves
Penile Girth: improves

Male Sexual Dysfunction: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Blood Pressure No effect		NoneNo effect	2 studies	28 people
Studies that measured blood pressure Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trialNeurology · PMID 22232050 Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialJ Sex Med · PMID 17971108
	Libido	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	28 people
Studies that measured libido The inhibitory effects of nicotine on physiological sexual arousal in nonsmoking women: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trialJ Sex Med · PMID 18331269
	Penile Girth	Improves (the measure goes up)			28 people

Type 2 Diabetes

Blood Pressure
Glycemic Control: improves

Type 2 Diabetes: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Blood Pressure No effect		NoneNo effect	2 studies	12 people
Studies that measured blood pressure Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trialNeurology · PMID 22232050 Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialJ Sex Med · PMID 17971108
	Glycemic Control	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	24 people
Studies that measured glycemic control Nicotine infusion acutely impairs insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients but not in healthy subjectsJ Intern Med · PMID 11422660

Erectile Dysfunction

Blood Pressure
Libido: improves
Heart Rate: improves

Erectile Dysfunction: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Blood Pressure No effect		NoneNo effect	2 studies	28 people
Studies that measured blood pressure Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trialNeurology · PMID 22232050 Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialJ Sex Med · PMID 17971108
	Libido	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	28 people
Studies that measured libido The inhibitory effects of nicotine on physiological sexual arousal in nonsmoking women: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trialJ Sex Med · PMID 18331269
	Heart Rate	Improves (the measure goes down)			28 people
	Penile Girth	Improves (the measure goes up)			28 people

Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder

Libido
Penile Girth: improves

Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Libido No effect		NoneNo effect	1 study	28 people
Studies that measured libido The inhibitory effects of nicotine on physiological sexual arousal in nonsmoking women: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trialJ Sex Med · PMID 18331269
	Penile Girth	Improves (the measure goes up)			28 people

Weight Loss & Maintenance

Fat Oxidation
Metabolic Rate: improves

Weight Loss & Maintenance: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Fat Oxidation No effect		NoneNo effect	1 study	12 people
Studies that measured fat oxidation Effect of chewing gum containing nicotine and caffeine on energy expenditure and substrate utilization in menAm J Clin Nutr · PMID 12791621
	Metabolic Rate	Improves (the measure goes up)			12 people

Metabolic Health

Blood glucose
Blood Pressure: improves
Glycemic Control: improves

Metabolic Health: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Blood glucose No effect		NoneNo effect		34 people
	Blood Pressure	Improves (the measure goes down)		2 studies	12 people
Studies that measured blood pressure Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trialNeurology · PMID 22232050 Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialJ Sex Med · PMID 17971108
	Glycemic Control	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	58 people
Studies that measured glycemic control Nicotine infusion acutely impairs insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients but not in healthy subjectsJ Intern Med · PMID 11422660
	Insulin	Changes; see studies		1 study	34 people
Studies that measured insulin Acute effects of nicotine on serum glucose insulin growth hormone and cortisol in healthy smokersMetabolism · PMID 15131760
	Cortisol	Improves (the measure goes down)			34 people
	Growth Hormone	Improves (the measure goes up)			34 people

Memory Improvement

Attention: improves

Memory Improvement: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People	Studies list
	Attention	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	18 people
Studies that measured attention Preliminary findings on the interactive effects of IV ethanol and IV nicotine on human behavior and cognition: a laboratory studyNicotine Tob Res · PMID 22180582

Pathological Gambling (PG)

Impulse Control: improves

Pathological Gambling (PG): outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People	Studies list
	Impulse Control	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	28 people
Studies that measured impulse control The effects of acute doses of nicotine on video lottery terminal gambling in daily smokersPsychopharmacology · PMID 21904819

Smoking Behavior

Impulse Control: improves

Smoking Behavior: outcomes studied for Nicotine
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People	Studies list
	Impulse Control	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	28 people

Key findings

Anxiety SymptomsCognitive Improvement
Reaction TimeCognitive ImprovementImproves (the measure goes up)
Luteinizing HormoneLow TestosteroneImproves (the measure goes up)

Shop Nicotine

Third-party tested Nicotine products. The evidence above is limited, so read it before you buy.

Grade C

Links to Fullscript, iHerb or Thorne carry our referral, so we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Grades come from the research and never change based on what we earn. Fullscript asks for a free account before it shows its catalog and prices. Full disclosure

Studies cited

11 studies from PubMed

The inhibitory effects of nicotine on physiological sexual arousal in nonsmoking women: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trialJ Sex Med · PMID 18331269
Effects of intravenous cocaine and cigarette smoking on luteinizing hormone, testosterone, and prolactin in menJ Pharmacol Exp Ther · PMID 12893845
Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trialNeurology · PMID 22232050
Nicotine increases neural response to unpleasant stimuli and anxiety in non-smokersAddict Biol · PMID 20731637
Nicotine differentially modulates antisaccade performance in healthy male non-smoking volunteers stratified for low and high accuracyPsychopharmacology · PMID 22038536
Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialJ Sex Med · PMID 17971108
Acute effects of nicotine on serum glucose insulin growth hormone and cortisol in healthy smokersMetabolism · PMID 15131760
Nicotine infusion acutely impairs insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients but not in healthy subjectsJ Intern Med · PMID 11422660
Preliminary findings on the interactive effects of IV ethanol and IV nicotine on human behavior and cognition: a laboratory studyNicotine Tob Res · PMID 22180582
Effect of chewing gum containing nicotine and caffeine on energy expenditure and substrate utilization in menAm J Clin Nutr · PMID 12791621
The effects of acute doses of nicotine on video lottery terminal gambling in daily smokersPsychopharmacology · PMID 21904819

Evidence by condition

Key findings

Shop Nicotine

Studies cited

Related supplements