I’ve been intermittent fasting for 6 months and have lost 30lbs and I’m feeling amazing. Originally I was drinking HiBall seltzer energy drinks to curb my hunger and it worked well for a while but I had to have 2 of those a day and they made my energy levels a little messed up.
I switched to green tea 3 months ago and feel a lot better but my hunger went thru the roof. I was getting mad cravings and would break my fast. I’ve used Zyn nicotine pouches occasionally over the past few years but have started to use them regularly because they help me focus and curb my hunger.
I know nicotine isn’t “safe” but I feel like if it is helping me stick to IF then the benefits of weight loss out weigh the potential risks of nicotine use. It is tobacco-less so it doesn’t carry nearly as much risk as tobacco use. I’ve been able to quit nicotine easily over the past decade when I wanted to. Quitting smoking for me was easy and I didn’t touch any nicotine products for several years after I quit.
Has anyone else experienced this? Besides nicotine addiction should I be aware/careful with this approach? What would be some of your concerns? I’m am using the lower dose Zyn 3mg, sometimes 5 a day. I am not concerned about quitting, that seems to be the biggest risk associated with nicotine use. I don’t see a lot of information about what potential harm there could be, I know it probably isn’t harmless but my mouth and gums feel totally healthy. Am I being stupid or has anyone else seen benefit from nicotine as a “supplement”? Totally open to being wrong here.
It is good that you are doing IF, but have you also looked into low carb? Reducing carbs and replacing them with healthily fats will stabilize blood glucose levels, therefore reducing food cravings. Ensuring sufficient protein and fiber intake will also help with satiety.
Nicotine pouches are uniquely addictive. They didn’t help me quit smoking, they made me quit smoking as I just didn’t want cigarettes interrupting my endless stream of pure nicotine. The cravings when quitting are less intense but no less frequent, and knowing it probably won’t kill me destroyed my motivation to quit.
Though I’m not coughing up a lung anymore, the large amount of nicotine I get seems to affect my endurance. Since your goal is weight loss, I’d worry that even a minor impact on your cardiovascular health might negate the appetite suppression. Maybe you won’t go crazy with it like I did, but it might not be worth the risk.
If you can keep it at 15mg a day, you might not have any issues. But we all start out that way, and the thing about Zyn is that there are no social restrictions on it. Can you trust yourself not to abuse this like I did?