What is Nicotine
Nicotine is a potent parasympathomimetic alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (Solanaceae) and a stimulant drug. It is a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist. It is made in the roots and accumulates in the leaves of the plants. It constitutes approximately of the dry weight of tobacco and is present in the range of 2–7 µg/kg of various edible plants. It functions as an antiherbivore chemical; therefore, nicotine was widely used as an insecticide in the past and nicotine analogs such as imidacloprid are currently widely used.
Nicotine is one of the most powerful substances in cigarettes that millions of people are addicted to. Here are some tips in flushing your system and body from nicotine so you can totally give up cigarette Smoking and the many health damage it causes to your heart, lungs and liver
The tobacco plant is a member of the Solanaceae family. Biosynthesis of nicotine occurs in the roots. It is carried to the leaves for storage. The purpose of nicotine is to help protect the plant from insects.
Five percent of tobacco plant’s dry weight is nicotine. Depending on the brand, one cigarette may have eight to twenty milligrams of nicotine. The typical inhaled dose is about 3 mg But only about one milligram is absorbed by the body. Even at this dose, nicotine affects the central nervous system and can cause:
- constriction of blood vessels,
- tachycardia,
- tachypnea (very rapid breathing),
- hyperglycemia,
- nausea.
Possible side effects of nicotine
- Nicotine increases blood pressure and heart rate in humans.
- Nicotine can also induce potentially atherogenic genes in human coronary artery endothelial cells. Microvascular injury can result through its action on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
- A study on rats showed that nicotine exposure abolishes the beneficial and protective effects of estrogen on the hippocampus, an estrogen-sensitive region of the brain involved in memory formation and retention.
How long does Nicotine stay in your body
BRAIN – Your brain becomes free of nicotine within about 40 minutes of your last cigarette
URINE – If you smoke a couple cigarettes a day, then the nicotine will remain in your urine for three to four days only. If you smoke steadily and have a long history of smoking then the nicotine will show up to two weeks later, mostly just one though. If you are a heavy smoker then nicotine will stay for about twenty days in urine.
BLOOD Blood tests can detect even a small amount of nicotine in your body. The timeframe for nicotine being detected after consuming in blood test is much longer than the urine test. The mechanism of nicotine staying in the blood is different from that of urine. When the nicotine enters the blood system then it gets converted into cotinine. In fact blood test measures the cotinine substance in the blood.
Blood test detects nicotine even in a very small amount and for a longer timeframe because our body does not clear blood through the liver as fast as urine passes out of our body.
HAIR – Nicotine can be traced in the hair up to several years after a person’s last nicotine intake.
DETOX – When the body is getting rid of the toxins then water is the best friend for fast ridding of it. Drink more water and the clearing process becomes faster in your body. This is because drinking lots of water increases the metabolism of your body and hence the ridding or the clearing of nicotine from your body speeds up.
The next way of getting rid of nicotine from your body is by taking Vitamin C. In fact Vitamin C is a very good antioxidant besides helping in keeping you healthy. Taking of Vitamin C helps in metabolizing the drug and helps in quicker purge of the body.
Rigorous exercise is also a good method of getting rid of nicotine from your system. Rigorous exercise helps in metabolizing and processing of all the toxins in the body. This method is also a very good way in helping to deal with any cravings that you may have.
Basically if you drink lots of water, and retain from nicotine for a week or two, you should be able to pass both a urinalysis and blood test
