What Zyn pouches do to your brain, body, and heart
- Zyn nicotine pouches are rising in popularity in the US, but the long-term health risks are unclear.
- Nicotine is highly addictive and can change the chemistry of the brain.
- The stimulant can increase heart rate and blood pressure, and harm skin and gum tissue.
Zyn nicotine pouches are popping up everywhere.
A quick search for ‘Zyn’ on TikTok will tell you that Tucker Carlson calls them a “life-enhancer,” and young men are taking them before workouts to push themselves at the gym, while others say they pop them all day for the nicotine high.
The pouches, which first appeared in 2014, have exploded in popularity in the last few years as hype spread that they could improve alertness and focus alongside a temporary buzz. Nearly 385 million cans resembling Ice Breaker mint packets, filled with the white, nail-sized sachets were shipped in the US in 2023 — up 62% from 2022. This is despite the long-term health effects being unknown.
Each pouch is filled with nicotine salt, which is absorbed into the bloodstream through the mouth. They come in flavors such as coffee, cool mint, and Bellini.
While they are free from tobacco, and consequently some of the health risks of smoking, nicotine can be harmful, too. When it enters the bloodstream, for instance, it can increase blood pressure and heart rate.
“It probably has a small, but real effect on your cardiovascular risk,” Dr. Jonathan Foulds, a professor of public health sciences and psychiatry at the Penn State University College of Medicine, told The New York Times.
The pouches contain between 3 and 6 milligrams of nicotine. A cigarette typically contains between 10 and 12 mg of nicotine, but only around 1 to 2 mg are inhaled. Someone using a 3 mg Zyn pouch will absorb 1.59 mg of nicotine, or 3.51 mg from a 6 mg pouch, a spokesperson for Zyn told Business Insider in an email.
And while there is limited research on nicotine pouches, placing nicotine in contact with skin for an extended period of time could cause swelling and rashes.
Business Insider previously reported that prolonged nicotine use can also cause a person’s skin to age more rapidly and prevent skin wounds from healing.
Nicotine is addictive and changes the chemistry of the brain
As an addictive stimulant that can lead to dependency, nicotine can also alter the chemistry of the brain.
Nicotine triggers chemical reactions that create temporary feelings of pleasure and concentration in the brain, usually lasting no longer than a few minutes. The good feelings come partly because nicotine increases levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that’s released when we find something pleasurable, which in turn makes use want more.
Over time, and with repeated exposure, the brain’s sensitivity to dopamine changes, which leads to a higher tolerance for the drug, as well as changes in other brain circuits involved in learning, stress, and self-control, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This can lead to addiction.
Once addicted to nicotine, a person may experience withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, dry mouth, and headaches when they stop using it.
Middle and high-school-aged kids are using nicotine pouches
Zyn says its products are only for consumers 21 and older who already use nicotine. “The best thing that anyone using nicotine can do is to quit. For those who don’t stop, the best choice is to switch to a smoke-free alternative,” the Zyn spokesperson said.
However, unlike nicotine replacement therapies such as gum, patches, and mints, nicotine pouches like Zyn have not yet been proven to be a safe way to quit smoking.
And experts are particularly worried about the potential effects on young people and their developing brains. A 2023 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that around 1.5% of middle and high school students reported using nicotine pouches in the last 30 days.
Nicotine exposure can harm brain development in teens and young adults, which can continue into their mid-20s, according to the CDC. It can affect attention, learning, mood, and impulse control in this age group.
“My biggest concern is that young people who use nicotine pouches will develop a strong nicotine addiction, which might lead them to using more harmful nicotine products like cigarettes or snuff,” Brittney Keller-Hamilto, associate professor at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, who has studied nicotine pouches, told Business Insider.
Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told The New York Times that much like vapes, they could “really drive nicotine addiction and nicotine enjoyment.”
Children, in particular, could also be at risk of acute nicotine toxicity if they use a Zyn pouch.
“A young child could get symptoms of nicotine toxicity with as little as one to two milligrams,” Dr. Alok Patel, a physician and Stanford Children’s Hospital, told ABC News.
Symptoms can include agitation, fast heart rate, nausea, vomiting, or, in severe cases, seizures and cardiac arrest.
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