The nerve poison nicotine - why smoke is bothering sleep

Smokers sleep worse - but why? Cigarette smoke and the nicotine it contains are bad for your health and have a negative impact on your sleep. Here you can find out how nicotine affects the body and why smoking not only prevents you from having a healthy everyday life, but also from getting a restful sleep.

Table of contents

1. health risk of smoking
2. The neurotoxin nicotine
3. How does nicotine work?
4. How nicotine and smoking harm sleep
5. Overview: The Effects of Nicotine on Sleep
6. Smoke-free for better sleep

1. Health risk of smoking

Almost a quarter of Germans regularly smoke cigarettes, although smoking is considered one of the greatest avoidable health risks for us humans and causes serious long-term damage to the body and the psyche. The main active ingredient, nicotine, in particular, affects the organism in a variety of harmful ways and not only leads to strong addiction, but also prevents restful sleep and promotes the development of sleep disorders.

2. The neurotoxin nicotine

Nicotine is a naturally occurring chemical compound and is considered like alcohol or caffeine one of the so-called neurotoxins. It is found naturally in the leaves of the tobacco plant and is therefore one of the main active ingredients in all tobacco products and cigarettes. A standard cigarette contains up to 13 mg of nicotine, of which between 1 and 2 mg are absorbed directly into the body through smoking. Due to its stimulating effect on the human organism and various areas of the nervous system, nicotine can affect health in many ways and also significantly disrupt our sleep.

3. How does nicotine work?

After inhalation, nicotine reaches the brain within a few seconds and activates the so-called reward system, which increases the production of the "happiness hormone" dopamine. This triggers feelings of relaxation and well-being, which are largely responsible for the dangerous addictive potential of the active ingredient. Although nicotine works quickly, it is broken down just as quickly and then has to be administered again to maintain its effect.

But nicotine is not called a "nerve poison" without reason! Nicotine primarily triggers stress in the body and stimulates the release of the stress hormones noradrenaline, adrenaline or vasopressin. This puts our body on alert, causing our heart rate and blood pressure to rise, our blood vessels to constrict and our nervous system to be activated. Repeated nicotine consumption therefore puts our body into a state of stress again and again, which in the long term particularly affects our nerve function and cardiovascular system suffer. And that's not all, because nicotine also interferes with fat metabolism and the regulation of blood sugar levels, damages the gastrointestinal system and promotes the activation of carcinogenic substances.

4. How nicotine and smoking harm sleep

Smokers have a harder time falling asleep, sleep for shorter periods and are less restful – this has been proven by scientific studies and surveys. According to the studies, regular cigarette consumption makes it more difficult to fall asleep, reduces the quality of sleep and the feeling of rest the next morning and overall causes a significantly shorter sleep.The study of the brain activity of smoking test subjects showed that they spend comparatively less time in deep sleep, but longer time in a lighter sleep state than non-smoking subjects.

The reason for this is certainly the interaction of the different active substances that are absorbed by the body when smoking. The main active substance, nicotine, in particular, stimulates the nerves and impairs important body functions such as metabolism, hormone production or the cardiovascular system. In this way, the natural sleep rhythm disturbed and our body is prevented from resting properly and falling asleep. In addition, the shortened deep sleep ensures that the body and brain cannot regenerate sufficiently during the night. Last but not least, the lung function and respiratory tract also suffer from the harmful smoke, so that free breathing during sleep is prevented. snoring Statistically speaking, smokers also smoke more often, which also has a negative impact on sleep.

5. Overview: The Effect of Nicotine on Sleep

• Difficulty falling asleep: Nicotine activates the nervous system and puts the body under stress, which prevents evening relaxation and keeps those affected awake longer.
• Reduced sleep duration / lack of sleep: Nicotine disrupts the natural sleep-wake rhythm and shortens the length of nightly sleep
• Poor sleep / Reduced sleep quality: The neurotoxin appears to have a negative effect on the transition between sleep phases, particularly at the beginning of the night, and to reduce the overall proportion of deep sleep, which reduces sleep quality and makes sleep less restful.

6. Smoke-free for better sleep

Smoking affects our health and harms it further by significantly affecting sleep. Sleep disorders and insomnia ensure that we day under fatigue, poor performance and stress. This in turn is bad for your health and makes it even more difficult to sleep - which increases the desire for the relaxing effect of nicotine. A vicious circle that we should avoid at all costs. So that we can not only sleep well but also lead a long and healthy life, we should avoid smoking in any form or at least try to reduce nicotine consumption to a minimum.

7. Conclusion

• Smoking is one of the greatest health risks and not only reduces the quality of life, but also promotes sleep disorders and insomnia, which are further damaging to health.

• Nicotine is a neurotoxin which, as the main active ingredient in tobacco products, has a particularly harmful effect on nerve function and the cardiovascular system and has a high potential for addiction.

• Nicotine causes difficulty falling asleep, shortens sleep duration and makes sleep less restful.

Best regards and see you soon!