This Harvard Study Will Surprise You

This Harvard Study shows nicotine is not highly addictive on it’s own.

In 2015, Harvard scientists published a research paper exploring the relationship between cigarettes and nicotine, initially aiming to investigate nicotine’s addictive properties. Contrary to their expectations, their findings suggested nicotine alone was not highly addictive. Surprised, they contacted the FDA, which revealed that since the early 1970s, cigarette manufacturers had added chemicals to enhance the appeal of cigarettes, influencing their addictiveness.

The Harvard study examines how these additives, particularly pyrazines, enhance the smoking experience.

Flavor Enhancement:

The Harvard study showed that when the cigarette manufacturers add Pyrazines to cigarettes, it makes them super addictive and unhealthy, but better tasting.

• Pyrazines contribute nutty, roasted, and earthy flavors to tobacco smoke.
• Different pyrazine compounds create varied flavor profiles, making cigarettes more enjoyable.

Bitterness Reduction:

• Tobacco smoke naturally contains bitter compounds.
• Pyrazines mask this bitterness, resulting in a smoother, more palatable taste.

Complexity and Depth:

• Pyrazines interact with other flavor compounds, adding complexity to the cigarette’s taste.
• This multidimensional flavor can make smoking more satisfying for users.

Individual Variation:

• Smokers’ sensitivity to pyrazines varies, influencing their preference for certain cigarette brands.

Optimizing Nicotine Delivery:

• Pyrazines enhance nicotine absorption by altering how nicotine is delivered in the body.
• Combined with nicotine, they improve the overall smoking experience.

Sensory Cueing:

• Pyrazines modify the taste and aroma of cigarette smoke, creating pleasant sensory cues.
• These cues become associated with nicotine reward, reinforcing smoking behavior.

Dependence Enhancement:

• Pyrazines contribute to nicotine dependence by:
  • Ensuring consistent nicotine dosing.
  • Linking sensory cues (taste and aroma) to nicotine satisfaction.

“Super Juice” and Sheet Tobacco:

• “Super juice” is a colloquial term for flavor-enhancing additives applied to sheet tobacco during manufacturing.
• These additives mask the harshness of tobacco smoke, improving taste and palatability.

Common Cigarette Additives

Cigarettes contain over 600 ingredients, including:

• Acetanisole, Benzaldehyde, Cinnamaldehyde: Enhance flavor.
• Ammonia: Boosts nicotine absorption.
• Glycerol, Propylene Glycol: Retain moisture.
• Anise, Balsam of Peru, Benzoin Resin: Add specific flavors like licorice or sweetness.
• Ethyl Maltol, Sugar: Sweeten smoke and reduce harshness.
• Menthol: Common in menthol cigarettes for a cooling effect.
• Pyrazines: Alter taste and optimize nicotine delivery.

Each cigarette brand uses a unique combination of these additives to tailor the smoking experience, contributing to both flavor and addiction potential.

Big Tobacco Buys Big Foods

Cigarette Giants Bought Food Companies, Used Cartoon Characters, Colors, Flavors to Boost Sales of Sweetened Beverages.

For many years we have heard how bad nicotine is, but a new study from Harvard shows that nicotine is not addictive.

Top 10 Ways Big Tobacco Shaped our favorite American foods and increased flavor by 68%!

So what makes cigarettes addictive then?

In their study published in July 2016, amid the announcement of FDA regulations, Harvard researchers scrutinized nicotine addiction claims. Focusing on pyrazines, which are chemical additives in nicotine for modern day cigarettes. This alters the cigarette, making nicotine more addictive than it normally would be.

Smoking ‘Pyrazines’ Enhances Flavor – And Addiction.

Pyrazines, responsible for varied smoke scents like “nutty” or “chocolaty,” play a pivotal role in greatly enhancing addiction, the study suggests. Originating from the 1990s, when Big Tobacco faced mounting health concerns, the introduction of “low tar” alternatives lacked flavor until pyrazines altered smoke taste. The pyrazines, not the nicotine, is deemed the addictive agent.

Read How Big Tobacco Companies Shaped the Taste of Our Favorite Foods!

The study highlights pyrazines’ role in bolstering cigarette appeal, potentially enticing non-smokers, complicating quitting for current smokers, and facilitating relapse for former smokers. However, allegations persist that electronic cigarettes harbor pyrazines, fueling concerns of enticing youth with flavors like “cotton candy” or “chocolate-covered cherries.”

Contrary to such claims, e-liquids predominantly comprise Propylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerin, Flavorings, and water. While minute traces of pyrazines may exist in ecig flavorings, they are still bad for your health.

VIEW MULTI VITAMIN GUMMY

Tobacco manufacturers modified the design of products by directly adding constituents to cigarettes that stimulate gustatory, tactile and olfactory nerve receptors and create chemosensory effects that could enhance elasticity in nicotine dosing as well as strengthen sensory cueing to optimise the ‘pleasure’ in smoking.38 42–51 Pyrazines, a class of chemosensory agents, comprise 15 of the 599 compounds on the list of cigarette ingredients provided by manufacturers to the US Department of Health and Human Services in 1994,52 8 of the compounds on the list of additive ingredients provided by manufacturers to the FDA in 201153 and 10 of the compounds presently listed on cigarette manufacturers’ website as cigarette ingredients”54–56 (box 1). 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4941150/

Sources

1. Source
2. Cigarettes & Pyrazines: The Harvard Study 2015
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4941150/
4. https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/25/4/444