Nicotine Gum and Caffeine May Burn Calories

Posting Date: 08/13/2003

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 77, No. 6, 1442-1447, June 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION

Effect of chewing gum containing nicotine and caffeine on energy expenditure and substrate utilization in men1,2,3

Anna B Jessen, Søren Toubro and Arne Astrup

1 From the Department of Human Nutrition, Centre for Advanced Food Studies, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Frederiksberg, Denmark.

text continues below

Background: Nicotine replacement therapy limits weight gain after smoking cessation. This finding is partly attributable to the thermogenic effect of nicotine, which may be enhanced by caffeine.

Objective: We assessed the acute thermogenic effects of chewing gum containing different doses of nicotine and caffeine.

Design: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study included 12 healthy, normal-weight men (aged 18?45 y). Energy expenditure was measured with indirect calorimetry before and 2.5 h after subjects chewed each of 7 different types of gum containing the following doses of nicotine/caffeine: 0/0, 1/0, 2/0, 1/50, 2/50, 1/100, and 2/100 mg/mg.

Results: The thermogenic responses (increases over the response to placebo) were 3.7%, 4.9%, 7.9%, 6.3%, 8.5%, and 9.8%, respectively, for the gums containing 1/0, 2/0, 1/50, 2/50, 1/100, and 2/100 mg nicotine/mg caffeine (P < 0.05 for all). Adding caffeine to 1 and 2 mg nicotine significantly enhanced the thermogenic response, but changing the caffeine dose (from 50 to 100 mg) did not change the thermogenic effect. None of the combinations changed the respiratory quotient compared with placebo, which indicates that glucose and fat oxidation rates were increased to a similar extent. Side effects occurred only with 2 mg nicotine.