Does nicotine gum help you poop faster after surgery?
Nicotine chewing gum for the prevention of postoperative ileus after colorectal surgery: a multicenter, double-blind, randomised, controlled pilot study
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Nicotine gum didn’t reduce inflammation markers (IL-6, CRP, WBC) despite strong mechanistic evidence it should.
Animal and prior human studies show nicotine activates the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway—so seeing zero effect in humans with a plausible dose is unexpected and raises questions about translation from lab to clinic.
Practical Takeaways
After colorectal surgery, chew sugar-free gum three times a day for 30 minutes—it helps your bowels recover faster, no nicotine needed.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Nicotine gum didn’t reduce inflammation markers (IL-6, CRP, WBC) despite strong mechanistic evidence it should.
Animal and prior human studies show nicotine activates the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway—so seeing zero effect in humans with a plausible dose is unexpected and raises questions about translation from lab to clinic.
Practical Takeaways
After colorectal surgery, chew sugar-free gum three times a day for 30 minutes—it helps your bowels recover faster, no nicotine needed.
Publication
Journal
International Journal of Colorectal Disease
Year
2017
Authors
D. Lambrichts, G. S. Boersema, B. Taş, Zhouqiao Wu, W. Vrijland, G. Kleinrensink, J. Jeekel, J. Lange, A. Menon
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Claims (7)
Chewing nicotine gum after colon surgery doesn't help your bowels start working again any faster than chewing regular gum.
After colon surgery, using nicotine gum doesn't seem to cause more heart problems, infections, or deaths than regular gum.
The amount of nicotine in the gum might have been too low to have any real effect on bowel recovery or inflammation after surgery.
Even though nicotine is thought to calm inflammation, chewing nicotine gum after colon surgery didn't lower any of the blood markers of inflammation compared to regular gum.
Just chewing gum after colon surgery helps your bowels start working again, whether the gum has nicotine or not.