Drinking coffee and carbonated beverages blocks absorption of nicotine from nicotine polacrilex gum
J. E. Henningfield, A. Radzius, T. M. Cooper and R. R. Clayton
National Institute on Drug Abuse, Addiction Research Center, Baltimore, Md 21224.
Patients failing to obtain benefit from nicotine polacrilex gum in their
efforts to quit smoking may be inadvertently blocking nicotine absorption.
Effective nicotine absorption depends on the mildly alkaline saliva that is
produced when buffering agents in the polacrilex are released along with
nicotine as the polacrilex is chewed. We found that intermittent mouth
rinsing with coffee or cola, but not distilled water, substantially reduced
salivary pH and nicotine absorption. Because many commonly consumed
substances were also found to be highly acidic, we recommend that patients
do not ingest any substance during or immediately before nicotine
polacrilex use.
