RACHEL: FLAVORED NICOTINE POUCH AND ZYN IS SURGING IN POPULARITY. USERS ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA SAY IT ALSO HAS SERVED AS AN ACCIDENTAL WEIGHT LOSS ARE DRUG. BUT SOME EXPERTS WARN AGAINST THE BRAND, IS THIS A SAFE ALTERNATIVE? JOINING US NOW WITH MORE IS FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR DR. NICOLE SAPHIER. NICOLE, SO GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON. LISTEN, WE TALK ABOUT ZYN A LOT. WILL LIKES IT, MY HUSBAND LIKES IT, I DON'T LIKE THAT MY HUSBAND'S ON ZYN, BUT NOW THEY'RE SAYING THERE'S A WEIGHT LOSS COMPONENT TO THIS. TELL ME IF THAT'S TRUE AND IF THERE ARE NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS THAT MIGHT IF OUTWEIGH SOME OF THE BENEFITS LIKE — [LAUGHTER] GETTING TRIM. >> YOU'RE JUST WANTING ME TO SAY THIS TO GET AT WILL, I CAN TELL, FOR SURE — RACHEL: OR SOLVE MY MARITAL SPAT WITH SEAN.
[LAUGHTER] >> YOU KNOW, I NEVER HEARD OF ZYN UNTIL TALKING TO WILL ABOUT IT, SO ESSENTIALLY IT'S A NIKE TEEN POUCH THAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH, AND YOU KIND OF GET A DIRECT HIT OF NICOTINE. WHAT IS NICOTINE? WELL, IT'S BEEN WIDELY USED FOR OVER A CENTURY IN CIGARETTE SMOKING, AND ONE OF THE THINGS ACTUALLY A CENTURY AGO WHEN CIGARETTES CAME OUT, IT WAS ADVERTISED FOR WEIGHT LOSS X AND IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THIS SLIMMING THING, A SLIMMING ALTERNATIVE TO CANDY, IF YOU COULD IMAGINE THAT. OBVIOUSLY, OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DECADES IT BECAME A BLATANTLY OBVIOUS THE HEALTH DETRIMENTS OF CIGARETTE SMOKING. BUT WHAT IS NICOTINE IN ITSELF? IF YOU TAKE ALL OF THE CONSEQUENCES FROM THE TOBACCO AND OTHER THINGS IN IF CIGARETTES, WHAT DO YOU SEE IN NICOTINE? IT IS A STIMULANT, AND IT ABSOLUTELY IS AN APPETITE SUPPRESSANT.
UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN PEOPLE WOULD STOP SMOKING, THEY WOULD GAIN WEIGHT BACK. SO I IMAGINE IF PEOPLE ARE, YOU KNOW, ON ZYNING REGULARLY, THAT THEY MAY ACTUALLY GAIN WEIGHT WHEN THEY COME OFF OF IT. RACHEL: IF IT'S SUPPRESSING, MEAN, YOU'RE GETTING THE NECK TEEN DIRECTLY, IT'S SUPPRESSING YOUR APPETITE. I THINK IT WOULD MAKE SENSE THAT IT COULD THE ALLOW YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT. COMPARE THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT OZEMPIC. IS IT AN ALTERNATIVE TO SEMIPICK, MAYBE, WHICH, BY THE WAY, COSTS $1,000 A MONTH, I THINK, TO BE ON OZEMPIC. >> NICOTINE AND THE OTHER ONES WERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. WE THINK THAT NICOTINE STIMULATES A HORMONE THIS IS AN APPETITE SUPPRESS IF SANTA, VERY DIFFERENT HORMONE IF SYSTEM THAN THE GLP. IS IT AN ALTERNATIVE? I DON'T KNOW. HERE'S THE PROBLEM I HAVE WITH SOME OF THE ZYN IS IT'S NOT WIDELY STUDIED. I SOUND KIND OF LIKE WE ALWAYS SAY, WELL, I DON'T HAVE THE DATA ON IT.
ONE OF THE CONCERNS IS, AND I THINK WHEN YOU HEAR MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL AS SAY I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ZYN, IT'S BECAUSE WE KNOW NICOTINE CAN RAISE THE BLOOD PRESSURE, RAISE THE HEART RATE AND CONSTRICT BLOOD VESSELS, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IS A SAFE DOSE, SO THAT'S WHY PEOPLE ARE CONCERNED. TO OZEMPIC, MOUNJARO, THEY HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE STUDIED. NOT NECESSARILY THEIR LONG-TERM POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS, BUT IN THE SHORT TERM THEY'RE MORE STUDY THED. OBVIOUSLY, ZYN IS MUCH CHEAPER, AND IT CAN WORK AS AN APPETITE SUPPRESSANT, BUT DOES THAT MEAN YOU CAN TAKE ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY ADDICTIVE CHEMICALS? I DON'T KNOW. I SAY GET TO THE GYM AND EAT HEALTHIER. RACHEL: I AGREE WITH THAT AND ON SEMITICK AS DELL — OZEMPIC AS WELL. WE DON'T KNOW THE LONG-TERM STUDIES ON IT IMPACT, SO VERY INTERESTING STUFF. WE'RE GOING TO MOVE TO THIS BECAUSE THE QUESTION IS ABOUT HOT SAUCE. CAN IT TRIGGER A HEART ATTACK. WE RECENTLY SAW THAT A TEEN DIED AFTER EATING A SUPER SPICY TORTILLA CHIP. UNBELIEVABLE. IN THIS PERSON WAS ATTEMPTING A ONE-CHIP CHALLENGE. HIS AUTOPSY REVEALED THAT HE HAD A HEART ATTACK.
DO WE KNOW FOR SURE THAT THAT WAS IF FROM THE CHIP? AND WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE HOT SAUCE AND THE POTENTIAL FOR HEART ATTACK? >> GOSH, RACHEL, I HATE THESE SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS — RACHEL: I KNOW. >> WE HEAR ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEM. NOW, TO HOT SAUCE AND HOT CHIPS AND TAKING SPICY THING, I'LL BE HONEST, MY OLDER SON LIKES TO DO THOSE TRENDS. WHAT MAKES SOMETHING SPICY? THERE ARE CHEMICALS AND INGREDIENTS IN IT WHICH ARE NATURAL FOUND IN CERTAIN HOT PEPPERS.
THEY ABSOLUTELY CAN AFFECT YOUR HEART, YOUR BLOOD AS WELL ASS. IN THIS 14-YEAR-OLD BOY, HE DIED OF A HEART ATTACK, HE HAD A PRE-EXISTING CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE, AND SO I THINK HE WAS PROBABLY MORE SENSITIVE TO IT. BUT, YEAH, YOU HAVE THE TAKE THINGS VERY CAREFULLY, ABSOLUTELY. RACHEL: YEAH. WE JUST PUT A LITTLE SRIRACHA ON OUR EGG SITES — [LAUGHTER] >> I PUT IT ON EVERYTHING. RACHEL: ALL RIGHT. DR. SAPHIER, SO GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON.