Joe Rogan Finds Relief After Learning Smelling Salts Don’t Cause Brain Damage

Lucky for veteran UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, the use of smelling salts doesn’t necessarily cause brain damage or health issues.

Primarily used to arouse consciousness, as per the National Institute of Health, the substance releases ammonia gas, which causes a sharp inhalation due to the irritation caused to the lungs and nasal membranes.

However, Rogan, a veteran caller for the promotion, has been an avid user of these salts on his podcast – a comedic turn on his guests and many of his friends over the years.

Infamously subjecting fellow standup comedian Theo Von to the substance on his podcast for the first time three years ago, Rogan has, however, never been curious about the damage they might cause.

This week, however, Rogan whipped out the salts again – this time with veteran comedian, Joey Diaz.

“Are we giving ourselves brain damage or what?” Rogan asked Diaz — who inhaled multiple times — in each nostril, in fact.

“These fresh ones are brutal. Are we giving ourselves brain damage? I need to know. I can’t afford any more brain damage“, he added.

The JRE host then read out the label on the product and realized that an excess use of these salts may damage his nasal membranes and lungs. But thankfully, none of it is directly correlated to messing up the wires in his noggin, so it seems the UFC commentator is going to be using them again.

Joe Rogan and Joey Diaz hitting smelling salts

“Are we giving ourselves brain damage or what? Hopefully. Let’s find out about that” pic.twitter.com/bQECMNdLwp

— Overlap Comedy (@Overlap_Comedy) April 23, 2025

Rogan also told the same thing he had told Von all those years ago when the two tried sniffing them. The JRE host had claimed that powerlifters would sniff these salts right before hitting their PR best.

While Diaz wouldn’t have much of a reaction to it, a teary-eyed Von had quipped, “Before they lift what, bro? The universe? Before they lift their future?”

Rogan has been a long-time fan of the salts and has introduced some of his most loyal guests to it in the past, including a former UFC heavyweight fighter

Former UFC heavyweight goes viral for smelling salts

Sidelined for UFC 297 at the beginning of last year, Rogan had hosted a Fight Companion on his podcast with the Octagon heading to Canada – a trip in which he has no interest in making again.

Welcoming the above-mentioned, Diaz, as well as UFC alum, Brendan Schaub, and Jiu-Jitsu star, Eddie Bravo, to take hits of the salt, Rogan had managed to create one of the funniest moments on his show.

Diaz, a self-proclaimed abuser of cocaine in the past, had pretty much underestimated the strength of these salts. But he would soon realize how badly he was mistaken to have done so.

Taking multiple whiffs, the four danced to Operation Blade by Public Domain – the theme song for Wesley Snipes’ 1998 action/horror movie, Blade.

Whenever I’m feeling down, I think about Joe Rogan and Joey Diaz trying smelling salts. pic.twitter.com/EsgB8Tm4nk

— Lounes M (@aisleaime) January 20, 2025

Earlier this month, too, Rogan enticed ‘bio hacker’, Gary Brecka, to try the substance. Claiming he had lost sight in his right eye, albeit temporarily, he would be assured that it would return in time. But alas, there’s no brain effect, it seems.