Does Smoking Contribute to Weight Gain?

Most cigarette users would claim that they lose appetite when they smoke. Yet, when they quit, they tend to put more weight on than when they were smoking. One may now ask,

“Does smoking contribute to weight gain?”

&

“Does smoking have something to do with obesity?”

_____It was reported that obesity and diseases – which was caused by smoking – has been the leading causes of death around the world. The existence of smoking and obesity has great ill effects on health. According to scholars, smokers live 14 years lesser than those who do not smoke. In the same vein, 1/3 of obese smokers die between ages 40 to 75 years old, hence the relationship between smoking and obesity is completely intertwined.

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_____At the onset, a smoker may lose weight because of smoking, because nicotine increases energy use, thus reducing appetite. This explains why smokers most likely have a Iower body weight than non-smokers. Then again, this phenomenon has an extreme side effect which is weight gain following smoking cessation. Because of this, a widespread belief that smoking is a “good method” of losing and managing weight has been making waves.

This, of course, is not necessarily true.

_____Studies reveal that heavy smokers (people who smoke a bigger number of cigarettes a day) have higher body weight than light smokers. Should the initial belief be true, then it should have followed that the more cigarettes you smoke, the lesser would be your weight. Furthermore, newly found evidences would point out that smoking has something great to do in as far as poor fat distribution, central obesity, and resistance to insulin.

_____Smoking’s effect on the body can be characterized by weight loss due to increased metabolic rate and decreased calorific absorption. A single puff of tobacco a day has been proven to increase the body’s energy use by 3% in 30 minutes. Then again, this effect is weaker among obese smokers. Studies found out that an obese female quitter of smokingdecreased her body’s energy usage by 16% compared to that time when she was still smoking. These data show that smoking generally does not help in controlling one’s weight. Heavy smoking on the other hand increases the body’s chance to gain weight.

_____Though light smokers may benefit from the weight loss effect of smoking, the adverse effect of the same on the body’s other organs cannot be discounted. The smoker’s heart, for instance, suffers the most as the smoker inhale more smoke. As cigarette smoker’s inhale more smoke, his metabolic rate runs faster as the heart is forced to beat faster. The moment a smoker inhales a cigarette, his heart is forced to beat 10 to 20 times faster per minute. When he decides to stop smoking, the heart rate slows down, causing metabolism to slow down as well. In this case, you can never say that the benefits out-way the risks. Yes, a light smoker may lose weight by changing his metabolic rate, but the gaining weight part will have to happen at withdrawal on top of a deadly heart disease caused by increased heart rate.

 So to answer the question “does smoking contribute to weight gain?,” the answer is in the affirmative. The explanation above very well illustrates how this happens.