The question of why heavy smokers tend to have greater body weight than light smokers or nonsmokers remains unanswered. One explanation could be that heavy smokers are more likely to adopt behaviors favoring weight gain (eg, low physical activity, unhealthy diet, and high alcohol intake) than are light smokers or nonsmokers.
Why People who Quit Smoking Gain Weight. Control your drinking. Alcohol, sugary sodas, and sweetened juices may go down easy, but they add up, and can lead to weight gain. Try sparkling water with 100% fruit juice or herbal tea instead.
There is a lot of information about the link between smoking and weight control—much of it is mythical. Here are the worries that may stop you from quitting and what you should know. Reality: On average, smokers weigh less than never smokers. Former smokers weigh more than current smokers. But that’s not the complete picture.
In the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (ie, NHANES II) study (1976–1980), smokers weighed less than nonsmokers, and body leanness increased with the duration (but not with the intensity) of smoking ( 18 ).
The causes of weight gain after quitting smoking may include: the effect of nicotine withdrawal on the body, such as a slower metabolism and increased hunger, and doing little exercise. You would have to gain over 40 kilograms above your recommended weight to equal the risk of heart disease posed by smoking.
Many people gain weight when they quit smoking cigarettes. On average, people gain 5 to 10 pounds (2.25 to 4.5 kilograms) in the months after they give up smoking. You may put off quitting if you are worried about adding extra weight. But not smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health.
How smoking affects your weight. Smoking is linked with both weight loss and weight gain. Studies show that long term and heavy smokers are more likely to be overweight or obese than those who don't smoke.
However, weight gain and abdominal obesity generally occur after quitting smoking, as a result of nicotine withdrawal. Obesity increases various inflammatory markers, and weight gain after smoking cessation temporarily increases the risk of diabetes and reduces the benefit gained by smoking abstinence.
Around 3 days after quitting, most people will experience moodiness and irritability, severe headaches, and cravings as the body readjusts. In as little as 1 month, a person's lung function begins to improve. As the lungs heal and lung capacity improves, former smokers may notice less coughing and shortness of breath.
It is generally thought that most smokers who quit will gain some weight in the first few months, however, this is balanced out by the fact that 16% to 21% of smokers actually lost weight after 12 months of quitting.
"You burn about 250 calories if you smoke a pack a day. So when you quit and your metabolism slows down, your body has these extra calories it has to deal with, and many people gain weight." Most people gain about two pounds during the first couple of weeks after quitting, Purcell says.
A survey of smokers found 75 percent of women, versus 35 percent of men, said they were unwilling to gain more than 5 pounds (2.3 kg) in order to quit smoking. Women’s uppermost threshold was 5.8 pounds, or 2.6 kg—in line with the average weight gain found in Gall’s meta-analysis. Five pounds was also the don’t-pass-go number in a later study of women smokers.
If you quit smoking, you’ll be in the majority. Some of your friends will probably want to join you. And you’ll probably have more social options than ever before. You’ll also be around a lot longer, too.
In a May 2018 study , Johnson and other researchers analyzed data on 4,387 people with type 2 diabetes who were overweight or had obesity, by smoking status, participating in studies comparing weight loss between intensive lifestyle intervention and diabetes support and education (DSE).
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death—killing about one in five people each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Luckily, when someone quits smoking, it reduces their risk of developing serious health conditions, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Researchers have been studying whether weight gain after quitting smoking leads to worse health outcomes related to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Research finds that health risks of smoking far outweigh the slim chance of developing diabetes that comes with weight gain from quitting.
Smoking and nicotine—the addictive substance in tobacco, can increase insulin resistance which increases your risk of type 2 diabetes. “The most important thing you can do to minimize your risk of diabetes is to stop smoking,” says Steve Schroeder, MD, professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco. “And if you don’t gain weight you’ll have even less risk of getting diabetes once you quit smoking.”
Reality: Most smokers gain do weight when they quit, but the amount is less than you might think. And one in four quitters don’t gain any weight, says Alicia Allen, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine, who studies substance abuse disorders.
a. boys are more likely than girls to smoke as a means of weight control.
Has addictive properties. The presence of nicotine can be detected in the brain. a. as rapidly as 7 seconds after smoking. b. as rapidly as 2 minutes after smoking and 1 minute after intravenous injection.
An organic compound containing the group —CHO, formed by the oxidation of alcohols. Inflammation
Smokers believe they personally have a lower risk of disease and death than other smokers. Passive Smoking. Has been linked to lung cancer, breast cancer, heart disease (CVD) , and respiratory problems in children; Smoke exposure increases risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
The two main causes of weight gain when quitting smoking are thought to be: 1 eating more food – many people who smoke find their eating habits change when they quit cigarettes. Some people experience increased hunger as a withdrawal symptom, but research suggests their eating patterns eventually return to normal 2 the effect of nicotine on the body – nicotine is the addictive substance in tobacco that causes people who smoke to continue their habit. It is not thought to cause cancer. Nicotine speeds up the body’s food processing system, the metabolism. After many years of smoking, people who smoke tend to weigh slightly less than people who do not smoke.
The best weight management approach when quitting smoking is to focus on strategies to keep yourself healthy, rather than on weight control. This includes making realistic goals for healthy eating, getting regular exercise and getting enough sleep. These strategies can also help minimise weight gain.
Put safe, non-edible items in your mouth if oral cravings bother you. For example, you could chew on sugarless gum or use a nicotine inhalator .
the feeling of nicotine withdrawal can be very similar to hunger pangs. The person may be ‘fooled’ into thinking they’re hungry when they are not
many people who have quit smoking find that food tastes better, and this may lead to a desire to eat more.
Don’t crash diet. If you eat too few kilojoules, the body will respond by lowering the metabolism and burning muscle tissue for fuel. It can be tricky telling the difference between hunger pangs and withdrawal cravings. Get into the habit of ‘listening’ to your body before you decide to eat something.
You would have to gain over 40 kilograms above your recommended weight to equal the risk of heart disease posed by smoking.
The question of why heavy smokers tend to have greater body weight than light smokers or nonsmokers remains unanswered. One explanation could be that heavy smokers are more likely to adopt behaviors favoring weight gain (eg, low physical activity, unhealthy diet, and high alcohol intake) than are light smokers or nonsmokers. Smokers eat less fruit and vegetables ( 42 ), adopt unhealthy patterns of nutrient intake ( 43 ), drink more alcohol ( 44 ), and engage in less physical activity than do nonsmokers ( 45 ). We have identified a strong clustering of risk behaviors (ie, low physical activity, low intakes of fruit and vegetables, and high alcohol intake) that correlated with the level of cigarette consumption ( 46 ).
The amount of body weight gained after smoking cessation is highly variable ( 5, 15, 53 ). When current (measured) body weight was compared with body weight 10 y in the past (self-reported), smokers who quit had gained 4.4 (males) and 5.0 (females) kg more than did continuous smokers ( 15 ). In a US cohort of adults followed up over 10 y, the mean weight gain attributable to smoking cessation was 2.8 kg in men and 3.8 kg in women ( 4 ). In this cohort, a postcessation weight gain of >13 kg occurred in 9.8% of men and 13.4% of women ( Figure 3 ). However, the weight gain was <3 kg in most of the quitters. Being <55 y old, being African American, or smoking ≥15 cigarettes/d increased the risk of major weight gain. Weight gain after smoking cessation was greater in heavy smokers than in light smokers ( 53 ), was less pronounced at a greater number of years since smoking cessation ( 54 ), and was inversely associated with socioeconomic status ( 55 ). Methodologic issues may have led to an underestimation of postcessation weight gain ( 6 ). Moreover, in the context of the obesity epidemic, postcessation weight gain may be greater in current than in previous cohorts of smokers.
Smoking's effect on body weight could lead to weight loss by increasing the metabolic rate, decreasing metabolic efficiency, or decreasing caloric absorption (reduction in appetite), all of which are associated with tobacco use. The metabolic effect of smoking could explain the lower body weight found in smokers. Smoking a single cigarette has been shown to induce a 3% rise in EE within 30 min ( 19 ). Smoking 4 cigarettes each of which contained 0.8 mg nicotine increased resting EE by 3.3% for 3 h ( 20 ). In regular smokers whose metabolism was assessed in a metabolic ward, smoking 24 cigarettes in 1 d increased the total EE from 2230 to 2445 kcal/d, and stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system activity could be involved ( 4 ). The effect of smoking on EE was weaker among obese subjects ( 21 ), and it also depended on the degree of physical activity and fitness ( 22, 23 ). Few studies have evaluated the chronic metabolic effects of smoking, and the results have conflicted ( 6 ). After 30 d of smoking cessation, the resting metabolic rate in female quitters was shown to be 16% lower than it had been when they were smoking, and an increase in body weight was attributable to a decrease in resting metabolic rate and an increase in caloric intake ( 24 ). Other researchers did not find any change in resting EE after smoking cessation ( 25, 26 ). Smokers may be at higher risk of hyperthyroidism than are nonsmokers ( 27 ), which also could increase metabolic rate.
Initiators are persons who began smoking during the course of the study in which they were participating; smokers are those who smoked regularly during the course of the study, unless specified otherwise.
Adolescence is a sensitive period for smoking initiation and for excessive body weight gain . In female adolescents, smoking initiation is associated with body weight, weight concerns, and dieting behaviors ( 6 ). In a representative panel of US adolescents, smoking initiation was more frequent in females who were overweight, who reported trying to lose weight, or who described themselves as overweight than in females without those characteristics ( 37 ). Female students who previously tried to lose weight or who reported constantly thinking about weight were prospectively more than twice as likely to initiate smoking than were those who had not tried to lose weight or who did not constantly think about weight ( 38 ). In addition, the expectation of weight control may be a reason that adolescent males initiate smoking ( 7 ).
A further consequence of smoking is a hormonal imbalance that is conducive, first, to an accumulation of central fat and, then, to insulin resistance. The latter condition may represent a major link between cigarette smoking and the risk of cardiovascular disease ( 114 ). Further research is needed in that area. A testable model that integrates factors associated with smoking, body weight, and body fat and that can be used as a framework for future research is shown in Figure 5. Specifically, in view of the potential for uncontrolled confounding, serial measurements of anthropometric data (ie, weight, height, and waist circumference), fat distribution, EE, glucose metabolism, weight concern (and dieting behaviors), and health behaviors (ie, diet and physical activity) at regular intervals and the assessment of updated information on smoking habits may help elucidate the complex relation among these factors. It would be highly relevant to address the ways in which all these factors affect cardiovascular disease risk. Comparison of smoking initiators with nonsmokers may mitigate some of the major confounding issues seen with subjects who smoked throughout the study. Analyses of existing large cohort studies such as the Nurses' Health Study, the Physicians' Health Study, and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (ie, EPIC) could offer some answers.
Not all studies reported positive associations between smoking and glucose metabolic disturbances. In a large cross-sectional study, smoking was not associated with insulin resistance as assessed by a modified glucose tolerance test ( 102 ). In addition, a prospective study of young adults followed for 4–6 y showed that an increasing tobacco consumption was associated with a reduction in blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, body weight, and WHR and an increase in the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol—and, thus, a lower risk of metabolic syndrome. Opposite trends were found with a reduction in tobacco consumption ( 103 ).
Many people gain weight when they quit smoking cigarettes. On average, people gain 5 to 10 pounds (2.25 to 4.5 kilograms) in the months after they give up smoking. You may put off quitting if you are worried about adding extra weight.
The nicotine in cigarettes speeds up your metabolism. Nicotine increases the amount of calories your body uses at rest by about 7% to 15% . Without cigarettes, your body may burn food more slowly. Cigarettes reduce appetite. When you quit smoking, you may feel hungrier. Smoking is a habit.
Get active. Physical activity helps you burn calories. It can also help you ward off cravings for unhealthy foods or cigarettes. If you already exercise , you may need to exercise for longer or more often to burn the calories nicotine used to help remove.
There are many benefits of quitting. Your lungs and heart will be stronger. Your skin will look younger. Your teeth will be whiter. You will have better breath. Your hair and clothes will smell better.
Learning to eat foods that fill you up can also help ward off hunger. Sleep well. If you often do not get enough sleep, you are at greater risk of putting on extra weight. Control your drinking. Alcohol, sugary sodas, and sweetened juices may go down easy, but they add up, and can lead to weight gain.
If you have tried to quit smoking and relapsed, your health care provider may suggest nicotine replacement therapy. Treatments that come in the form of a patch, gum, nasal spray, or inhaler give you small doses of nicotine throughout the day. They can help ease the transition from smoking to going totally smoke free.