How smoking can increase your body weight
Smoking will lead to weight gain. As a result, it will be wise to quit smoking if you would like to lose weight.
People who stop smoking gain weight. The average weight gain is between 4.5 and 7 pounds, but a small percentage of former smokers gain 28 pounds or more! The good news is that for the average woman the weight gain is temporary.
In a study that followed a group of women who quit smoking, the increase in caloric intake and weight gain was temporary, and they returned to their former weight after one year. Going from being a smoker to being a nonsmoker does have an effect on metabolism, slowing it down by about 100 calories per day with smoking cessation, but that is not enough to account for all the weight gain.
The rest comes from eating more, moving around less, or a combination of the two. Fear of weight gain should not prevent a person from stopping smoking. The health risks of smoking¡Xthe increased risk of heart disease and cancer, impaired glucose tolerance, the increased risk of high blood pressure, and numerous other health problems¡Xare far greater than the health risks of a small short-term weight gain when smoking is stopped.
One way to help prevent weight gain is to increase physical activity. Another is to use a nicotine replacement, in particular nicotine gum, to help delay weight gain. In a group of women who had not tried to quit smoking because they were afraid of gaining weight, a diet plus a nicotine gum regimen increased the success rate for smoking cessation and prevented weight gain.
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