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Even though smoking is the number one preventable killer in the world, for some people the worry of what will happen after they quit is stopping them from putting down the cigarettes for good.
It's a common myth that when you stop smoking you gain weight, and by smoking you are keeping that weight off. And to a certain extent that is true as most smokers do gain weight after they stop smoking, this is due to the appetite suppressing effect of nicotine, but on average it is only about 5kg. (1)
Although 5kg doesn't seem like enough to keep on smoking cigarettes (which have 4000+ chemicals and 50+ carcinogens in), for someone who isn't sure if they can quit this might be the deciding factor which makes them keep lighting up.
Today then we look at how smoking effects your weight, and how to quit without putting on the pounds.
WHY DO YOU GAIN WEIGHT WHEN YOU QUIT SMOKING?
There are a couple of reasons why smokers who have recently quit start to put on a pound or two:
1) Replacing the "hand-to-mouth" action of smoking with snacking (2) - When people talk about the difficulty of stopping smoking, people forget about the habits smokers built up over years. It can be extremely difficult to break the hand to mouth habit, as your body is used to doing this 20 times a day. A lot of smokers fill this void with food, which can lead to weight gain.
2) Nicotine can suppress your appetite - Like coffee or other stimulants nicotine stops your body feeling hungry, so when you stop smoking you suddenly get more hunger pangs than you are used to. It may be that the cravings for nicotine are confused for cravings to eat by the quitter, too. (3)
3) Smoking speeds up your metabolism, so your body burns calories at a faster rate (4) - When you stop smoking, you actually need fewer calories than you did before. Add that to feeling hungry more from the above point and you have a recipe for weight gain.
4) Smoking reduces insulin sensitivity, which means your cells aren't as good at getting sugar out of the blood (5). While this can normalise if you remain abstinent from cigarettes, it takes a while. Increased eating immediately after quitting smoking will load sugar into the blood that can't effectively be used, which may result in turning it to fat storage.
5) Food tastes better after you stop smoking - Smoking dulls and kills your taste buds (6), and so after you quit smoking and your taste buds start to recover you start to taste things again which can lead to eating more. Ex-smokers often find the sugary foods taste much better than normal and many ex-smokers find themselves craving sugar.
DO ALL SMOKERS GAIN WEIGHT AFTER QUITTING?
It's actually a myth though that all smokers gain weight, in a study on thousands of smokers they found that 16% of smokers who quit lose weight.
The study actually found that the amount of cigarettes you smoke affects your weight gain (or loss) when you quit. Heavier smokers seem to have more trouble with weight gain though the exact reason why this happens isn't known.
There are some theories though, as heavier smokers will have the biggest reaction to the lack of nicotine and a more ingrained hand-to-mouth habit than lighter smokers. They may also have a worse insulin sensitivity, which could explain the increased likelihood of putting on weight.
HOW CAN YOU AVOID PUTTING ON WEIGHT WHEN QUITTING SMOKING?
Though it can be easy to eat more food when you quit smoking, there are some way to avoid this.
1) Keep your metabolism high by taking regular exercise – To replace the affect of nicotine on your metabolism exercise can do the same thing and burn more calories in general. By building more muscle and getting fitter you get your body to burn more calories even when you are resting. This will also help you sweat out toxins and help you fight the urge to smoke!
2) Snack on fresh fruit and veg sticks – As hunger pangs might be hitting more replace your snacks with healthy, low calorie options.
3) Eat smaller portions of food until your metabolism has stabilised - It take your body about 20 minutes for you to feel full after eating, so it can be easy to over-eat. For the first couple of months of quitting make sure to keep an eye on how much you are eating, and when you finish a normal size meal pause before going back for seconds.
4) Use a nicotine replacement to get the nicotine without the toxins and carcinogens of cigarettes – By replacing your cigarette with another method of nicotine you can stop not only the nicotine cravings, but the hunger pangs and the lower metabolism that comes with no nicotine.
ARE E-CIGARETTES ASSOCIATED WITH WEIGHT LOSS?
Using any sort of nicotine replacement system can help a smoker regulate their body as they quit smoking and avoid some of the reasons for weight gain. By letting the smoker keep the nicotine but avoid toxins and carcinogens of cigarettes smokers can keep the hunger pangs at bay.
E-cigarettes and vaping can help in a unique way as they can replace the feel of a cigarette as well as the nicotine. As e-cigarettes produce vapour you breathe in like a cigarette the hand to mouth feel is replicated, and so ex-smokers don’t have to replace that with food.
The flavours that e-cigarettes come in can also help, as they can help with the craving for flavours that many smokers get once their taste buds start to recover. In our starter kits we have tobacco flavours to choose from, but also have a wide range of flavours that can help with ex-smoker’s sudden sweet teeth.
So if you have been putting off trying to quit smoking because of weight gain, maybe e-cigarettes can be the answer. You can get the feel and taste of cigarettes (as well as the nicotine) but as e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than cigarettes you can be sure that you aren’t getting the 50+ carcinogens that come with cigarettes.
*2024 Update - The largest review of evidence to-date by Cochrane found high certainty evidence that E-Cigarettes are more effective in helping smokers quit than traditional nicotine replacement therapies! (7)
Try a SMOKO E-Cigarette and see if e-cigarettes can help you finally make the switch away from cigarettes!
*2024 Update - Now you can try the SMOKO E-Cigarette for FREE when you buy a box of E-Cigarette refills! (One per customer)
REFERENCES
(1) Does everyone who quit smoking gain weight? A real-world prospective cohort study
(2) Nicorette: MANAGING WEIGHT GAIN AFTER QUITTING SMOKING
(3) Quitting smoking and managing weight
(4) Cigarette Smoking, Nicotine, and Body Weight
(5) Novel and Reversible Mechanisms of Smoking-Induced Insulin Resistance in Humans
(6) 5 unexpected ways smoking affects your body
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Written by Mike Cameron
Mike Cameron is a former smoker of 15 years (2 packs a day) until he successfully quit using a cigalike. Mike is the Co-Founder and CEO of SMOKO E-Cigarettes and over the last 10 years, SMOKO has prevented 600M+ cigarettes from being smoked, helped their customers save £320M+ of their hard-earned money from going up in smoke and helped 10,000’s of adult smokers in 25+ countries to live smoke-free.
