This is one of the most popular topics among people, especially young people. Anyone who struggles with excess weight constantly studies various information about losing weight, resorting to the most incomprehensible methods. One of them is losing weight by smoking cigarettes. This method is considered by many to be appropriate and effective, according to various positive reviews. But is this really so? As the title already makes clear, this question has two sides, which have their readers. Let's look at these two points and understand how it really is.
Do you lose weight from smoking?
One of the loudest topics on the Internet. The problem with excess weight is now so great that people are ready to do anything to change for the better. But are they making the right choice? Is this statement true or is it a myth? At the moment this remains a mystery. Scientists cannot pinpoint the connection between weight and cigarettes. “Can a bad habit really do something good and play a big role in a person’s life?” – these are the words you can hear from various specialists who study this issue. Most smokers claim that they have actually lost weight since they started smoking. Enthusiastic feelings are very often displayed on various forums. People have discussions about how smoking is not only a means of relaxation and calm, but also an insane fat burner. Many people believe in the powerful powers of cigarettes. Others, who refute this hypothesis, cannot accept the fact that a cigarette really affects weight. Is it really? On this issue, scientists are divided into two categories. Some, earlier ones, believe that smoking, like nothing else, affects a person’s weight. Others are sure that there can be no connection between a cigarette and kilograms. Let's look at it more precisely.
Research into the connection between habits and weight
Scientists have proven one truth and it concerns nicotine. Cigarette smoke, penetrating the mucous membranes, provokes a decrease in the sensitivity of receptors. In humans, this manifests itself in the form of loss of appetite. Food becomes tasteless for him. This leads to weight loss due to poor appetite.
Other studies have shown another side of the effects of nicotine on the human body. This alkaloid accumulates in the body, causing blockage of insulin production over time. This hormone is involved in metabolism. This regulates the concentration of sugar in the blood. It is because of a failure in its production that a person can gain weight. Fat begins to be actively deposited in the abdominal area. The opposite effect occurs from smoking.
The study led to the conclusion that nicotine can influence the development of endocrine disruption in the body. All this leads to obesity. Men and women who smoke experience changes in their figure, especially the waist and chest area. There is a controversy regarding whether smoking makes you fat or thin.
Researchers from the UK conducted an experiment on teenagers. It did not show any noticeable effect of nicotine on the child's weight. Scientists from Italy conducted an experiment in which young women participated. They were asked to quit smoking. A year later the results were summed up. During the specified time period, the girls did not show any serious deviations in weight. At the same time, researchers talk about a noticeable improvement in the skin condition of the experimental subjects due to giving up the bad habit.
Some studies have revealed the ability of nicotine to promote weight loss due to its stimulation of a special gene in the human body. The substance is supposed to speed up metabolism. Thanks to it, fats and carbohydrates are broken down faster. This property of nicotine is compared to the effect of playing sports.
Important! Based on all the experiments, scientists were able to conclude whether smoking affects weight. It does not help a person lose weight or gain extra pounds. Weight is influenced by other additional factors. These include age, hormonal imbalances, lifestyle and dietary habits.
Smoking makes you lose weight
“As sad as it may sound, it is true. Smoking cigarettes really affects the weight of the human body,” says one of the professors at an American university. According to American researchers, nicotine accelerates the work of AZGP1, which increases the rate of fat breakdown, as a result of which the mechanism of “drying” of a person begins. These data have been confirmed. Afterwards, a statistical analysis of the weight of smokers and non-smokers was carried out, it was revealed that smokers weigh 4-5 kilograms less than those who do not use tobacco. But their lighter weight did not make them better, since the health of each of them was undermined.
How does this process of losing weight with a cigarette work?
The thing is that when a person smokes, he inhales a dose of nicotine, which dulls the feeling of hunger and appetite altogether. At the same time, it triggers the processes of fat breakdown, which leads to weight loss. This is due to the fact that nicotine promotes the production of a hormone that is responsible for metabolism - catecholamine. As a result, the person loses weight. But this statement does not mean that everyone who is struggling with kilograms needs to run for cigarettes. Smoking does not help you quit smoking - it only helps to kill the body, which is why it will begin to lose pounds. But there is one thing. When a person loses weight, he most often loses the necessary kilograms, that is, he forms an “wrong” figure. Fat begins to be deposited in places where it will be more difficult to remove. Due to tobacco smoke, dehydration occurs in the body, and weight begins to “go away”. As a result, it cannot be said that the transformation was completed with a bang; on the contrary, a certain resemblance to a person appears, with a thin body, pale skin and yellow teeth. But the number on the scale becomes smaller. But is it worth it? Professors who belong to the group who believe that there is a connection between cigarettes and weight still cannot confirm this, since it is considered nonsense, and there is no direct evidence of the existing connection. Therefore, this remains only a guess and scientists continue to further clarify this strange relationship.
What processes occur when smoking
- Smoking cigarettes worsens the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Over time, teeth begin to deteriorate, and complete chewing of food becomes impossible. Subsequently, smoking, the stomach slows down, and the bolus of food entering the intestines contains undigested particles. For these reasons, smokers have a decreased appetite.
- Due to the fact that cigarette smoke has a negative effect on the lungs and circulatory system, cellulite appears.
- Nicotine overloads the endocrine system, and hormonal disruptions may occur. And they, in turn, lead to improper formation of the figure, that is, some parts of the body lose weight, others - on the contrary.
- Due to the severe destruction of collagen, the skin of smokers deteriorates, becomes flabby, wrinkled, and sagging. Such symptoms also accompany drunkards, so if you intend to start a new life, you should start treatment for alcoholism.
- Smoking cigarettes overloads the heart and impairs lung function, making sports activities difficult for smokers. As a result, they experience a lack of muscle mass and the body becomes flabby.
If you can’t cope with your addiction on your own, you need to go to a clinic to get treatment for drug addiction or another illness.
Smoking does not make you lose weight
“Smoking helps you lose weight - it’s a myth,” say scientists from the University of London, who have been studying the problem on a global scale for many years. Here is a statement from one of the scientists studying the relationship between smoking and weight: “For almost seven years, we studied children from ten years of age until adulthood. As children, they were all practically no different from each other in terms of weight. Over time, children began to grow up, and many became addicted to cigarettes. This was good for science. As a result, upon reaching the age of eighteen, a final analysis of the mass of the bodies described was carried out. It was found that smokers were absolutely no different from non-smokers (the subjects were taken of the same build). It follows from this that cigarettes have nothing to do with a person’s body weight. For many years, we were also ready to lean towards the hypothesis that this connection exists, but we believe in what we saw.” Such different statements, but they always had something similar, namely the harm from smoking to the body. Even if a person actually loses weight from smoking, one should not resort to this method. When you have a choice between your figure and your health, you always need to think 10 times so that your choice does not become fatal.
Quitting the habit and gaining weight
After a man or woman has given up a bad habit, the internal organs begin to function in a normal working rhythm. This may lead to weight gain.
It often happens that to get rid of this addiction, people look for an alternative method and use the “binge eating” method. That is, instead of cigarettes, they begin to eat candy, suck on lollipops, chew gum or gnaw on seeds.
Quitting smoking is extremely stressful for a smoker. It is known that in stressful situations a person begins to intensively eat sweets: pastries, pies, buns. This naturally leads to weight gain.
Many people note that after smoking, the feeling of hunger disappears. Even if you really want to eat, it is enough to smoke a cigarette before eating and the desire to eat food disappears.
The human body is forced to spend a lot of calories in order to constantly repair organs damaged by nicotine. When this need decreases, even when the same amount of food is received, much fewer kilocalories begin to be spent.
According to studies, after giving up this bad habit, the weight of women increases by an average of 3 kg, and that of men by 1.8 kg. In some people, especially those with an unstable psycho-emotional state, body weight may increase from 10 to 13 kg.
As a rule, former smokers begin to gain weight immediately after they quit smoking. The likelihood of gaining excess weight continues for several months.
Smoking makes you fat
This statement is definitely true. Since everyone knows that nicotine dulls all brain processes, therefore, metabolic processes slow down, which leads to an increase in body weight. This statement is officially registered as valid. But still, more often than not, people get fat after they quit smoking, because at the time of smoking, they were actually smaller, this was due, again, to the fact that cigarettes cause dehydration, so a person’s weight was always stable. That is why, most often, people are advised to quit smoking gradually, otherwise a failure may occur, due to the loss of nicotine, the body will begin to relax and the person himself, with the gone habit. Buy a new one and eat a hearty meal. Whether you lose weight from smoking or gain weight - this will always have its own meaning for everyone, everyone on the planet has the right to choose. But not everyone can make the right decision in time. If you decide to lose weight, then find a safer way that will not harm your health, but, on the contrary, will help you overcome excess weight and raise your fighting spirit for many years to come.
What happens in the body?
Smoking has a complex negative effect on the body, so no system and no internal organ is left out.
The very first thing that happens in the body when nicotine enters is vasospasm and redistribution of circulating blood volume. This negatively affects the oxygen supply to internal organs and reduces the volume of incoming nutrients. As a result, oxygen starvation occurs, which leads to a slowdown in all processes occurring in the body, including the process of accumulation of fat deposits.
In the gastrointestinal tract, nicotine reduces the volume of gastric juice secretion, the internal secretion organs work worse, and the production of enzymes decreases. This leads to a slowdown in the digestion of food, which stagnates in the intestines, causing poisoning of the body. This condition provokes a deficiency of nutrients and calories. That is why the fact that some people lose weight from smoking should not lead to attempts to fight excess weight in this way.
