It is a common opinion that cigarette smoking makes you lose weight. Is it true or is it a collective error?
The use of tobacco is associated with the suppression of appetite since the pre-Columbian age, when the American natives used it.
Since the 20th century, tobacco companies have used these correlations between thinness and smoking in their advertising for decades, especially in those aimed at women, clearly pushing them towards the psychiatric problems of body image. Therefore, from a cultural point of view, the link between cigarette smoking and weight loss is very strong; however, it is not clear how many people started (or continued) to smoke because of concerns about their body weight. Scientific and statistical research reveals that white and female adolescents, who tend to worry about weight, are particularly prone to the practice of smoking.
Although it is known that smokers experience greater appetite control, it has not been shown that smokers are able to lose weight or maintain better weight when compared to non-smokers.
Nicotine and weight control
Although smoking is widely discouraged due to its countless adverse health effects, nicotine can be considered an appetite suppressant and influence eating habits by moderating calorie intake.
A study that affects the effects of nicotine on appetite has shown that among the effects of nicotine are the following: increased blood pressure, heart rate and gastric motility, and decreased food intake. Nicotine-mediated interactions on feeding behavior mainly involve autonomic, sensory and enteric neurons.
In terms of appetite suppression, nicotine chewing gum appears to have similar effects to cigarettes and some people use it to control it.
Nicotine can reduce levels of insulin in the blood, responsible for the desire for sugary foods. Furthermore, the effects of nicotine on adrenaline and stomach muscles temporarily cancel the appetite. Other studies have shown that smokers experience greater energy expenditure due to a higher metabolic rate. Nicotine also has a certain diuretic effect that causes a reduction in calcium concentrations in the blood.
There are many disputes about the incidence of overweight among smokers and non-smokers. Some research has reported that smokers (long-term and practically at the time of the surveys) weigh less than non-smokers and over time seem less likely to get fat. By contrast, other studies on young people have shown no correlation between weight loss and smoking. It is possible that, although there is a connection between nicotine and appetite suppression, in chronic smokers this reaction is less emphasized. In some research, age has proved to be an aggravating factor. Therefore, the causal relationship between the physiological effects of nicotine and the epidemiological results on weight among smokers and non-smokers has not yet been explicitly established.
Smoking and weight control perception among adolescents
While most adults do not smoke for weight loss, statistical studies have shown that the association between tobacco use and the desire to control weight affects the behavior of young smokers. The research in question shows that teenage girls looking for a slimmer body figure are more likely to start smoking. Furthermore, those already engaged in risk behaviors for weight loss are further involved.
Still compared to female tabagists, other studies have taken into consideration possible correlations with ethnicity. Until very recently, studies showed that young white women are more likely to smoke to lose weight than others. In this sense, the advertisements of certain brands of cigarettes have had considerable relevance.
Over the past ten years, the issue has been further investigated. It has been observed that even if white women are more prone to smoke for weight loss, males and other ethnic groups are also affected by this potentially harmful attitude. It emerged that in all racial groups, concerns about weight and negative perception of their body image play an essential role in the decision to smoke. However, it should be noted that the relationship between weight and smoking among young people is statistically significant mainly in white or mixed race groups.
In the past, studies have shown that adolescent girls consider weight loss or weight control to be positive aspects of smoking. More generally, young women interested in losing weight and especially those who already using unhealthy weight control techniques are at a higher risk of starting to smoke than others.
