Smoking makes you gain weight and not lose weight. Another point is added against the smoking habit. For the first time, a study has shown that cigarettes increase the risk of visceral fat, the most dangerous for our health. You can read the results of the research in the scientific journal Addiction. Many were convinced that smoking had only this benefit: that is, making people eat less.
Why was smoking thought to make you lose weight?
The belief arises from the fact that generally those who quit cigarettes begin to feel the need to eat more frequently the so-called comfort foods, i.e. sweets or ready-made foods.
This because smoking activates the reward area of the brainwhich is ignited by smoking, narcotic substances and indeed comfort foods.
What is visceral fat?
Visceral fat it is what surrounds the organs inside the abdomen. It should never exceed 10% of our total body fat. When it goes beyond this figure the risk of developing major chronic diseases increases increasingly significantly such as cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases and type 2 diabetes as well as various types of cancer.
The study that shows how smoking makes you fat
The researchers conducted a static analysis called Mendelian randomizationwhich he uses genetic differences to study how behaviors or the environment can influence health. By identifying genetic data we can infer whether a relationship is causal.
The study demonstrates important evidence that smoking and having abdominal fat are a causal relationship. Some experts, who did not take part in the study, although recognizing its goodness, maintain that those who smoke tend to have bad habits in general. For example, many people tend to smoke more when they are stressed or when they drink alcohol.
If you stop, will you lose weight?
An important question to answer is whether quitting smoking can affect visceral fat. We know for sure that quitting cigarettes is always a positive thing, but the study does not demonstrate whether or not there is a remission of visceral fat for those who stop smoking.