Researchers in Britain and New Zealand are saying that vaping could help combat obesity in smokers who are quitting. In fact, the scientists are saying they’ve found that it’s actually the nicotine in cigarettes that urges smokers to not overeat, and claims that by taking up vaping when quitting smoking could help prevent them from eating too much during their process of quitting.
Many smokers and vapers are aware of the trade-off involved when choosing to quit smoking, one of the most prominent being weight gain. Not only does this recent study suggest that nicotine could help prevent quitters from overeating due to the vapor and hand to mouth actions, but they’re also saying that vapes with food flavorings may replicate some of the sensations of eating, which could play a role in helping smokers trying to quit to eat less.
Linda Bauld, a health policy professor at Stirling University said “weight gain prevents some smokers from quitting, so we need to explore alternative ways of helping these people control their weight while removing the risks of tobacco.”
[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#000000″ txt_color=”#ffffff”]Weight gain prevents some smokers from quitting, so we need to explore alternative ways of helping these people control their weight while removing the risks of tobacco.[/mks_pullquote]
For year’s everyone who smokers has known that when they try to quit, they no longer have that something to do in those moments of dead-space or boredom. This is one of the reasons why smoking became so popular — it simply gave them something to do that was enjoyable during those moments. When you take that something away from them, they tend to replace it, and one way many replace it with is another enjoyable activity, eating food. However, when a smoker quits, if they use a vaporizer, they still get that same hand to mouth sensation, they still get the enjoyable experience that nicotine offers, and they reduce the potential of overeating or eating at times when they’re actually not hungry.
Susan Jebb, a professor of diet and population health at Oxford University said “E-Cigarettes are an effective strategy to help people quit smoking and improve their health. If they also help smokers who quit to limit weight gain that would be a bonus, though not yet proven.”
The review was published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
