Extra Pounds Don’t Really Add Up On Your Waistline If You Quit Smoking

Kicking off the habit of smoking doesn’t have to mean a bigger waistline, says a new study.When compared to the health effects of smoking against weight gain, its much better for your health to quit smoking. Multiple studies showed that quitting smoking lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease despite any subsequent weight gain and also have 50% lower risk of heart disease than smokers.

Researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine used data gathered from the long-running National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The survey was on done on three groups namely heavy smokers, recent quitters who had been light smokers, and continuing smokers. The amount of weight gained over 10 years was analyzed and they found that the average amount of weight gain related to quitting smoking was 10 pounds over 10 years.

Interestingly, quitters who had been light smokers (those who had 1–14 cigarettes per day) had similar long-term weight gain as those who continued to smoke. However, quitters who had been heavy smokers (those who had more than 24 cigarettes daily) put on significantly more weight than either the continuing smokers or the light-smoking quitters.

Body weight at the time smokers quit also makes a difference. In this study, people who were obese at the time they quit were more likely to gain the most weight after quitting.

Its better to check your weight frequently if your planning to quit smoking. Start a exercise program before you quit and also eat a healthy diet to keep your weight under control.

Source-Medindia