Smoking Linked to Weight Gain and Increased Abdominal Fat

Quitting smoking has many potential health benefits. It can decrease your risk for heart disease, lung disease, and cancer. It can even add as many as ten years to your life.
Many people would like to quit but are reluctant to try because they fear that they will gain weight.
However, according to the findings of a new study published in the journal Addiction, continuing to smoke may also contribute to weight gain.
The study found that both starting smoking and lifetime smoking may increase a person’s abdominal fat.
This was especially true for visceral fat, the fat buried in the abdomen. This type of fat is associated with a greater risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, and diabetes.
So, while stopping smoking might lead to some short-term weight gain, in the long run, if you don’t stop, you could increase belly fat and put your health at greater risk.
To study the problem, researchers at the NNF Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen used two large European ancestry studies.
These studies included 1.2 million individuals who had started smoking and more than 450,000 who were lifetime smokers.
The researchers also had body fat distribution data for a study including more than 600,000 people.
They used a technique called “Mendelian randomization” to see whether smoking causes increased body fat.
This method of statistical analysis provides scientists with genetic proof that a particular behavior is actually causing the observed effect.
They first looked at the genetic studies to determine what genes are linked to smoking and body fat distribution. They were then able to use this information to see if people with the genes linked to smoking also had a different body fat distribution.
They additionally sought to rule out other factors that might have influenced the outcome, such as alcohol use, risk-taking behavior, ADHD, and socioeconomic status.