Smoking cessation without weight gain has always been challenging for people who attempt to stop smoking in order to reduce the risks associated with smoking. Some people tend to lose weight when they smoke, but gain weight when they stop smoking. The reasons have always been somewhat puzzling. Scientists now believe they have discovered the reason smokers lose weight, but gain weight when they stop.
Why Smokers Gain Weight with Smoking Cessation
According to Marianne English’s article, “Quitting Smoking Sans Weight Gain”, 46.6 million people in the United States are smokers. Previous studies show that fears of weight gain discourage some people from trying to quit smoking.
Even though other variables, as diet, genetics and eating behavior influence weight gain, smokers seem to have lower body mass index measures on average. Scientific studies suggest that the tobacco industry may use chemicals that tend to keep consumers thin.
Through scientific experiments using mice, scientists have discovered that nicotine binds to neurons in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that regulates hunger, sleep and other moods. The research has found that a drug called cytisine used in smoking cessation activates a nicotine receptor, turning on other neurons in the hypothalamus. These neurons tend to suppress the appetite when activated.
Researchers exposed mice, both with and without the neurons, also called pro-opiomelanocortin cells, to cytisine and nicotine in different experiments. Mice without the cells didn't lose weight. Those with the cells did lose weight when each group received nicotine doses.
How to Quit Smoking without Gaining Weight
Scientists believe their research shows that when a smoker receives a hit of nicotine, the chemical binds to the surface of neurons in the brain. This process sends signals to the body that perhaps it needs fewer calories than it would normally.
Researchers believe that, in theory, people trying to quit smoking who receive doses of the drug could limit weight gain during smoking cessation.
According to the article, “Smoking Cessation without Weight Gain”, Yale University’s Dr. Marina Picciotto and some of her colleagues discovered a brain nicotinic receptor involved in nicotine's ability to reduce food intake in mice. Picciotto believes the effect was very important and specific, since a drug that prevented cytisine from binding to its hypothalamic receptors blocked the reduction in food intake.
Picciotto maintains that smokers who have concerns about weight gain with smoking cessation should try nicotine-based smoking-cessation treatments. The other drug used in the mouse experiments, cytisine, is sold in Eastern Europe for smoking cessation but it is not yet sold in the United States. Picciotto warns that developing a drug to target only these specific receptors could involve some risks, because they're also involved in the body's stress responses in such a way to possibly lead to harmful side effects like high blood pressure. More research and testing are necessary to determine the safety of using cytosine for smoking cessation.
In conclusion, since smoking causes cancer, heart disease and other ailments, the modest weight gain that accompanies cessation should not deter smokers from attempting to quit.
References
Discovery.com: Marianne English, “Quitting Smoking Sans Weight Gain” (accessed 11/15/11)
USA Today.com: “Scientists say they've finally discovered why smokers tend to gain some weight when they kick the habit” (accessed 11/15/11)
UPI.com: “Smoking Cessation without Weight Gain” (accessed 11/15/11)
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