By Tatyana Kour

According to national statistics, about one-third of Jordanian adults smoke cigarettes (49.6 per cent males and 5.7 per cent females as reported by the Ministry of Health). Despite the rising trend of cigarette smoking in Jordan, several smokers express both the interest and concern in quitting smoking.

There is a trend for Jordanian adults, especially women, to smoke if they are trying to lose weight. “It simply helps me with my stress and cravings,” a woman says.

Research shows that smokers of all ages who are trying to lose weight are more likely to want to stop smoking. It is prudent to learn what nicotine in cigarettes does to one’s body and weight.

Generally speaking, people who smoke are more likely to eat less than those who do not smoke. Studies that the nicotine in cigarettes suppresses the appetite and triggers one’s pancreas to produce a hormone called “glucagon” which causes one’s liver to release a compound called “glycogen” - the principal storage form of glucose - thereby slightly raising one’s blood sugar level, so a smoker will not feel as hungry as a non-smoker. With nicotine out of the body system, one may feel hungry more often and may eat more often.

Smoking also reduces the sensation of one’s taste buds, so food does not actually taste the same for a smoker, which many of the smokers already attest to while others deny it. Many of the new non-smokers report better taste and feel to foods they eat and this can automatically increase one’s food intake by virtue of enhancing palatability of food items.

According to most recent studies, smoking can artificially elevate the heart rate, by approximately 4 per cent, thereby increasing one’s metabolic rate - the rate at which the body uses its energy throughout the day.

Hence, when one stops smoking, the body is obliged to readjust itself to a lower metabolic rate and the heart rate slightly drops. Even if one eats the same amount of food, the body will end up using less of the eaten food and more likely store more of the food as fat over the short term.

By and large, cigarette smoking manifests itself in two forms: addiction and habit. The nicotine in cigarettes is considered a highly addictive drug so many smokers, especially women, tend to avoid a food indulge or a craving by smoking a cigarette, or several cigarettes at once.

Such addictive behavior may give room for a new non-smoker to resort to eating food items that are high in sugar and caffeine to satisfy the void in the addictive nicotine. On the other hand, some ex-smokers seek out food to fill the void of both the addiction and the habit.

Although there is a great possibility of gaining weight when quitting smoking, the average weight gain in literature is reported to be around 3 to 5 kilograms, but only about 5 to 10 per cent of those gain up to 8 to 10 kilograms. Such weight gain poses a negligent health risk compared to the health risks of cigarette smoking.

Studies in Jordan that “30 per cent of cancers are caused by smoking, and 75 per cent of lung cancer is attributed to smoking.”

One should not be overly focused on losing or keeping weight off, but remain focused on getting off of cigarettes and letting the body recover from the damage smoking has caused! (Behavioral Health Central)

The writer, ( tatyana@tatyanakour.com ), is a consultant, clinical nutrition, dietetics, metabolism and tobacco treatment specialist board certified specialist in nutrition support based in Amman .