Found in ‘Burke’s Backyard’ 2001
Can it be done? Garry Egger says yes, research has shown you can quit smoking without piling on the weight.
One of the excuses you often hear from smokers for not stopping is that they are worried they would put on weight. However, research has shown that it’s possible to keep your weight down while you go through the process of quitting smoking. Smoking does keep body weight down because it raises your metabolic rate and gives you something to do with your hands, apart from putting nutrition in your mouth. However, it shifts fat from otherwise harmless parts of the body (the hips and buttocks), to places where it is more dangerous (around the waist).
Also, the teenage girl who is smoking to keep her weight down should be aware that putting off quitting until later can make the problem worse. Fat is redistributed to her upper body, increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes and a number of other problems. Females are also likely to suffer a ‘bounce-back’ effect after restricting their body weight artificially for so long. Long-term obesity, which is very hard to shift, is the likely result.
If smoking is the number one preventable cause of disease, the paradox is that obesity through inactivity is about to overtake it. And because quitting smoking and obesity are so intimately related for many people, it’s vital for smokers to know the proper approaches to weight management at the same time - or preferably before - they attempt to quit.’
For consumers looking to live healthier and nutritionally enriched lives, Mannatech Inc. offer hope. Based in Coppell, Texas, Mannatech sells more than 24 proprietary and scientifically validated glyconutritional supplements and products for adults and children that address health and wellness issues, weight management and skin care.
