However, a recent medical report has revealed that quitting can lead to new health issues that individuals might not be fully prepared for. The study from the University of Minnesota has revealed that quitting smoking leads to a poor diet and potentially significant weight gain.
One possible reason for this development is that after breaking one bad habit, individuals find that they need to replace it with something else that feels good, thus turning towards fatty, unhealthy foods. Smoking is often used as a coping mechanism and without this support in their life, smokers can turn to other choices that could be even worse for their health.
The study suggests that the opioid system of former smokers could trigger those suffering from nicotine withdrawal to reach for foods filled with sugar and fats.
Researchers believe that understanding this impact will help ensure that previous smokers can quit without it significantly impacting their health in the long term.
Part of this is almost certainly tied to the higher levels of stress that people do tend to face when they are experiencing an addiction. As such, it’s important for past smokers to find the right way to relax.
Ultimately, this seems to be about ensuring that smokers quit the right way. Experts have warned for years that going cold turkey is likely not the right answer here. The problem with this strategy is that it puts too much stress on the body and the mind, causing an individual to experience signs of withdrawal. This is another reason why they might start to develop other unhealthy habits.
That’s why smokers tend to quit using nicotine patches. However, these often are not as effective as they need to be because they don’t provide the same sensation as smoking. A more effective option would be to use e-cigarette products from companies such as Aspire UK. The benefit of these products is that they do provide similar sensations to smoking a cigarette including the inhale and exhale.
Another benefit is that e-cigarettes provide smokers with the option of reducing and controlling their nicotine consumption, steadily reducing their intake down to zero. They can take as much time as they need to do this.
Since they are also getting the same type of sensation as smoking, it is also unlikely that they will experience high levels of stress when they are trying to quit.
The control group for the most recent study used a drug to surprise their withdrawal symptoms. However, it would be interesting for a follow up to explore whether different quitting processes lead to more benefit results in relation to the diet of past smokers.
There is clearly still a lot more research to do in terms of the effects of quitting smoking on the human body as well as the mind. It certainly doesn’t seem to be as simple as making a snap lifestyle change. Doing so could result in other bad habits developing.
