Being on a diet is more than cutting out sugar, pasta, and white rice.  And it's about more than just exercising fastidiously.  You On a Diet, the serious series about being you, is a successful representation of scientific wellness.  Written by the Real Age doctors Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen, they confront dieting and its dilemmas.

So many smokers are afraid to give up the habit they say, because it keeps their weight down.  Sounds hazy, but is there some truth to this?  The doctors weigh in, "When many people quit smoking, they'll complain about the weight they've gained after quitting.  There's something to that.  While cigarettes are bullets to your lungs, they do seem to help people control weight--possibly, in part, through the destruction of taste buds.  But they also seem to help by increasing metabolic rate by up to 10% as well as helping to reduce appetite."

Researchers from the University of Florida, College of Medicine found a relationship between dieting and smoking in teenage girls.  "One of the reasons people start smoking or do not try to quit might be because of the effect cigarettes could have on weight control."  Teens may perceive that the correlation between smoking and dieting is a "benefit," and this perhaps influences the beginning of a bad habit.

Further studies from the University of Michigan Health System show that 1 in 5 women still smoke, and they don't try to quit. 75% of a group of interviewees said they would not be willing to gain even five pounds if they tried to quit smoking.  Cindy Pomerleau, Ph.D., director of the U of M Nicotine Research Laboratory, states that on average smokers weigh less than people who have never smoked, and it's also true that smokers who quit, usually do gain weight.

However, those who do quit, typically gain less than five pounds. Two of four women who quit will gain five to 15 pounds and one in four will gain 15 pounds or more.

Harming almost every organ in the body, the risks of smoking outweigh the benefits.  Smoking causes inflammation in the body, which leads to hypertension, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, cancer, cataracts, and heart disease. Doctors Roizen and Oz include, "Smoking worsens the tears made in your dermis by interfering with microscopic healing processes and depleting the short-lived gas nitric oxide that preserves the elasticity of your skin.  That's why smokers get wrinkles around their lips (plus the inflammation in arteries that cigarettes cause)."

Is smoking to be thin really worth the side effects?

Hints for Keeping Weight Off After Quitting

Get Help Quitting            More On Smoking

Update on Jan 31, 2008 by At Basil & Spice

Seen At Reuters!    Journal~News!