Smoking gives you a “hidden belly”.

It is known that cigarettes suppress appetite and increase the body’s energy expenditure. As a result, people who want to quit smoking often fear overeating and therefore gain weight. That’s true … but the opposite is also true! Smoking or starting to smoke increases belly fat, especially what doctors call belly fat. “Intestinal Fat”, located deep in the abdomen. It surrounds the organs.

To show that smoking is the cause of this fat gain, scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, whose work was published in the British scientific journal on Wednesday, March 20. Addiction, used statistical analysis from genetic studies conducted on hundreds of thousands of people. They focused on smoking habits and body fat distribution. They also ruled out other factors such as alcohol consumption or social environment.

Thin on the outside, but thick on the inside

The main problem with this belly fat caused by smoking is that it is not visible. In fact, smokers tend to weigh less than non-smokers (the famous “appetite suppressant effect”). But even if you have a flat stomach, you may still have visceral fat. As we said, it is deeper than the visible belly fat, which is located under the skin. So, without fat, smokers can get sick. Danish researchers are really talking about fat “Uncomfortable“, because this visceral fat increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, stroke and dementia.

Smoking can make you thinner on the outside, but also fatter on the inside. The health implications are such that Danish researchers are encouraging smokers to quit.