Smoking actually increases dangerous belly fat, new study finds

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mark another point smoking: According to new research, it may cause an increase in some types of body fat associated with serious diseases.

Both starting to smoke and continuing to smoke throughout life were associated with increased abdominal fat, according to a study published Thursday. journal addiction.

Dr. Germán Carraszkira, lead author of the study, epidemiologist and assistant professor at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, said further analysis showed that it could be an increase in visceral fat.

Visceral fat is invisible, but it surrounds the organs in your abdomen. According to , it's normal and healthy for visceral fat to make up about 10% of your body weight. cleveland clinic. However, too much visceral fat can cause inflammation and lead to chronic diseases.

“It is especially dangerous because of its location and the way it interacts with our body's functions,” Carrasquilla said in an email. “This type of fat is strongly associated with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic diseases.”

These results demonstrate the need for large-scale efforts to: prevent and reduce smokingHe said.

“Reducing one major health risk for our population indirectly reduces another major health risk,” Carrasquilla said in a statement.

The research team conducted a statistical analysis called. Mendelian randomizationwhich uses genetic differences to study how behavior and environment lead to different health outcomes.

“By looking at genetic data, we can go beyond association and infer whether a relationship is causal,” Carrasquilla says.

Although the study is well-conducted and provides strong evidence that smoking and increased abdominal fat are causal, not just correlational, it is not completely conclusive, says the University of Glasgow, Scotland's Department of Cardiology. said Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine. He was not involved in the study.

Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and health at National Jewish Health in Denver, added that there may be several confounding factors that strengthen the link between smoking and belly fat.

“Bad habits tend to pass along with them,” said Freeman, who was not involved in the study. For example, he said, people may reach for a pack of cigarettes or smoke a cigarette while drinking beer when they feel stressed.

One big question that remains is whether quitting smoking can reverse the increase in belly fat, Carrasquilla said.

But that shouldn't deter smokers from starting the journey to quit, he says.

“Everyone knows smoking is bad,” he says. “Public health interventions should continue to emphasize the overall health improvements associated with smoking cessation.”

Beyond cigarettes, inhaling substances such as marijuana, air pollution and cooking smoke have been linked to increased cardiovascular and lung disease, Freeman added.

“Inhalation of any substance is bad news,” he said. “Getting rid of that is always a plus.”

However, it is well known that quitting smoking is difficult.

Freeman encourages patients to take advantage of support programs such as helplines. 1-800-Please stop now Find ways to eliminate temptation, especially if you have a loved one who also smokes.

“If you have a significant other or someone in your family who smokes, it can be very difficult to quit,” he says. “I always tell people, if you have a friend who smokes and you're trying to quit, just tell them you'll see them in a few months, and I think that's terrible.”

Stress is often a big trigger for people to smoke, so finding new ways to deal with stress may also be helpful, he said.

Freeman added that exercise has been shown not only to be effective in reducing stress, but also to have a powerful effect on smoking cessation.

“It's really important to have 30 minutes a day of breathless, fun activity,” he says.

No matter how you approach quitting, the first step is to be ready and enthusiastic about breaking the habit, Freeman says. It may be a desire to become stronger, healthier, or simply to save money.

“If you're not ready to quit, I can cover you head to toe with patches and give you weight-based medications to help you quit, but you're not ready to quit.” No,” he said.

“Do you want to be Grandpa Joe or Grandma Gene, living a miserable old age with advanced cardiovascular disease caused by smoking, or do you want to dance with your great-grandchildren?” Freeman said. “That’s really the motivating factor.”