Sangeetha Pulapaka
2

I wonder about this too!

Nicotine could reduce appetite and influence an individual’s eating habits. A study on nicotine’s effects on appetite demonstrated that “net effects of nicotine include elevated blood pressure, heart rate, and gastric motility while eliciting a sustained decrease in food intake. Autonomic, sensory, and enteric neurons each constitute potentially important loci for nicotine-mediated changes in feeding behavior. Thus the cultural associations between smoking and weight control in part reflect the body’s reactions to nicotine.

Nicotine gum has similar effects to cigarettes in terms of appetite suppression, and there are some people who do not smoke, but use nicotine gum for the purpose of weight control or weight loss

Nicotine can also lower insulin levels in a person’s bloodstream, which can reduce craving for sugary foods. Furthermore, “nicotine-triggered effects of adrenaline on the stomach’s musculature” lead to temporary feelings of subsided hunger. Other studies have shown that smokers expend more calories while engaged in activity, which echo conclusions that smokers experience heightened metabolic rates. Also worth noting are the diuretic properties of nicotine, which causes lower calcium levels in the blood.

There is much controversy concerning whether smokers are actually thinner than nonsmokers. Some studies have shown that smokers—including long term and current smokers—weigh less than nonsmokers, and gain less weight over time.Conversely, certain studies have not shown correlation between weight loss and smoking at least among young persons.[Accordingly, while the connection between nicotine and appetite suppression, as well as other physiological responses to nicotine consumption, has been established, whether these chemical and biological reactions translate to smokers being thinner than nonsmokers (at least concerning certain age groups), is still debated. Age may act as a compounding factor in some of these studies. Essentially, a causal relationship has not been explicitly established between physiological effects of nicotine and epidemiological findings about weight among smokers and nonsmokers.

Courtesy : Wikepedia

Here is a link to the discussion on the side effects of smoking.

https://www.qalaxia.com/#/viewDiscussion?messageId=5b81616097f9e718039b44b8


Vivekanand Vellanki
0
This is so true. I have heard that poor people kill their apetite by smoking "beedis" - the poor man's cigarette.
Sangeetha Pulapaka
0
Former President Barack Obama started smoking during his teen years, a habit he returned to off and on throughout his presidency. At the height of his smoking, he puffed seven to eight cigarettes a day (allegedly his favorite brand, Marlboro Reds). In 2008, he promised his wife Michelle he would quit smoking in exchange for her supporting him for the presidential bid. Obama told GQ he quit smoking when the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, although he is rumored to have fallen off the wagon since then. As of May 2016, Obama is tobacco-free but still occasionally chews nicotine gum.