Why People Who Quit Smoking Eat More Food
September 9th, 2006 (Quit Smoking)
There are at least three reasons why quitters report an increase in appetite after quitting, with a particular increase in their desire for sweets:
1. One of the reasons you continue to smoke may be as a means of weight control, and you may reach for a cigarette just to have something in your hands and mouth other than food. It’s a habit that may have developed to replace snacking when you take a break from work or when you first notice that you are just a little hungry in between meals, but not yet ready for lunch or dinner.
2. If you tend to eat when you are nervous, and find that eating has a quieting, calming effect, you may have become accustomed to cigarettes for the same tension-reducing impact you would otherwise get from food. When you quit smoking, the desire to eat can now become overwhelming whenever you become tense.
3. Nicotine and carbohydrate foods, especially sweets, have a similar effect on serotonin activity in the brain. Thus, when you quit smoking, the substitution of a sweet can replace the biochemical impact of nicotine.