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Could an E-Cigarette Really Help Ex-Smokers Lose Weight?

Whether you swap to an e-cigarette or go cold-turkey, quitting smoking is an incredible achievement. However, many find that they quickly pack on the pounds. But aside from improving your health, could an e-cigarette also really help you keep the weight off?

What do you use your e-cigarette for? It’s likely that you first picked up your e-cigarette in a last-ditch attempt to stop smoking for good. And now, you use it purely to get your nicotine hit in a safe way, without inhaling the harmful chemicals in those cancer sticks. Or, perhaps after quitting, you fell in love with the vibrant vaping culture and community and love nothing more than exploring the newest box mod or building coils for your mechanical mod.

The health benefits of vaping have long been espoused by the industry and backed by public health. They don’t cause cancer, they allow you to curb your habit while improving your skin and teeth, and you won’t wake up with a hacking cough every morning from vaping.

However, it doesn’t stop there. Researchers in Britain and New Zealand have found that using an e-cigarette could actually control appetite and prevent weight gain. One thing that has long plagued individuals who quit smoking is the sometimes inevitable weight gain that comes with it. Smoking is a habit — albeit a bad one — and the majority simply swap this habit for another. Instead of picking up a cigarette, they have a snack instead. If you’re a twenty-a-day smoker, think about how much extra food you would be eating every day. The results could be disastrous.

weight scale with an electronic cigarette | electric tobacconist UK

There are a number of reasons for this:

Habit and boredom: As we mentioned, many quit smoking and replace it with a different habit. How many times have you been bored and opted to smoke a roll-up, just to keep your hands busy and get a hit of nicotine?
Increased metabolism: Smoking actually speeds up your body’s ability to burn calories, so when you quit, you’ll need fewer calories. Otherwise, expect to put on a few pounds.
Nicotine addiction: As we’ve mentioned before, nicotine isn’t the bad guy here. It’s no more addictive than caffeine and, most importantly, it’s not the ingredient in cigarettes that causes cancer and kills millions of people every year. Nicotine doesn’t only boost concentration, but it also acts as an appetite suppressant, meaning you’re less likely to snack throughout the day if you’re a regular smoker.
The taste of cigarettes: Smoking, due to the inhalation of nicotine, does send signals to your brain that reduces hunger. However, it’s just as much down to the physical experience of smoking. Consider this: you’ve just finished a cigarette. you’ve still got a breath full of smoke, and it’s all you can smell and taste. Do you really want to eat now? Cigarettes also dull your taste buds, so chances are you wouldn’t enjoy your food, anyway.

This being said, it’s clear that smoking is not the favourable option here. Cigarettes decrease bone density, clog up your arteries and put increased strain on your heart, making you more likely to suffer a heart attack. That’s without mentioning that 70 chemicals in cigarettes are carcinogenic, meaning they can cause cancer in the lungs, stomach and kidneys. In fact, they can affect your entire body.

Compared to the harm smoking can do, gaining a few pounds doesn’t seem like a bad trade-off, does it? But, what if there was a way you could quit smoking and avoid the notorious weight gain?

Could an E-Cigarette Be the Solution?

How to Buy an E Cigarette with the Right Nicotine Strength | Electric Tobacconist UK

E-cigarettes allow you to control your level of nicotine, so you can start on a higher dose with an e-cig starter kit and gradually reduce if complete nicotine cessation is the ultimate goal. This way, you’ll still reap the benefits of nicotine, including appetite suppression, if that’s the one thing that’s putting you off quitting smoking for good.

E-cigarettes also provide the closest sensation to smoking without actually doing so, with the vapour produced by the device and the hand-to-mouth action of vaping.

Choosing the Right Flavour

The flavour of e-liquid you choose could also help reduce weight gain. The e-cigarette kit you choose will determine what flavours are available to you. Cig-a-likes are designed to look and feel like a cigarette, and can be easily refilled with cartridges, or cartomizers. While the flavours are slightly more limited, catering mainly to those looking for the taste of a traditional cigarette (tobacco or menthol), you can get alternative flavours, such as cherry or vanilla. However, if you opt for a vaporizer pen e-cig starter kit (which you’ll have to refill yourself), you’ll be able to purchase any bottle of e-liquid, with flavours ranging from cherries and berries to chocolate, red liquorice and strawberry milkshake.

While you might think that vaping on something sweet would make you crave the real thing even more, that’s not always the case. Vaping on something sweet could kerb your desire to dig into the real thing. Or similarly, if you enjoy going to your local coffee shop daily for your caffeine fix, consider an e-cigarette instead. You could save pounds — and we’re not just talking about weight.

Buy your e-cig starter kit from Electric Tobacconist today and get a choice of free e-liquid on selected kits.

By Lenny