FROM:www.mirror.co.uk
By Shivali Best/4 APR 2018
Researchers from Fairfield University evaluated data from 5,293 adults, and found that smokers consumed around 200 more calories a day.
While smoking is often associated with suppressing your appetite, a new study suggests that smokers actually eat more than non-smokers.
Researchers from Fairfield University found that smokers consumed around 200 more calories a day.
Dr Jacqueline Vernarelli, who led the study, said: “Smokers had diets that were high in energy density, meaning they consumed smaller
amounts of food containing a greater number of calories.“Non-smokers consumed more food which contained fewer calories.”
In the study, the researchers evaluated data from 5,293 US adults on what they had eaten in the past 24 hours, as well as their
smoking status.This allowed them to calculate each person’s mean dietary energy density (kcal/g).The results revealed that people
who had never smoked consumed around 1.79 calories per gram of food, daily smokers consumed 2.02 kcal/g and non-daily smokers
consumed 1.89 kcal/g.Meanwhile, former smokers consumed more calories per gram of food (1.84kcal/g) than those who had never smoked,
but less than current smokers.The findings suggest that any amount of cigarette consumption could be associated with poorer diet quality.
When looking at the participants’ specific diets, the researchers also found that smokers tended to eat less fruit and vegetables,
which meant their intake of vitamin C was likely to be lower.This deficiency could potentially put smokers at further risk of cardiovascular
disease and cancer, according to the researchers.
Dr Vernarelli added: "We know from the literature that concerns about weight gain are barriers to quitting smoking, and we know that
diets high in energy density are associated with higher body weight.“Our results suggest that addressing the energy density in diets of
current smokers may be a good target for interventions as part of a larger smoking cessation plan.”
Thanks...
