Health: Body News.(Smoking and Dieting)

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Smoking and Dieting

Smoking and Dieting

Smokers trying to quit are often afraid of gaining weight. But dieting may increase the urge to smoke, according to David Gorelick, a researcher with the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore. For six days at a time, he and his colleagues assigned 17 healthy-weight smokers (who were not trying to quit) to one of four diets: "normal calorie" (2,000 to 2,800 calories daily), ?"low calorie" (1,300 to 2,100 calories daily), "low carbohydrate/normal calorie," and "low carbohydrate/low calorie." Compared ?with the higher-calorie group, the low-calorie dieters smoked about four more cigarettes daily. Limiting both carbohydrates and calories didn't seem to affect the number of cigarettes smoked, but the people following this diet had the highest carbon monoxide levels in their breath, suggesting deeper inhalation. Starting a workout routine while giving up smoking is also tricky, recent research has shown. Gorelick advises "sensible eating and exercise" as opposed to "a focused ?program that might jeopardize the quitting attempt."

80%

65%

of smokers adhered well to a quitting program for eight weeks; ?30 percent stayed on a diet ?at the same time. -Health Psychology