October 26, 2016 11:00am by David Farrar

e-cigarettes and weight loss

Vaping is being touted as the latest weapon in the battle of the bulge, with researchers claiming it could stave off food cravings.

Massey University research suggests that former smokers gain an average of 4.7 kilograms in the 12 months after quitting.

“Vaping’s use of e-liquids with food flavours, along with the mouth-feel and aroma of the vapour, could play a role in helping people to eat less,” Professor Bernhard Breier, Massey’s chair in human nutrition, said.

“If there is a chance that flavoured vaping could help even a small proportion of people reduce the diabetes, cardiovascular and cancer risks associated with excess weight, the population health gains would be significant.”

Breir co-authored a paper published in the international journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research on Wednesday, which reviewed existing studies on vaping and weight control.

Would be interesting to see more research in this area, but I’d be cautious about promoting vaping as a weight loss tool.

Vaping or e-cigarettes are a great substitute for tobacco, and there are massive health benefits for smokers to switch to vaping.

But you get even more health benefits by not smoking at all. Of course many smokers are addicted to nicotine and can’t easily stop smoking – hence why e-cigarettes are a good way to feed the nicotine addiction but cut the health impact by 95%.

An Otago University health expert agreed, saying effective advertising restrictions, calorie reductions and junk food controls would be more effective tools in weight management.

“If you have got a fat person that says, if I get rid of smoking I’m going to be even fatter … well maybe e-cigarettes can help them,” Jim Mann, professor in human nutrition and medicine at Otago said.

“But to use e-cigarettes as a method of weight control – I would be very dubious about that, because we don’t know much about e-cigarettes.”

“Smoking is worse than obesity. If you have to get rid of one, you get rid of the smoking.”

I agree that if it is a choice between obesity and smoking, you get rid of the smoking.

The best option is not to smoke at all. If that isn’t possible then e-cigarettes are way way better than smoking.