Smoking Increases Belly Fat
A new study from the University of Copenhagen has found that starting to smoke and smoking for a long period can increase belly fat, especially “visceral fat,” which is fat that accumulates in the deep part of the abdomen and is associated with increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and dementia.
According to the study, smokers tend to have a lower body weight than non-smokers, but they have more fat in the abdominal and visceral region, according to the news site Infobae.
The study pointed out that it is difficult to see visceral fat, as you can have a flat stomach and still have unhealthy amounts of this type of fat, increasing the risk of serious illness.
The study also indicated that, based on associations between genetic variants linked to smoking habits and belly fat, genetic factors are more strongly associated with increased visceral fat compared to subcutaneous fat.
While the study emphasized the importance of implementing comprehensive measures to prevent and reduce the number of smokers, as this could help reduce abdominal visceral fat and the chronic diseases associated with it, it also highlighted that reducing a major health risk for humans would indirectly lead to reducing another major risk.
