Vape away the kilograms?

Quit smoking ... and lose weight at the same time

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,’’ said Professor Bernhard Breier, Massey’s chairman of human nutrition.

‘‘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 today, which reviewed existing studies on vaping and weight control.

With obesity looming as one of the world’s largest health problems, the researchers say there is a lot to be gained by further investigation into vaping.

The commentary paper – Could vaping be a new weapon in the battle of the bulge? – calls for more investigation into whether exsmokers could switch to vaping to avoid the weight gain often associated with kicking the habit.

‘‘The fear of putting on weight with stopping smoking was really putting people off,’’ said associate professor Marewa Glover, of Massey’s school of public health.

‘‘As people try to quit smoking, they start to put weight on so they relapse, so post-cessation weight gain is a real problem.’’

Most electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, mimic real cigarettes by producing a vapour from heating a solution called e-liquid.

Generally, they contain propylene glycol and flavouring agents, and can be used with or without nicotine.

Glover said vaping was ‘‘estimated to be 90 per cent safer than tobacco’’ but added that no researcher had said it was 100 per cent safe.

But a Cambridge University professor and the Ministry of Health are warning against using e-cigarettes to lose weight, with the ministry citing ‘‘a lack of evidence’’ about their long-term impact. Cambridge University professor Theresa Marteau wanted more work to be done.

‘‘We must make sure that e-cigarettes don’t become a kind of snake oil, distracting ex-smokers from other established and effective weight-loss interventions.’’

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.’’

A recent study involving the University of Auckland concluded low-nicotine cigarettes had many benefits and few potential harms.

The study, completed jointly with the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota, said the potentially ‘‘enormous’’ public health impact of nicotine reduction could help New Zealand achieve its goal of becoming smokefree by 2025.

‘‘One way to reduce smoking is to make it less addictive by greatly reducing how much nicotine is in the tobacco people smoke,’’ coauthor Chris Bullen said.

‘‘Vaping’s use of e-liquids with food flavours, along with mouth-feel and aroma of the vapour, could play a role in helping people eat less.’’ Professor Bernhard Breier