A new study has said that smoking may significantly reduce calorie intake by regulating the levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin. The study was conducted by researchers at the Harokopio University Athens in Greece.
The study involved 14 healthy males who participated in two trials after overnight abstinence from smoking and food: the C-cig, where they smoked two cigarettes of their brand and the S-sham control where they held the cigarette as smoking without lighting it. Dietary intake and at standard time points appetite feelings and craving for smoking were recorded. Blood samples were collected and analysed for various hormones including obestatin, ghrelin, GLP-1, CCK and insulin.
Results showed that smoking had an acute effect on dietary intake, reducing it by 152 calories - a statistically significant result. There was no intervention effect for taste preference or macronutrient intake. An intervention time effect on plasma ghrelin concentration was found, with ghrelin`s concentration being lower 60 minutes after S-sham, indicating more fullness and food consumption after the S-sham part of the study. There was no intervention effect for appetite feelings, obestatin, CCK, GLP-1 and insulin.