Smoking Might Lead To More Belly Fat, Diseases – Study

A new study has found that both starting smoking and spending a lifetime smoking cigarettes was associated with an increase in abdominal fat linked to serious diseases. These are the findings of the study published in the journal ‘Addiction’. And further analysis showed that the increase may be in visceral fat, said lead study author Dr. Germán Carrasquilla, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Karolinska Instituted in Sweden.

Visceral fat isn’t visible it surrounds your organs within your abdomen. It’s normal and healthy for visceral fat to make up about 10 percent of your body’s total fat, according to the Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Too much visceral fat, however, can create inflammation, contributing to chronic diseases.

“Its location and the way visceral fat interacts with our body’s functions make it particularly dangerous,” Carrasquilla said. “This type of fat is strongly linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic conditions,” reported ‘cnn.com’.