Another reason why quitters gain weight when becoming smoke-free

 I've been saying for 20 years that once you quit, you may feel hungrier than when you smoke and there is a study that proves it. Nicotine binds to receptors in the brain that tell you when to stop eating.
There are other reasons why quitters will gain weight but a comprehensive quitting plan will include weight management for those concerned. Here is the chapter about avoiding weight gain from

What is addiction?

Have you ever thought of the perfect response to a comment later? That happened to me a few days ago when I was talking to a group of physicians. One said, "Nicotine is not an addiction. Addiction is when you hold up your mother for money to buy your drugs." I mumbled some answer and only later thought about what I wish I had said:

When I talk about nicotine being addictive, I'm talking about

Nicotine hijacks the survival instinct of the brain

Have you ever gone without smoking and developed an overwhelming craving that felt like, "I'M GOING TO DIE OR GO CRAZY IF I DONT' HAVE A CIGARETTE!"?
If so, nicotine has hijacked the survival part of your brain. From the very first puff of a cigarette, nicotine produced a powerful effect on the primate part of our brain that controls our survival instincts. Often people will say that smoking is

Is nicotine addiction a disease?

Addiction Box by Dirk Hanson

This is an interesting article about whether addiction is a disease or not. The case can be made that individuals that are addicted to a substance (whether it's nicotine or something else) have a powerlessness over the ability to abstain from their nicotine (or other substance). In this post, the point is made that often addiction is a change in the nervous system

Stop Blaming Smokers

Many people want to point a finger at smokers, "Don't you know that it's bad for your health?" they ask.These self righteous individuals are making smoking a moral or ethical issue instead of what it is--a health issue, pure and simple. Smokers are not bad people because they smoke. 90% started as a teenager before they were legally able to buy cigarettes and before their brains were fully

Another Effect of Nicotine on the Brain

Nicotine is a powerful drug that enters enters the brain and attaches to receptors that release dopamine, which is a feel-good neurotransmitter. So when a smoker says that they enjoy smoking, what they are really saying is they enjoy the effect that nicotine has on their brain. One of the other things that nicotine does, is that it goes to the part of the brain that enhances external events,