E-cigarettes could be used to help the obese lose weight, experts said yesterday.
Like real cigarettes, the electronic versions contain nicotine, which curbs the appetite and speeds up the metabolism.
Researchers believe e-cigarettes with food flavourings could replicate the feeling of eating – and a vegetable extract used in many of the devices has been shown to leave users feeling full.
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As a result, they say vaping can provide the weight loss advantages of smoking without the lung cancer danger of tobacco.
However, the experts say e-cigarettes should only be used to aid weight loss among former smokers, who often gain weight after stopping smoking.
Although giving up reduces their risk of getting cancer, it makes them more likely to become obese – putting on an average of 11lb within a year of quitting.
The study estimates up to 14 per cent of the rise in obesity rates is caused by the fall in smoking.
Critics warn it could encourage non-smokers to take up vaping to keep their weight down – and even the researchers themselves admit the idea is controversial.
Linda Bauld, professor of health policy at the University of Stirling, who took part in the research, said: ‘Our healthcare systems are struggling to cope with caring for people with chronic conditions caused by obesity and smoking.
‘Even controversial approaches that could contribute to current efforts to address this are worth investigating.’
But Professor Theresa Marteau, of the Behaviour And Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge, said she was concerned about non-smoking girls and young women using flavoured e-cigarettes to control their weight, adding: ‘E-cigarettes might have potential to reduce obesity in some, but they are not a panacea for the population.
‘We will need more detailed research to know if they can be used effectively and safely.’ Professor Bauld’s review of existing research, conducted with Massey University in New Zealand and published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, highlights the role of nicotine in speeding up the metabolism and activating brain receptors that suppress the appetite.
In addition, other studies have shown that the vegetable extract capsaicin – which is found in chillies and is widely used in liquid vaping flavours – increases a person’s sense of fullness.
Many people in a recent trial said the devices helped them control their sugar cravings and weight.
The study also says the ‘smell, taste, and mouth-feel created by flavoured vapour’ could help with food cravings. It adds: ‘Ritualistic behaviours, for example mixing one’s own liquids, putting the parts of the e-cig together (reminiscent of cigarette rolling), filling the e-cig and the act of vaping may, like smoking, also be used as an alternative to the act of eating.’
Associate Professor Marewa Glover, of Massey University, said: ‘Obesity is set to overtake smoking as the leading preventable cause of disease and early death in several countries. 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.’
But some experts warn that encouraging people to vape could backfire because its adverse health effects have yet to be discovered.
Daily Mail
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