Smoking can help lose weight?

 

Experts says it is a myth that smoking can help you lose weight or stay trim.

“At lower smoking rates, there is some evidence of appetite suppression from nicotine and increased metabolic rate. Hence why patients may/do gain weight when they stop smoking (due to increased appetite and lower metabolism),” Dr. Tyler Kjorvestad, a specialist in internal medicine and psychiatry at the University of Kansas Health Systems, said.

 “It isn’t that smoking makes you thin, it’s that when smokers try to quit, they sometimes gain weight. When people stop their addiction, they often find that they have more food cravings and it also is an oral activity and so people who are used to having their mouth busy often replace the cigarette or others tobacco behavior with food behavior,” Dr. Kjorvestad added.

Moreover, researchers said that smoking may in fact increase belly fat and cause visceral fat, an unhealthy fat that is located deep within the abdomen and is associated an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes and dementia. And smoking can also cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and chronic bronchitis, among other health problems.

In addition, smoking can speed up the aging process as well as increase the risk of cancer. This is because smoking causes damage to chromosomes in white blood cells that can cause premature aging.

Dr. William Dale, the director of the Center for Cancer and Aging at City of Hope said that smoking is known to shorten lifespan by an average of about 10 years. He added that aging is an independent risk factor for cancer.

More than 1 billion people worldwide are suffering from obesity

 

More than one billion people around the world are now suffering from obesity with the number having more than quadrupled since 1990, according to a study released by the Lancet medical journal.

They estimated that 504 million adult women and 374 million men were obese in 2022. The study said the obesity rate had nearly tripled for men (14 percent) since 1990 and more than doubled for women (18.5 percent).

Some 159 million children and adolescents were living with obesity in 2022, according to the study, up from about 31 million in 1990.

Francesco Branca, director of nutrition for health at the WHO, said the rise past one billion people has come "much earlier than we have anticipated".

The chronic and complex illness is accompanied by a greater risk of death from heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Being overweight increased the risk of death during the coronavirus pandemic.

Obesity can also affect bone health and reproduction, influences the quality of living, such as sleeping or moving.

In 2019, higher-than-optimal BMI (body mass index) caused an estimated 5 million deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, neurological disorders, chronic respiratory diseases and digestive disorders.

Children with obesity are very likely to be adults with obesity and are also at a higher risk of developing NCDs in adulthood.

Overweight and obesity result from an imbalance of energy intake (diet) and energy expenditure (physical activity). Eating badly is a prime factor for obesity.

"This new study highlights the importance of preventing and managing obesity from early life to adulthood, through diet, physical activity, and adequate care, as needed," said WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Health benefits of Watermelon

Watermelon contains a variety of nutrients. Here are some of the top health benefits of watermelon.

Watermelon is mostly water. And so it can serve as a good choice for daily water intake and helping digestion.

It is also relatively low in calories and so can help with weight management by keeping you feeling full for longer.

Plus, it boasts antioxidants, including vitamin C, carotenoids, lycopene and cucurbitacin E, all of which are beneficial for your health. These compounds help combat free radicals and may have anti-cancer effects. For example, cucurbitacin E inhibits tumor growth by promoting the body’s process of destroying and removing cancer cells.

Lycopene intake is also associated with a lower risk of some types of cancer, such as prostate and colorectal cancers due to lowering blood levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF), a hormone that promotes cell division.

lycopene can also help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, both key in cardiovascular health.

As an antioxidant, lycopene delays the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and helps prevent and inhibit AMD (Age-related macular degeneration, a common eye problem that can cause blindness in older adults). A study that treated eye cells with lycopene found that it decreased the capacity of inflammatory markers to damage cells.

Watermelon also contains citrulline, an amino acid that may increase nitric oxide levels in the body and help the blood vessels expand to lower blood pressure.

Citrulline also has benefits that include improving exercise performance and reducing muscle soreness.

The fruit contains a natural pigment called beta-cryptoxanthin, which may protect your joints from inflammation which may help protect you from developing conditions such as osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis.  

Other vitamins and minerals in watermelon include magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A, B6, and C — all of which are healthy and can help your heart and overall health. In addition, vitamins A and C are important for skin health.