While nicotine can exert appetite-suppressing effects and smoking cessation is frequently followed by weight gain and shifts in diabetes risk, population studies often associate active smoking with increased abdominal obesity and metabolic disorders rather than acting as a reliable preventative measure.
The evidence we hold leans evenly split
official record 3x · fact-check 2x · hedged 1x · crowd & reference 1x
The retrieved literature contains conflicting evidence regarding smoking and metabolic outcomes. Some studies emphasize post-cessation weight gain and increased diabetes risk relative to current smokers (supporting the notion that smoking suppresses weight/diabetes markers), whereas others find that smoking is associated with higher rates of abdominal obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and gestational diabetes. Therefore, the balance of evidence is contested.