Most smokers put on a couple of kilos when they quit
smoking. This is not due to an increased calorie intake, but to a change in the
composition of the intestinal flora after quitting smoking, as a study
supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) suggests.
When smokers wave goodbye to their cigarettes, eighty per
cent of them put on seven kilos on average. Their weight increases even if
their calorie intake remains the same or even falls compared to the level
before quitting smoking. What is the reason for this weight gain?