Eighty percent of people who quit smoking put on an average of 15 pounds, studies have shown, and those pounds are usually attributed to a person trading lighting up for pigging out. But according to the researchers at the Zurich University Hospital, the weight gain may not have to anything to do with an increase in calories. Rather, the weight might be a result of changes in the composition of a person’s intestinal flora after they quit. The study found that when a person stops smoking, the bacteria in their intestinal flora shifts to a type which burns energy more efficiently and breaks down more of what is ingested, thus creating more fat and less waste. The 20 study participants insisted their calorie intake stayed the same or fell after they quit smoking.

Source:MSN