Your heart and lungs will thank you for kicking your cigarette habit, but your waistline may not.
A new study finds that ex-smokers may end up packing on a few more pounds than they expected.
On average, say French and British researchers, people gain about 10 pounds after kicking the habit. That's substantially higher than the roughly 6 pounds often quoted in smoking cessation literature, and double the 5 pounds that many female smokers report being willing to tolerate before attempting to quit, according to the authors.
Weight gain has long been associated with quitting -- not surprisingly, considering that nicotine is an appetite suppressant and a stimulant -- and many people who don't quit cite fear of ballooning weight as a reason.
But the new findings back up what any doctor will tell you: you're still better off quitting.
