▁reve als ▁that ▁white ▁female ▁ad oles c ents ▁with ▁established ▁weight - related ▁anx iet ies ▁are ▁particularly ▁pr one ▁to ▁initi ate ▁sm oking . ▁Although ▁knowledge ▁of ▁nic ot ine ' s ▁effects ▁upon ▁the ▁app et ite ▁can ▁contribute ▁to ▁people ▁sm oking ▁for ▁weight ▁control ▁purposes , ▁studies ▁have ▁not ▁shown ▁that ▁people ▁smoke ▁exclus ively ▁to ▁maintain ▁or ▁lose ▁weight . ▁ ▁App et ite ▁supp ression ▁ ▁Though ▁sm oking ▁is ▁widely ▁disc ou rag ed ▁by ▁public ▁health ▁profession als ▁for ▁its ▁count less ▁negative ▁health ▁consequences , ▁nic ot ine ▁may ▁be ▁an ▁app et ite ▁suppress ant . ▁Nic ot ine ▁could ▁reduce ▁app et ite ▁and ▁influence ▁an ▁individual ' s ▁e ating ▁hab its . ▁A ▁study ▁on ▁nic ot ine ' s ▁effects ▁on ▁app et ite ▁demonstrated ▁that ▁“ net ▁effects ▁of ▁nic ot ine ▁include ▁elev ated ▁blood ▁pressure , ▁heart ▁rate , ▁and ▁g astr ic ▁mot ility ▁while ▁el ic iting ▁a ▁sust ained ▁decrease ▁in ▁food ▁int ake . ▁Aut onom ic , ▁sens ory , ▁and ▁enter ic ▁neur ons ▁each ▁const itute ▁potentially ▁important ▁lo ci ▁for ▁nic ot ine - medi ated ▁changes ▁in ▁feed ing ▁behavior .” ▁Thus ▁the ▁cultural ▁associations ▁between ▁sm oking ▁and ▁weight ▁control ▁in ▁part ▁reflect ▁the ▁body ' s ▁phys i ological ▁re actions ▁to ▁nic ot ine . ▁ ▁Nic ot ine ▁g um ▁has ▁similar ▁effects ▁to ▁c igare tt es ▁in ▁terms ▁of