# Why do smokers smoke after a meal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138 "2000-03-13T15:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/1 "2000-03-13T15:42:00Z")
This isn’t a rant; I’m really wondering about this one. Is there just an irresistable urge to light up after a meal? Is there a physiological reason? * * * Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/2 "2000-03-13T15:58:00Z")
It tastes good (I know non-smokers have a lot of trouble understanding that!) plus it’s very relaxing, almost like sitting back and having an after-dinner drink. Plus there’s still some leftover “brandy and cigars” atmosphere to smoking after a meal, settling back for a little conversation. A relaxed smoke after dinner is one of life’s little pleasures. * * * I understand all the words, they just don’t make sense together like that. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/3 "2000-03-13T16:04:00Z")
There are three pleasures in life: a drink before and a smoke after. In this joke, the missing pleasure is sex, but I guess it applies as well to eating. Back in the days when I smoked and drank it was true for both activities, but I have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![LaMaxwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@LaMaxwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaMaxwell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/4 "2000-03-13T16:22:00Z")
It is my understanding that smoking a cigarette causes a brief rise in metabolism, and that kind of gives a kick start to the digestive process. I don’t know if that’s true, but I know that if I have that stuffed feeling after a meal, a cigarette relieves that tired, overfed feeling immediately. It also makes me feel like the meal is over, time to go on to something else. Unfortunately, cigarettes serve a transitional function for me. I finish one activity or chore, and I usually have a smoke before moving on to the next thing. I’m trying to cut back by taking other kinds of breaks between activities, like playing a computer game for a few minutes or, I don’t know, reading/posting to an internet bulletin board. * * * Every day our children ask us, “Who am I?” and with everything we say to them and everything we do, we say, “This is who you are.” ---
**Author:** ![joemill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@joemill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joemill)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/5 "2000-03-13T17:00:00Z")
I _JUST_ read about this in a science magazine. I was always curious about this too… Apparently, when one eats, the liver steps up the rate at which it metabolizes. Therefore, the nicotine in the system is reduced due to the overactive liver taking the nicotine out of the system, which causes the craving… ---
**Author:** ![SingleDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SingleDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleDad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/6 "2000-03-13T17:05:00Z")
The reason is much simpler: Since most smokers usually don’t smoke _during_ a meal, it’s usually been 30-45 minutes since his last smoke, so it’s time for another one. * * * He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’ ---
**Author:** ![lvick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@lvick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lvick)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/7 "2000-03-13T17:28:00Z")
These answers all presume frequent smoking. when I smoked 4-5 a day I still wanted one after dinner. For awhile I only smoked one a day, the after dinner smoke. when I was smoking more I’d have one after every meal, but given the choice, dinner was the most important. I do not know the mechanism of the drug that makes it so, but post coital or post prandial smokes really are fine. If I could just smoke one, I probably still would. larry ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Maxwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jack\_Maxwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Maxwell)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/8 "2000-03-14T06:09:00Z")
It’s to get that awful taste of food out of your mouth. 🙂 * * * “God is the biggest bitch of them all.” ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/9 "2000-03-14T06:27:00Z")
while I have never been addicted to Nick’o’teen i have been strongly addicted to caffeine and it was just as you say, certain situations just make you crave it, after a meal being one of them. I have gone without coffee for a couple of months now and i seem to eat so much more just because the meal does not seem “complete” until I have that dose. I do drink tea instead but it just does not do it… coffee gave me that sense of “completeness” … the first few days after I quit were hell as I had a permanent headache… now I still get the craving at the same moments I used to… Anyway, it seems certain situations (e.g. after meals or sex) trigger the need for your drug of choice ---
**Author:** ![Kiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/10 "2000-03-13T23:39:00Z")
I smoke Menthol’s so, for me, smoking after a meal is like an after dinner mint. It’s relaxing and tastes great. It just seems to make the whole experience of eating more satisfying. I smoke after sex for the same reasons. * * * That John Denver’s full of shit man! ---
**Author:** ![KalEl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/839c29/32.png) [@KalEl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KalEl)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/11 "2000-03-13T23:45:00Z")
The best explanation I ever heard for that phenomenon (I smoked for 13 years, and I know that particular craving well) is that eating a heavy meal generally causes physical discomfort – and nicotine, among its many other wonderful qualities, eases discomfort (along with anxiety, boredom, and many other human ills). In short, discomfort (of any kind) triggers a need for nicotine. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/12 "2000-03-14T17:40:00Z")
Part one: Remember the nicotine gum ad that talks about “The power to calm, the power to comfort” ? It’s the same drug. Part two: SingleDad’s sig line…He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’ I once knew a guy who stood on the chimney of my house, holding a can of Bud and a toy M16. He was railing at the thundering sky, “I got violence in one hand and alcohol in the other! You can’t touch me, God!” He came down when a huge clap of thunder nearly caused him to fall off. After the storm, we found that lightning had destroyed a big tree 50 yards up the street. * * * AskNott "Measure twice, cut once. Dang! Measure again, cut again. ---
**Author:** ![Nanno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nanno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanno)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/13 "2000-03-15T02:46:00Z")
Do you think they confuse eating with having sex? * * * Whatever ---
**Author:** ![GKittridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e274bd/32.png) [@GKittridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKittridge)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/14 "2000-03-15T05:11:00Z")
I’d always read that nicotine is a mild laxative. And my experiences since I quit (five months, still gloating) seem to add credence to that theory. And, no, I’m not going into any detail as to those experiences. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/15 "2000-03-15T05:59:00Z")
joemill, you beat me to it. Yup that seems right, after eating the intake of nutrients (etc.) lowers the amount on nicotine in the blood thus leading to a craving. * * * "\_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ ". ---
**Author:** ![KalEl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/839c29/32.png) [@KalEl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KalEl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/16 "2000-03-25T01:11:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Nanno: > \*\*Do you think they confuse eating with having sex? > \*\* If so, perhaps I should meet them for lunch to discuss it further. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Chief\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-smokers-smoke-after-a-meal/9138/17 "2000-03-25T07:00:00Z")
It’s all about the reward systems in your brain. When you eat or have sex your brain lets loose with a chemical reward to tell you you’ve just done something good. (i.e., fulfilled necessary nutritional requirements to survive or reproduced.) Nicotine produces it own, artificial chemical reward, making you feel like you’ve done something good. So, when you smoke after a meal or sex you are in essence “piggybacking” two rewards for an even better feeling.