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A new Australian study debunking the myth that cigarettes keep weight down is a further warning about the dangers of smoking, an anti-smoking body says.
A new Australian study debunking the myth that cigarettes keep weight down is a further warning about the dangers of smoking, an anti-smoking body says.
The study, conducted by a research team from the University of New South Wales and the University of Melbourne, found people do not shed fat simply because they smoke.
The research found smokers lost muscle mass, which gave them the appearance of being thinner, but the fat instead was stored around their vital organs.
Mice were studied over seven weeks, with half exposed to smoke from four cigarettes a day for six days a week while the other half smoke free.
Mice on the smoke diet ate about 23 per cent less but their fat mass kept to similar levels.
Quit executive director Fiona Sharkie said today the study was a further warning to smokers they were endangering their health.
It also blew their perception they were burning fat and staying thinner or losing weight, she said.
"If you lose muscle it looks like you are losing more weight," Ms Sharkie said.
"It gives the appearance you are looking skinnier, but you are still storing the fat, which is not obviously a good thing.
"We're debunking that myth as well with these findings."
She said the fat would tend to gather around a smoker's girth and torso, adding to the adverse effects on their health.
"That's around the liver, lungs, heart ... and the stomach as well," she said.
人们一向以为吸烟有助于减轻体重。一个反烟组织称，澳大利亚一项最新的研究推翻了这种错误的认识，进一步警示吸烟的危害。
新南威尔士大学和墨尔本大学的联合研究小组调查发现，人并不会仅仅因为吸烟而减肥。
研究发现吸烟使人的肌肉群减少，让烟民们看上去很瘦，但实际上脂肪已经储存在重要的生命器官周围了。
研究人员对老鼠进行了超过七周的实验，其中一半的老鼠一周六天每天暴露在4支卷烟的烟雾中，而另一半则完全处在无烟环境中。
处于烟雾中的老鼠节食23%，但是它们的脂肪量仍保持在同样的水平上。
戒烟组织执行主管菲奥娜•沙尔基说，现在的研究再次警告烟民他们正在危害自己的健康。
她说，研究也推翻了他们认为吸烟燃烧脂肪并能保持苗条或者减肥的观点。
“肌肉群减少，让烟民误以为达到了“减肥”的效果”，沙尔基说。
“你看起来瘦了，但是实际上仍在堆积脂肪，这显然不是什么好事。”
“研究正是要推翻这一误解。”
她说，脂肪会堆积在烟民的腰部及身体其他部位，比如心、肝、肺、胃等等，不利于他们的身体健康。
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