News Story
Smoking to keep fat at bay? Think again.
New research from UNSW on the effects of smoking has gone a long way to debunking one of the last justifications people use for continuing the habit - that is to keep them slim.
Professor Margaret Morris and Ms Hui Chen, from Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, found that any perceived loss of weight associated with smoking is most likely due to loss of lean body mass (muscle and internal organs) rather than loss of body fat.
Carried out in conjunction with the University of Melbourne, the study's findings were published this week in the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism.
The study found that even though tobacco-affected mice ate about 23 percent less, their fat levels were not significantly altered if they were consuming the high fat diet.
For the full story, see the UNSW website.
News story published 26/10/2007