Myth: My other healthy habits may make up for my smoking.
Fact: Some smokers justify their habit by insisting that proper nutrition and lots of exercise are enough to keep them healthy. Not so.
"Research shows that eating a healthy diet and exercising don't reduce the health risks associated with smoking," says Ann M. Malarcher, PhD, senior scientific advisor in the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "Smoking affects every organ system in the body, and thinking that you're going to find the perfect lifestyle to counteract the effects of smoking is just not realistic."
"You could take a truckload of vitamins a day and still not undo the deadly effects of tobacco," says Michael C. Fiore, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis.
WebMD: 10 Persistent Myths About Smoking. Retrieved from: http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/10-persistent-myths-about-smoking. Retrieved on Feb. 11, 2012
