For good health, be sure to eat fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and lie as seldom as possible. A researcher is hoping this advice will someday take hold, based on results of a "science of honesty" study she completed. Half of 110 participants were told to stop telling major or minor ("white") lies for 10 weeks, while the other half (the control group) was given no special instructions about lying. The 110 people ranged from ages 18 to 71 and came from both sexes and all income levels. All came to a laboratory each week to complete health and relationship questionnaires and to take a test showing the number of major and minor lies they had told that week. When those in the no-lie group told three fewer white lies than in other weeks, they complained less of headaches, tenseness, anxiety and other problems than those in the control group. In addition, they reported that their close personal relationships had improved and their social interactions  had gone more smoothly. "The link was that clear," said study author Anita Kelly, a professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. "Lying less was clearly associated with better health for those people." Previous research indicates that Americans average 11 lies per week, from the little white lies to save face or falsely praise others to major lies about serious matters. Kelly said her study differs from former studies because it didn't focus on how to detect a liar, but on the potential health consequences of telling lies. "People might recognize the more harmful effect lying can have on relationships, but probably don't recognize the extent to which it can cause a lot of stress," said Dr. Bryan Bruno at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. At the end of the study, some participants had created smart ways to avoid lying. Kelly noted that some realized they could simply tell the truth about their daily achievements rather than exaggerate , while others responded to a troubling question with another question to take the person's attention away. They also stopped making false excuses for running late or failing to finish tasks. "People usually think white lies are acceptable. In fact, white lies are trouble, not just major lies," Kelly said. "As long as you like, you can find effective ways to avoid lying in many cases. It depends on you." "But the goal doesn't have to be the absolute absence of lies ... the goal would be a reduction in lies," she added. According to the author, doing the following things is good for health EXCEPT  _  .
eating fruits and vegetables exercising regularly lying as seldom as possible watching TV