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Growing up, we have been always taught to speak only the truth and that lying is unethical. But, could lying also be bad for your health?

A new "science of honesty" study has suggested that people who significantly reduced daily lying could see mental and physical health benefits. 

Researchers used 110 males and females, between 18 and 71 years old, in the study. 

Fifty-five were told to stop lying completely for 10 weeks and the other half was given no special instructions about lying. They went to a laboratory each week to complete health and relationship questionnaires and to take a polygraph test assessing the number of major and minor lies they had told that week.

According to researchers, the group who stopped lying complained less of headaches , sore throats, tenseness, anxiety and other problems than those in who were given no instructions. Results also showed that the non-lying participants had improved close personal relationships and more smoothly social interactions. 

The research has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal but was presented at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting. 

"A reduction in the lies of our participants across the 10 weeks of their participation was associated with better physical and mental health in those same weeks when those individuals had engaged in less lying," said Lead Author Anita Kelly. :Also, actually inducing people to lie less caused them to see themselves as more honest as compared to the people who were not induced to stop lying. And, getting people to stop lying also strengthens the link between fewer lies and better health to be stronger." 

It is believed that Americans, on average, tell 11 lies per week, from the little white lies to save face or falsely compliment others to whoppers about integrity, fidelity or other serious matters.

"I think lying can cause a lot of stress for people, contributing to anxiety and even depression," said Dr. Bryan Bruno, acting chairman of the department of psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Lying less is not only good for your relationships, but for yourself as an individual. People might recognize the more devastating impact lying can have on relationships, but probably don't recognize the extent to which it can cause a lot of internal stress."

After the study, the participants said they came up with way not to lie. According to researchers, some realized they could simply tell the truth about their daily accomplishments rather than exaggerate, while others responded to a troubling question with another question to distract the person. They also stopped making false excuses for running late or failing to finish tasks.

Research published July 11 in the journal PLoS ONE reveals that this claim is unfounded, with the authors calling on the public and organizations to abandon this approach to lie detection.Experts have long claimed that when a person looks up to their right they are likely to be lying, whilst a glance up to their left is indicative of telling the truth.

Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom tested this popular belief by filming volunteers as they either lied or told the truth, and then carefully coded their eye movements.  In a second study another group of participants was asked to watch the films and attempt to detect the lies on the basis of the volunteers' eye movements.