Bad Habits That Are Actually Good For You (II)

All of us have bad habits. Occasionally, we feel guilty about them. But some bad habits—at least when carried out in moderation—might actually benefit our psychological or physical well-being. Most bad habits alter our mood state and reduce stress (at least in the very short-term) but tend to become less helpful, the more we engage in them. Some of these bad habits turn into addictions, with the short-term benefits outweighing the long-term costs. But here are 3 bad habits that are helpful:

Picking Nose and Eating it: Helps strengthen the immune system

What do you feel when you see someone picking their nose and then eating what they have found? Disgust? Contempt? Amusement? In 2008, Friedrich Bischinger, an Austrian lung specialist, claimed that it was good for you. He claimed that people who pick their noses were healthy, happier, and probably better in tune with their bodies than those who didn’t, and that eating the dry remains of what you pull out of your nose is a great way to strengthen the immune system. He explained that the nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works like medicine. "People who pick their nose and eat it," he said, "get a natural boost to their immune system for free. I would recommend a new approach where children are encouraged to pick their nose. It is a completely natural response and medically a good idea as well.” (He went on to suggest that if individuals could do it privately.) This view is also shared by biochemist Scott Napper of the University of Saskatchewan. He theorized that hygiene improvement has led to an increase in allergies and autoimmune disorders and that eating snot may boost the immune system by ingesting small and harmless amounts of germs into the body. The same theory has also been applied to biting fingernails—again because the activity introduces germs directly into one’s orifices.

Getting Up Late: Helps reduce heart attacks and strokes

While the old proverb, "The early bird catches the worm," might be true, the saying, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and wise," may not be. According to Mayuko Kadono of the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, getting up too early in the morning may have serious health consequences. Kadono has led a number of studies on sleep and its relationship with health. In one study of 3,017 healthy adults, it was reported that individuals getting up before 5 a.m. and engaging in vigorous exercise have a 1.7 times greater risk of high blood pressure, and were twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease, as those who got up two-to-three hours later. The number of hours slept did not make a difference, only the time of getting up. Kadono said the results were “contrary to the commonly held belief that early birds are in better health. We need to find what the causes of this are, and whether exercising after waking early is beneficial." A study by researchers at Stanford found that the most restorative sleep occurs between 2:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. More general research has found that getting enough sleep can help individuals’ reduce their stress and boost their memory. In short, it’s better to wake up when your body feels ready (i.e., aligning with your body’s natural circadian rhythm) rather than waking up because your alarm clock has gone off.

Playing Video Games: Helps relieve pain

Many individuals who do not play video games view the activity as a potentially addictive waste of time. While excessive play may cause problems for a minority of individuals, there is much scientific evidence that playing video games can have beneficial effects. A number of studies have shown that children with cancer who play video games after chemotherapy take less pain-killing medication. Video games have also been used as a pain-relieving therapy for burns victims and individuals with back pain. Playing video games is an engaging, engrossing activity, distracting the player from anything else—what psychologists refer to as a "cognitive distractor task." Pain has a large psychological component; individuals experience less if they are engaged in an activity that consumes all of their cognitive mind space. There are also many studies showing that playing video games increases hand-eye coordination and reaction times, and that games can deliver educational learning benefits.