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iVillage: 15 Bad Habits That Are Actually Good For Your Health

Spending 20 minutes chatting with a trusted friend about other people’s news (and, yes, even their minor misfortunes) helps 96 percent of people squash feelings of stress, tension and anxiety for up to four hours straight, say researchers at Rhode Island’s Brown University. Even better? Women who spread positive, uplifting gossip found their depression alleviated by up to 72 percent within three months. “Speaking positively about others stimulates women’s natural bonding instincts,” explains Scott Haltzman, M.D., author of "The Secrets of Happy Families." “And that revs up your brain’s production of powerful, mood-elevating antidepressant hormones.” See, it pays to be nice!

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Fidgeting and Sq...

Fidget, pace, bounce a foot, twirl your hair, fiddle with the phone cord...those small muscle movements act like exercise, burning off damaging stress hormones during tense times, says cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M.D., author of Reverse Heart Disease Now. And research at Rochester’s Mayo Clinic suggests that people who fidget a lot increase their fat-burning metabolic rate by as much as 40 percent. The reason: Constant body movements stimulate the brain’s release hormones that boost your ability to burn stored fat for energy.

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Eating Donuts fo...

Cookies? Sure! Pie? Why not?! Research at Virginia Commonwealth University shows that women who focus on a hearty, filling breakfast without worrying about a.m. calories can lose at least three times more weight than those loyally devoted to their bran flakes. Yes, even if they eat sweets! A hearty morning meal that finishes with a little treat actually prods the brain to produce lots of mood-boosting serotonin during the day, explains lead researcher Daniela Jacubowicz, M.D., author of "The Big Breakfast Diet." “And serotonin dampens hunger pangs, cuts carb cravings in half and speeds fat-burning by 25 percent for 11 hours or more.”

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Procrastinating

Almost 75 percent of women put off their to-dos once in a while -- and one in four do it daily, according to a study at Canada’s University of Calgary. And it turns out those breaks for Angry Birds may be beneficial to their health!

Research at Germany’s University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf suggests that taking a restful break from the bedlam (to check out Facebook or Pinterest, read funny emails) boosts production of compounds that nix aches and pains in as little as eight minutes. Study authors suggest breaking up tedious tasks with several short breaks (instead of one long one) so the painkilling effect can last all day.

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Not Cleaning Up ...

Don’t feel guilty about not keeping the place pristine clean. Regularly scouring your kitchen with antibacterial sprays can actually increase your risk of being exposed to dangerous drug-resistant bugs, say University of Michigan researchers. What gives? While those sprays can kill some germs, they are useless against the feistiest, truly dangerous ones -- which grow like wildfire once the weaker bugs aren’t there to crowd them out. To play it safe, simply wipe down surfaces with regular dish soap and hot water after cooking. Then, once weekly, quick spritz with bleach, which destroys even drug-resistant bugs in less than 60 seconds, suggest Tufts University researchers.

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“Forgetting” You...

Recent research at the Missouri University of Science and Technology suggests that constantly coating yourself with sunscreen could actually increase your risk of skin cancer! One of the reasons, say the Missouri researchers: Some of today’s common sunscreen ingredients are chemically changed when they’re blasted with UV light -- and the byproducts they produce can damage your skin if you’re exposed to them nonstop. “Plus constantly wearing sunscreen stops your skin from making vitamin D -- a nutrient that actually stops skin cells from turning cancerous,” adds Michael Holick, M.D., professor of medicine at Boston University. To protect yourself: Soak up 15 minutes of sunshine every day before slathering on your sunscreen -- and if you’ll be outdoors for less time than that, you can skip the stuff entirely, Dr. Holick says.

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Sipping Coffee I...

Water cures all and coffee is evil, right? Well, according to studies at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University, caffeine helps shuttle blood sugar into muscle and brain cells, cutting your risk of prediabetes by as much as half. As for the ugly rumor that coffee is a dehydrator? According to University of Nebraska researchers, you absorb just as much water from eight ounces of coffee (or tea) as you do from eight ounces of water! Don’t toss the water bottle, but feel less guilty about that 4pm coffee break.

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Caving In to Cho...

No surprise. According to UCLA researchers, chocolate is the food women crave most. And now Harvard studies suggest that savoring two ounces daily (ideally, the darker kind) can cut your artery-clogging LDL cholesterol by 14 percent -- thereby preventing dangerous clots by 36 percent and improving blood flow to your heart by 48 percent. Credit goes to cocoa’s flavonoids -- powerful antioxidants that dial down inflammation, relax arteries, plus help control your liver’s cholesterol output, UCLA researchers say.

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Drinking

Despite all the hoopla surrounding red wine, researchers at Corvallis’ Oregon State University say regularly drinking any type of alcohol -- whether you crave a frosty mug of beer, an icy rum and coke or a sweet fuzzy navel -- can boost your artery-clearing HDL cholesterol levels by 10 percent, reduce your risk of heart disease, help with memory problems and even improve full-blown Alzheimer’s disease by 40 percent.

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Staying Late at ...

Hanging around at fun gatherings to yak with great friends can actually cut your risk of insomnia in half, according to a Japanese research team. “Anxiety is a prime cause of poor sleep -- and people who carve out a little time each month to laugh and socialize with great friends are far less likely to be overflowing with it!” explains Bruce S. Rabin, M.D., professor of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Plus, there’s no need to rush home when Stanford University researchers found that the Z’s you get between 2:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. are actually the most restorative. Doesn’t look like the occasional late night will sabotage your health after all!

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Opting for Full-...

Here’s great news if you hate skimmed milk and low-fat cheese -- Harvard researchers have discovered a natural fatty acid in whole dairy that helps muscle burn blood sugar more effectively and substantially lowers the risk of blood sugar snafus. Their 20-year study showed that folks with the highest levels of this fatty acid in their bloodstreams had a 60 percent lower risk of developing diabetes.

For best results: Enjoy two ounces of real cream, eight ounces of non-skimmed milk or yogurt, or one ounce of full-fat cheese daily.

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Feeling Lazy Abo...

Always wishing you could be one of those people who does crossfit and runs ultramaratons? Good news, you lazy bum! According to researchers at Louisiana State University, grueling workouts don’t guarantee weight loss. In fact, they can stall slimming by revving up your body’s production of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) -- a hormone that triggers impossible-to-ignore hunger pangs. A University of Tokyo study found that cutting daily exercise into smaller chunks results in a larger fat-burn than one long, grueling session.

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Dreaming About t...

Are you ever mad at yourself for even thinking about the chips in the vending machine? Those negative thoughts could be the key to keeping your health goals on track. According to University of Pennsylvania researchers, dieters who worry about willpower lapses lose 26 more pounds compared to folks who assume they’ll fight off temptations just fine. “When you picture the occasional slip-up, you’re actually being honest with yourself about how hard it is to fight temptations,” says Michelle May, M.D., author of "Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat." “And that makes it possible to prepare for set-backs, and to bounce back quickly when they do happen.”

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