Sex, Chocolate, and Whiskey Save Lives: Five Ways Bad Habits are Good for You

In general, everyone I know awakes on New Year's day with the same feeling - a cruel mixture of disgust, guilt, and, of course, the obligatory hangover. And so it begins: Just as overindulgence is writ in anticipation of the new year, forced starvation and manic exercise seems mandatory in its wake. What I am suggesting, and shall be in weeks to come, is that you find a balance between the two.

It is only human nature to overindulge when a fast is nigh. Refusing to completely abstain from habits traditionally viewed as unhealthy may be the only way to keep from binging later. Numerous studies have found that slow, gradual changes to your diet are the ones that are the easiest to stick with. Besides, some of your "vices" have actually sneaked some health benefits into your revelry. Here are 5 ways how.

1. You got to see some friends and family.

As stressful as reunions can sometimes be, it is an actual fact that gossiping with friends, laughing, and talking about your day can not only burn calories and de-stress your mind, but also boost your immune system and reduce your risk of heart disease. In a recent study from the University of California at San Diego found that women with more than six close relationships of any nature smoked, weighed, and got depressed less than women who were more solitary in nature. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin agreed, when they found that women who had close personal relationships had lower blood levels of a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. Better yet (and certainly more fun), psychologists in Pennsylvania have shown that people who have sex once or twice a week have significantly boosted immune systems. Sex has also been proven to lower cholesterol in some, and, more importantly, tip the HDL/LDL cholesterol balance towards the healthier HDL side. In addition, a 2001 follow-up to a Queens University study into the health benefits of sex found that having sex three or more times a week reduced men's risk of heart attack or stroke by half.

2. You drank your morning coffee.

It's not just your imagination that your brain functions better with a daily caffeine fix. "Drinking three 8-ounce cups of coffee every day slashes your risk of both Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, by 40 percent and 20 percent, respectively," says Michael Roizen, MD, chair of the division of anesthesiology, critical-care medicine and comprehensive pain management at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. In addition, coffee has shown to markedly reduce the risk for the newest disease epidemic sweeping the United States, Type II Diabetes. After analyzing data on 126,000 people for as long as 18 years, Harvard researchers calculate that people who drink one to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily can significantly reduce their risk for catching this diabetes, when compared with people avoiding caffeine entirely. Having six cups or more each day reduced men's risk by 54% and women's by 30% over the control group. Other research shows that at least two cups daily can lead to a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in liver cirrhosis risk, and cut the risk of gallstones almost in half.

Better yet, your daily cup (or three) may help offset the damage you did to yourself in other ways this holiday season. "People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don't," says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University's Institute for Coffee Studies.

3. You ate some of your grandmother's famous bourbon balls.

The chocolate and the alcohol in these little bits of heaven can both help you stay healthy and live longer. The health benefits of chocolate are beginning to be well-known and widely reported, and the flavonoids contained in cocoa are the primary reason why. Flavonoids provide important protective benefits to plants. They aid in repairing cell damage, as well as shielding the plants from environmental toxins. When we consume plant-based foods rich in flavonoids, it appears that we reap similar benefits. The antioxidant properties of the flavonoids help the body's cells resist damage caused by free radicals, which we encounter through our normal breathing process, not to mention our environment's polluted air (from cigarette smoke or car exhaust, for example). When the body lacks adequate levels of antioxidants, free radical damage ensues, leading to increases in LDL-cholesterol oxidation and plaque formation on arterial walls. For this reason, antioxidants may aid in heart disease prevention.

Alcohol is also not as unhealthy an indulgence as once believed, assuming it is consumed in moderation (2 drinks a day for people under 65; 1 drink a day for seniors). Moderate alcohol consumption may provide some health benefits, such as reducing your risk for heart disease, lowering your risk of dying from a heart attack, and lowering your risk of strokes.

4. You watched your favorite goofy holiday movie again.

Laughter may help protect you against a heart attack, according to a recent study by cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. The study found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations when compared to people of the same age without heart disease. In addition, a study published this past February in the British Medical Journal found that watching a funny movie made viewers' blood vessels expand more effectively, while a stressful film caused vessels to narrow, restricting blood flow. In short, not only can that goofy movie help reduce your risk for heart disease, it may also help to alleviate the stress brought on by the holiday season.

5. You decided to give yourself a break for holiday overindulgence.

Assuming you agreed with my aforementioned proposal (for balance in sin and virtue), this can be the most important decision you make for your health on this, or any, new year. Related to the health benefits of laughter are the health benefits of forgiving yourself your foibles this holiday season. The stress from the holidays, as well as the stress you feel afterwards to repair the damage done to your body, can be as detrimental to you as any huge meal you ate over the last few weeks. Cortisol, which has been garnering a lot of attention in the medical community of late, is one of the biggest reasons why. Termed "the stress hormone," due to its secretion when the body is in "fight or flight" mode, cortisol was originally intended to help the body achieve quick boosts in energy or immunity to survive in life-threatening situations. However, higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative health effects. These can range from having a hard time with cognitive functions to blood sugar imbalances. More serious yet is the recent discovery of cortisol's link to increased abdominal fat, which has been linked to a higher risk or heart attacks and higher levels of LDL (or "bad") cholesterol. The decision to take time outs and relax, then, can be one of the most crucial you can make in order to maintain good physical and mental health.

Keep all of these tips in mind in the new year. Trying to be better is always a good idea (what is life without striving, after all?), but making yourself crazy with worry over past transgressions will only make things worse. Nothing that you have done to hurt your health over the last few weeks (or even years) is irreparable. More than likely, some of these "unhealthy" habits can even turn out to be good for you.