Must-Read: How Stress Can Help

Stress is bad. That is one thing we all know. It gives us wrinkles, turns us gray prematurely, and ruins a whole bunch of things inside of our body when we get a little overly stressed. But that’s not to say that stress certainly doesn’t help us. Just think about the stress that your body goes through when you touch something hot. Your body instantly reacts by taking that part of your body away from the heat as quickly as possible. That, actually, is a form of stress. So it makes sense that some stress can actually make you a better man if you use it in the right way.

So today we’re heading to Men’s Fitness where they have a list of ways that stress can ACTUALLY be good for you. Among the reasons why:

IT BUILDS BRAIN CELLS.
Whoa, stress can make you smarter? Apparently so. In a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, researchers trapped rats in their cages for a few hours to mimic temporary, but acute, stress. This confinement doubled the proliferation of new brain cells in the hippocampus, and the stressed critters performed better on a memory test two weeks later. ?Immediately after stress, we make more newborn neurons, and when they mature, they participate in a learning experience that makes us learn better,? says study author Daniela Kaufer, Ph.D, who is also an associate professor of integrative biology.

So head on over to the link above to check out the other reasons why stress might be good. And then, well, don’t go out and get stressed on purpose. But just use the stress to your advantage when you do get it.