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The Health Benefits Of Being Ginger On 'Kiss A Ginger Day'

The Health Benefits Of Being Ginger On 'Kiss A Ginger Day'

Gingers still have plenty to be happy about once all the smooching stops

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

You may or may not be aware that today is the tenth annual 'Kiss A Ginger Day'.

Or, to use what should be its full title, 'Kiss A Ginger Having Obtained Consent Beforehand Day'.

The day was founded as a means of bringing love and positivity to this often mocked section of society; but it seems we should all in fact be a little jealous of our ginger friends.

For while there is no science behind the 'no soul' theory, there is science which suggests red-heads enjoy lots of bonus health perks.

A study of 350,000 DNA samples by researchers at Edinburgh University found that gingers look comparatively younger than the rest of us. This is because of the MCR1 gene - one of the nine responsible for making people develop the fiery hair colour, as well as pale skin, freckles and all that jazz.

Now this is ginger hair at its finest.
PA

On average, this gene helps ginger ninjas look two years younger than they actually are... I'll allow you a moment to flick through your ginger catalogue and decide for yourself whether you think they look a tad younger than they should.

Perhaps the most well-known ginger boon is higher rates of vitamin D production. This helps keep bones and teeth strong - which no doubt many gingers were grateful for when persecuted in the playground.

Better still, ginger men are less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Better better still, gingers were also found to have more sex, and as we all know, there are lots of good things about having sex. Purely from a health perspective, having regular intercourse has been found to lower blood pressure and stress. Plus, it's exercise - for some more than others.

Why exactly gingers might have more sex is unclear... I'll allow you a moment to flick through your ginger catalogue and decide for yourself whether you think they are seeing more action, and why exactly that might be.

And on top of all this, they've got their own special smoochy day to enjoy, so perhaps they're having the last laugh after all.

via GIPHY

Less than two percent of the world's population is ginger. Unsurprisingly, they are most prevalent in Scotland, where 13 percent of people sport carrot tops, while Ireland comes in second with 10 percent.

So congratulations, ginger folks. Looks like you're a prime example of healthy creatures.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Interesting