Gossiping is good for your health. Thank God because I hate to think I've been wasting my time talking smack all of these years.

In a recent University of Michigan study, 160 female university students were partnered up and given very different tasks. Half of the paired groups were told to edit and proofread a botany paper (I really hope they got paid for their time), while the other half was given a much better task- getting "chatty" with their partners and learning about their lives. The goal was to determine whether or not the progesterone levels of the students talking to each other would increase as opposed to the students given the responsibility of editing the botany paper.

Luckily for the researchers, the results were just as they had suspected. The progesterone levels of the students who were given the task of getting to know each other were higher after about twenty minutes of "girl time", while the students given the rather unfortunate task of editing the paper actually had lower progesterone levels.

What does this actually mean? Progesterone levels are known to help reduce stress and increase long-term health benefits, including "good sleep and increased bone density".  More than this, progesterone can also help protect a female's breast, uterus and ovaries from cancer.

However, before, you start heading to the store to get some progesterone pills to pop, you should maybe be aware that progesterone is only helpful in the "right doses". It is also notable that there is a significant decrease in progesterone during menopause, which is partially responsible for the increased stress levels of women during menopause.