This unexpected benefit of eating cheese is the excuse we've all been waiting for

Pass the brie!

As if we needed another excuse to invest in a solid cheese board this Christmas, a new study has just revealed a rather unexpected health benefit to eating cheese.

New research from Nature Medicine has found that chowing down on cheese can lead to an increased life span. Ok, so they actually found that a compound found in cheese called spermidine (sounds less appetising right?) was linked to a longer lifespan, but the moral of the story is the same. We officially have an excuse to eat more cheese.

Scientists conducted the research by surveying 800 cheese-loving Italians. They found that those who had a higher intake of spermidine had lower blood pressure, a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases and a 40% lower risk of heart failure.

Spermidine can also be found in whole grains, corn and peas, which are probably the healthier options considering the fat in cheese is likely to cancel out the positive effects - but we're going to overlook that minor detail.

If you're still not convinced, then you might be interested to know that researchers have also found that cheese could be the next big anti-wrinkle solution. But you have to use crumbly Cheshire cheese to reap the rewards.

Apparently mixing the cheese with a double cream produces a paste that when applied to the face starts to have an effect on dry skin after just 15 minutes. Which probably explains why milk (another dairy product) is a common ingredient in many beauty products.

Sure, you don't actually have to eat the cheese to get the benefits but this is still another prime example of cheese benefiting humankind once more.

And for you cheese lovers out there, we've done the hard work for you and round up the best places to go for an afternoon indulgence of cheese and wine. Because we can't think of a better way you could your time really.