When you see a guy with a long, scraggly beard, you assume there’s all sorts of nastiness trapped in there. So this is pretty shocking.

A new study found that men with beards actually have LESS bacteria on their faces than men who are clean shaven. In fact, guys without facial hair were three times more likely to have bacteria that could get them sick on their faces.

How is that possible? There are two theories:

1. All the tiny nicks and cuts you get when you shave provide places for bacteria to form colonies.

2. Or, facial hair is actually built to help fight infections.

Either way, you might want to start growing out that beard. You know you’ve always wanted to.