The next time someone calls you a scruffy b*stard for having a big glorious beard like baseball player Brian Wilson (pictured above), tell them you're growing it for the good of your health.

According to scientists from Australia, beards don’t just make you look like a wood chopping manly-man, as they also help you in ways you’d never even think of.

Firstly, beards and moustaches help to block 90 to 95 per cent of the sun’s harmful UV rays, which in turn slows the ageing process and possibly the risk of skin cancer.

Beards also help to filter out pollen and dust, so if you’re asthmatic then do yourself a favour and throw away the razor NOW.

If that isn’t enough to make you ditch the razor for good then how about the fact that beards help to retain moisture and keep the wind away from your face, thus keeping you looking younger for longer?

Better yet, you can grow one yourself for FREE! Unless, of course, you’re follicly challenged...

So how do we know for sure that beards well and truly kick ass? Well, the Aussie scientists mentioned above sent two groups of lads – one bearded group and one shaven group – into the outback so they could compare the amount of UV radiation absorbed by both groups.

Unsurprisingly, the bearded lads beat the baby-faced lads hands down.

In case you're planning on sprouting your own face-fro, here are a few bearded ideas to get the ball rolling:

And for our aforementioned follicly challenged brethren, there's always this option: