When getting ready in the morning there are a few essential garments that a woman tends to wear, and this usually includes a bra. If not for modesty purposes, we’ve come to believe that a bra offers support and keeps our breasts from sagging, but what happens when you decide to ditch your bra, and really, are there any health benefits associated with letting your breasts be free?

In recent years, there has been a bit of a movement towards ditching your bra and freeing the nipple, so to speak, and some of the most fashionable women in Hollywood have done this. In fact, according to Healthline, Victoria’s Secret has reported a decline in bra sales, so something is happening, and our approach to undergarments has shifted because now wearing a bra is a choice, not a necessity.

Apart from the feeling of being free, Tip Hero claims that ditching a bra could help improve the breast shape and could result in rounder, perkier breasts. And in addition to this, no bra could help improve your circulation, because the tightness surrounding your breast can slow circulation by compressing blood vessels.

There has not been much research on the subject of the benefits of not wearing a bra, although there was one extensive study, a 15-year long study by Jean-Denis Rouillon, on the topic. According to Times Of India, the research was conducted on 300 women between the age of 18 to 35 years and indicated that women who did not wear bras developed muscle tissues to support their breasts. While the study found that those regularly wearing a bra where unable to develop the tissue naturally because of the restrictive fabric.

But this doesn’t mean you should immediately throw away all of your bras because the researcher states that if you have been wearing a bra for decades, then stopping now is unlikely to benefit you in any way. Although, it’s also important to realize that your breasts may not be saggier just because you stop wearing a bra, and the publication claims that these statements may have been politically motivated rather than based on health.

Bras are also not linked to breast cancer. And according to Healthline, the American Cancer Society also notes that there is no research to suggest that wearing a bra has any effect (either positive or negative) on the risk of breast cancer.

_{[Image via iStock/Getty]}