Saving data to options (update_option) or post meta (update_post_meta) may be unpredictable at first when using booleans or integers, especially when you rely on data type.

WordPress supposedly serializes data before saving to database but that's not the case for scalar types, which are just casted to string.

Serialized false produces b:0, but casted to string is '' (empty string)

Getting such data from a database with standard functions (get_option, get_post_meta) returns any value as string. Don't you even think about strict type comparison!

When you try to save bunch of connected data values (e.g. plugin global settings) it may be the best to group those elements and save it as one option after json_encode.