Gardens do more than add fabulous curb appeal and grow your DIY skills. Gardening can improve your health, too, by exposing you to environments and activities that help your mind and body function better.
Studies around the world have directly linked the impacts of gardening to a better quality of life in both urban and rural settings, with benefits for everyone from children to seniors, courtesy of best payout casino.
Gardening Relieves Stress
A Dutch study tested cortisol, a natural steroid that helps your body respond to stress, and found that gardening after a stressful event offered greater stress relief than reading. (Don’t worry, the study found that reading still decreases stress, too!) Home gardeners report that psychological benefits like stress relief are more important to them than cultural ties or economic benefits of gardening, regardless of the type or amount of gardening activities they do. It’s not just the act of gardening; bacteria in the soil may also help combat stress. The same bacteria have been noted to act like an antidepressant and establish a strong immune system as well.
Gardening Counts as Exercise
Activities like carrying planters, digging holes, stretching to reach weeds, and pushing the mower can collectively engage every muscle in your body. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes gardening as moderate physical activity and notes that it can burn more than 300 calories an hour, about the same as golfing while walking and carrying clubs. More substantial yard work, like chopping wood or hauling heavy mulch bags, burns more than 400 calories. One study suggests gardening may help offset the age-related weight gain. There are other tangible physical benefits, too, like enhancing dexterity and hand strength. Plus, after all that garden work, you’re likely to sleep better.
Gardening Reduces Chances Of Dementia
It’s not just a physical workout, gardening is also good for your brain, especially as protection against the onset of dementia. Gardening boosts cognitive function, and one study found it could lead to a 36% lower risk of dementia.
Gardening Helps Fight Chronic Conditions Like Heart Disease and Diabetes
You know plants need sunlight, but did you know your body does, too? Like other outdoor leisure activities, gardening can provide a one-two punch of healthy exercise and sun exposure. A moderate amount of time in the sun is the most effective way to get vitamin D, which influences over 1,000 different genes and nearly every tissue in your body and impacts everything from metabolism to your immune system. Vitamin D is linked to positive effects on type 2 diabetes, heart disease, bone health, and depression. Your gut may feel the benefits, too, because vitamin D is believed to help regulate gastrointestinal distress. Of course, it’s important to remember to take precautions to safely spend time in the sun, courtesy of real money casinos.
Gardening Connects People
Gardening connects people with a broader community and combats the negative health impacts of loneliness. This may simply mean interacting with individuals at a local gardening centre before digging into a home garden or sharing gardening tips and successes with an online community. Gardening has more direct benefits in spaces like community gardens, where social bonds and support networks can form. This can be extra impactful in urban settings, where many residents may suffer from isolation and lack of social support. One study found gardening provided an opportunity for enhanced interracial interaction in these environments as well.