How Gardening is Beneficial For Health
Gardening can do much more than just add curb appeal and help you grow your own plants and produce. Gardening has so many health benefits ranging from the mind and physical health.
Studies have been done worldwide that have proven the direct impact of gardening on improved quality of life no matter what age you are or where you live!
The Benefits of Gardening
Here are five scientific reasons why gardening is important and so good for you:
Gardening can reduce stress
In a study testing cortisol levels while gardening, they found that a natural steroid your body uses to fight stress is also found when gardening after a stressful event. It was found that it has greater stress relief than reading!
Many gardeners talk about the stress relief they feel from gardening, and this is why! This is one of the top benefits of a garden!
Gardening is a Form of Exercise
Carrying around planters, digging holes, and pulling weeds might not sound like your favorite way to break a sweat, but it is a form of exercise! Gardening is considered a moderate form of physical activity and can burn as many as 300 calories in a single hour!
For comparison, you would burn similar calories while walking around a golf course and carrying your golf clubs. The physical benefits of a garden are a great way to move your body.
Gardening can help fight chronic conditions
Plants require sunlight to survive. However, gardening can help fight chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and dementia. This study showed a 36% lower risk of dementia in patients who garden! Vitamin D can impact type 2 diabetes, depression, and bone health.
Gardening can lead to a healthier diet
Gardening doesn’t always mean eating healthy, but you can easily access healthier foods if you grow fruit, vegetables, or other herbs.
You control the pesticides and chemicals in your food, and people who grow their own produce are more likely to eat them! As you can see, there is importance of home gardening to nutrition and health!
Gardening helps improve sleep
Gardening takes you into the outdoors, exposing you to natural vitamin D. This helps your body set a circadian rhythm and produce melatonin properly. This can improve sleep quality when it’s finally time to hit the hay.
How is Gardening Beneficial for Health?
Gardening is a simple way to combine the natural sunlight and move your body. Tending to the garden daily and getting fresh air proves to be a great way to stay active and have something to care for as well.
This is great for mental health, as well as physical health. The more that you can do things in the outdoors and in your garden, the more health benefits you’re going to notice.
Gardening might not solve all of your problems, but as you can see, gardening has many benefits beyond the literal fruits of your labor. Hopefully, you can see all the benefits of gardening to help you start for yourself.
With so many guides, getting started with gardening has never been easier. Take a look at some of our top guides for beginners here to help you get started:
