7 Benefits of Gardening That Prove It Helps Your Mind & Body
If you've got the benefit of dirt at your home, you just might want to start digging!
Gardening isn't just about making your house look good (although a little curb appeal never hurts:) Caring for plants can also do wonders for your own well-being, an abundance of scientific research suggests. The physical exercise can contribute to a healthy weight and blood pressure levels, and just interacting with flora can improve your mood and mental health. Nature is known to have a huge impact on health and wellness, and helps people's cortisol levels go down in a calm and green environment.
Roll up your sleeves! Here's how tending to your garden beds will help benefit you:
1- Gardening burns a lot of calories.
Good news for those who already spend hours planting perennials: Gardening is considered moderate-intensity exercise. You can burn about 330 calories doing one hour of light gardening and yard work.
2- It can lower your blood pressure.
Just 30 minutes of moderate-level physical activity most days of the week can prevent and control high blood pressure.
3- Spending time outside is good for your bones.
When you're outdoors and your skin is exposed to the sun, it prompts your body to produce vitamin D. This vitamin, also found in fish and fortified foods like milk, helps your body absorb calcium, a mineral essential for bone formation.
4- Growing your own food can help you eat more healthfully.
Besides the physical exercise you'll get by tending to a vegetable garden, a productive plot can also promote a better diet by supplying fresh, healthy produce. Gardening helps people develop a lasting habit of eating enough fruits and vegetables, and also makes it more likely for children to try food they may not have eaten before.
5- Gardening can relieve stress.
Gardening is positively correlated with a reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms. Some hospitals even use planting and flower arranging as a type of rehabilitation for patients.
6- It can provide a source of community.
You don't have to weed alone- nor should you. People who worked in allotment gardens had significantly better self-esteem and better general health compared to those who did not. Even better, it's something that nearly anyone can partake in.
7- Gardening can make you happier!
The act of growing plants may help boost your mood! And that also increases quality of life and reductions in mood disturbance.