Chances are that after spending some time in your garden, you feel better in both a physical and mental way, but have you ever wondered why this is? Don’t worry, you’re not imagining things – science has confirmed that gardening can be extremely beneficial to a person’s health in several different ways.
Gardening Gives You a Workout
You don’t need to worry about going to the gym if you spend enough time gardening, as this in itself gives every major muscle group in your body a workout.
In fact, the exercise that you do when gardening will not only build strength in your body, but it will also help you to maintain a healthy weight while promoting a much more restful sleep.
Gardening Gives You Fresher Air to Breathe
Not only does spending time outside expose you to fresh air, but the trees that you plant will also help to filter toxins out of the air, improving overall air quality. This applies to both indoor and outdoor gardening.
Of course, some plants are better than others at doing this. To really give air quality a boost, consider planting a Dragon Tree or a Yucca Tree – they both have powerful air-purifying properties.
You’ll Have the Chance to Eat Fresh, Nutritious, and Organic Foods
Let’s face it – buying organic isn’t cheap, but growing your own is a great way to get around this. Even if you don’t have time to cultivate a large vegetable garden, simply planting a few fruit trees will still give you a delicious and healthy crop to harvest. Even better, the nutrient content of freshly picked fruits is significantly higher than anything that you could buy.
If you’re looking for low-maintenance plants that are capable of feeding you, consider an Olive Tree, a Mango Tree, or an Avocado Tree. You could even plant low-growing edible plants around your trees, such as strawberries, giving you double the yield from that single space.
Gardening Reduces Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
In this day and age, stress, anxiety, and depression are, unfortunately, all too common. One way to prevent these mental health issues from affecting you quite so much is by spending more time gardening.
Studies show that gardening for 12 weeks can significantly reduce the symptoms of depression. These improvements continue on even if a person were to stop gardening after this time. The way in which gardening boosts a person’s mood and self-esteem helps with stress and anxiety – you’ll feel so much happier and at ease after every gardening session.
Gardening Can Protect Your Body From Diseases
With Covid-19 still rife in many parts of the world, just about everyone is looking for ways to boost their immune system and keep their body safe from disease. Well, gardening is one of those ways!
For starters, spending time outdoors increases your body’s vitamin D levels. This then means a stronger immune system, as well as less chance of developing certain cancers. On the other end of the scale, those who have low vitamin D levels are more susceptible to diabetes, psoriasis, and dementia.
While indoor gardening doesn’t do much to help with your vitamin D levels, filling your home with potted plants can still work wonders for your health. You’ll find that you’ll start breathing better, and won’t develop a runny nose or itchy eyes quite so often.
Get Gardening to Stay Healthy
There are countless studies out there proving how gardening can truly transform a person’s health. You don’t need a large garden to get in on these advantages either – even filling a patio or a balcony with plants and trees in pots can do this too – so long as you’re spending time with all of this greenery, you’ll be able to reap all of these benefits.