More than ever before, our culture is quickly drifting away from nature towards technological obsession. This comes at a cost to your health! I am a strong believer that our country’s national health crisis can be turned around through simple initiatives like home gardening.
Statistical Facts to Note
In the US, majority of the public spend at least 90% of their time indoors. This sadly contributes to the ballooning health crisis, leading to obese adults incurring more than $148 billion annually on medical costs.
If you are among the 65% in the US worried about their kids spending too much time indoors, why don’t you show them the way by putting together a nice garden? These hard facts ought to jolt you into action.
Here are other reasons why gardening is beneficial to your health and general well-being:
1. Gardening Improves Compassion and Relationships
Certain ornamental plants have an effect of compassion on those around them. By setting aside some space for such varieties, relationships will naturally blossom and thrive! Credible studies indicate that those who spend more time around plants are generally more social and kinder to others.
Just as healthy drinks and water are good for the body, good relationships are good for the mind and body. In addition, you will become more compassionate to the environment and take better care of it. By setting a few hours to garden each week, your exposure to fresh and healthy plants will rub off on you.
2. Lowering Your Risk of Dementia
As we approach the sixties, the risk of developing dementia becomes glaringly real. As science has discovered, thankfully, certain physical activities we engage in while gardening can drastically lower the odds!
Seeing as gardening is a light activity, it won’t take much effort to get started. A study conducted for 16 years determined that people in their 60’s who gardened regularly had a 36% lower chance of developing dementia. Those in their 70’s had a 47% lower risk.
Even when other wide-ranging health factors were taken into account, gardening still helped greatly in lowering dementia risk.
3. A Stronger Immune System
While you are out gardening, you are exposed to a fair amount of sunlight, soaking up a lot of Vitamin Din the process. With more calcium in your body, your bones grow stronger and so does the immune system!
The immune system builds around harmful microbes that are abundantly available in areas covered in vegetation. As science can attest, children who grow up in the countryside have a far stronger immune system than those growing up in urban setting. This explains the occurrence of allergies and asthma later on for the latter group.
The space in your back yard can be converted to a lovely garden ideal for your child to grow up in! The earlier you get their health a check, the easy your days will be ahead!
4. Mood Boosting and Health Benefits From Digging in Soil
Dirt is good for your young ones, as messy as it looks, children who are all up in the dirt during their formative years are better prepared to fight off common ailments. Apart from experiencing lower incidences of eczema and asthma, these children recover fairly quickly from infections.
Apart from providing a safe environment for your kids to play in, a garden builds up their physical abilities and interest in nature. There are many harmless bacteria in the soil. They also increase the production and metabolism of serotonin (this controls mood and cognitive function).
5. Aerobic Exercise
As a form of outdoor workout, gardening is a fun way of performing aerobic exercises. What’s more? It will all happen so naturally that you will hardly feel the pinch! As you work through the garden, you’ll do a lot of pulling, reaching, turning, twisting, and bending.
All these motions work various muscles in your body, resulting in more strength, stamina, and flexibility. If you want to go further, manually trimming hedges, raking leaves, and pulling weeds gives you more exercise.
For the best outcome, garden for at least 20 minutes for four days a week. With more exercise, enjoy a more healthy and productive life. While at it, why not get other family members to join in? Spending valuable time together is the healthiest benefits of all!
Are you ready to start gardening? We would be obliged to help you out with any information you might require.
You can get your family and friends to join in by liking and sharing this piece on your social media. Let us know what you think about gardening as a health-improving activity in the comment section. Cheers!
