The sensory experience of gardening “enables people to connect with that primal state,” said James Jiler, founder and executive director of Urban GreenWorks, a Miami-based nonprofit that creates gardening and park programs for low-income neighborhoods.
“A lot of people (understand) this experience. You may not be able to put it into words, but you can understand what is happening. “
Gardening has other, less spiritual, rewards. Not only is gardening a source of fresh, healthy produce, but it can also relieve stress, keep you limber, and even improve your mood.
Here are just a few examples of how gardening can benefit your physical and mental health, and how you can get these benefits for you and your family.
Relaxation
Stress can cause irritability, headaches, abdominal pain, heart attacks, and worsen pre-existing conditions in the body.
A recent study in the Netherlands suggests that gardening can fight stress even better than other relaxing leisure activities. After completing a stressful task, two groups of people were instructed to read either indoors or in the garden for 30 minutes. Afterward, the gardening group reported being in a better mood than the reading group, and they also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Better mental health
The effortless attention of gardening can even help improve symptoms of depression. In a study conducted in Norway, people diagnosed with depression, persistent bad mood or “bipolar II disorder” spent six hours a week growing flowers and vegetables. After three months, half of the participants had seen a measurable improvement in their symptoms of depression. In addition, her mood continued to improve three months after the gardening program ended.
exercise
Gardening gets you out in the fresh air and in the sun – and it gets your blood moving. There are many different movements in gardening so you can get some exercise benefits from them too. However, digging, planting, weeding, and repetitive tasks that require strength or stretching are all great forms of low-impact exercise, especially for people who find vigorous movement challenging, e.g. B. Elderly people with disabilities or chronic pain.
Brain health
Some research suggests that the physical activity associated with gardening can help reduce the risk of dementia.
nutrition
The food you grow yourself is the freshest food you can eat. People who grow food tend to eat healthily. Studies of after-school gardening programs suggest that children who garden are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables and try new foods.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), moderate-intensity activity for 2.5 hours per week can reduce the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, depression, colon cancer, and colon cancer premature death. The CDC views gardening as a moderate intensity activity and can help you meet this 2.5 hour goal each week. In addition, those who choose gardening as a moderately intense exercise are on average more likely to exercise 40-50 minutes longer than those who choose activities such as hiking or biking. By venturing out to various community gardens in Michigan outdoors, you not only help keep the community alive, but you also become healthier. For example:
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“A 10% increase in nearby green spaces has been found to reduce a person’s health complaints by an amount equivalent to reducing that person’s age by five years,” according to the Minneapolis nonprofit Gardening Matters site, ” Multiple Benefits of Community Gardens “.
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Exercising both your arms and legs is recommended to help prevent diseases such as heart disease. For most day-to-day activities that involve only the arms, gardening is a great way to involve the entire body while exercising.
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According to the journal Biological Psychiatry, some experts even say the fresh air can help prevent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and lead to higher test scores in students.
Other advantages
In addition to the health benefits, gardens are known to add real estate value and save money when shopping for groceries. With so many options and resources for community and personal garden development in Michigan, there’s no reason not to enjoy the great outdoors this season by creating a living, useful garden and getting exercise!
This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. See extension.msu.edu for more information. Visit extension.msu.edu/newsletters to have information sent directly to your email inbox. To contact an expert in your area, visit extension.msu.edu/experts or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).
