Home gardening is a wonderful thing that you can do to promote better health for yourself and your loved ones. Why gardening is healthy for you? It’s an enjoyable activity for family members to do together, especially for a mother and her children. Whether you like to garden during your off-time as a way to find peace, or it’s a serious hobby for you and your family, you should know the importance of gardening for your health.
Eat Local – from Your Yard
Fresh food is always best, especially veggies, herbs, and fruits! What better way to get local foods that you know are pesticide-free than to grow them yourself? Find out which ones can be grown in your region and when they must be planted, get some seeds and/or plants that have been started at a nursery and you’ll soon have a yummy array of items that you can pick and add to your lunch or dinner. This means that you will most likely eat a lot more of these foods, so the importance of gardening is evident.
Stress No More
Isn’t life a bit stressful? Step outside of your daily stressors and do something that will help you find peace and ease your mind. Gardening will help put you in a meditative zone, and it also has been shown to reduce many people’s blood pressure. No wonder you feel so calm when you have your hands in the dirt!
Why Gardening Is Healthy for You? April gardening brings out the hat in the best of us.
Get Exercise
When you’re kneeling on the ground to plant things, you will be using your arm and leg muscles possibly more than you normally would use them. This exercise helps to reduce the risk of coronary disease, which is crucial for older individuals. You can start out early in life and reap the benefits of improved heart health for a lifetime.
The Importance of Gardening in getting Vitamin D
Do you have regular headaches and stomach aches? Never fear, because you can alleviate these issues when you work in the garden. This is in large part because of a reduction in stress levels, but also being outdoors is crucial for one’s health. Getting out into the sun more means you’ll get the vitamin D that you need for your body to work properly and be healthier in general.
Even if you don’t have space in your own yard, you can still have a garden. Consider putting some potted plants on your deck, balcony, in your window, or you might get a space at a local community garden.
Though many may focus on the benefits of home gardening and growing your own fresh fruits and vegetables. Or even the amount of money saved by growing your own food, this article will focus on the other benefits of gardening. These benefits include an increased amount of vitamin D, light exercise for those of all abilities, and a form of stress relief.
Gardening can be for anyone of any age and of almost any ability. Home gardening offers the opportunity to get outdoors while enjoying the sun and fresh air. This aspect of gardening is as good for overall health as the food that may be produced. When soaking in the sun, the body enjoys a good dose of vitamin D.
Many people are lacking in vitamin D as days are typically spent indoors in an office or are too busy on an electronic device. Since the sun is a natural source of this essential vitamin, a day spent gardening can offer some wonderful benefits. By increasing vitamin D a person may be able to alleviate some symptoms of depression and anxiety. In addition, the act of gardening and focusing on such a simple task can offer stress relief in a healthy manner.
Why Gardening is Good for Your Health: Gardening brings out the best in us.
Surprising Health Benefits of Home Gardening
Studies have shown that moderate exercise for those over 60 can decrease stroke and heart attack rates dramatically. Gardening is one way to achieve this. If age or disability makes it hard to bend and stoop, a raised flower bed or container garden is often a sound option.
These are often easily created with materials already present around the house. Just a few hours spent in the garden each week can help boost the immune system and decrease health concerns for those of all ages, but especially those over 60. As the garden progresses, an additional benefit is the use of the plants grown in unique meals that showcase all the hard work. If you create an herb garden, dry the spices and use them year-round.
Gardens can help with other areas of health that are often forgotten. Home gardening can improve finger and hand dexterity for those who may struggle. This can be beneficial for those who are aging, those with disabilities. Or even the very young. Those with dementia and Alzheimer’s can also benefit from planting a garden. The brain uses many different parts to organize, plant, and care for growing plants. So while home gardening may seem like an expected summer activity for some, it can be a beneficial activity for those of all ages. Choose a few plants you enjoy. Whether it be flowers, herbs, or vegetables and get planting! Why wait any longer, your future garden awaits.
Did you know that people who live in an area rich in vegetation have all the conditions to improve their physical and mental health? Or that 30% of those who live near forests or parks have a lower degree of developing depression? Maybe not everyone benefits from such a house located in the middle of the flora, but most of us can “build” ourselves a real corner of heaven.
Professor Tim Lang of the Center for Food Policy at City University of London says:
It is widely recognized that regular contact with plants, animals, and the natural environment can improve our physical health and mental well-being. And we have not the slightest intention of contradicting it, on the contrary, we fully support this idea.
For a large number of people in our society – both children and adults – who face physical or mental health problems, gardening and growing certain foods in one’s own household can be particularly beneficial. Such activities can alleviate the symptoms of serious illness, prevent the development of poor living conditions, and lead people to a lifestyle that will help them improve their long-term health. And for those who don’t suffer from anything (yet), well, gardening is… just an extremely beautiful occupation.
Subscribing to what Professor Lang said, gardening is a pleasure for many people, for just as many, it is becoming a real therapy. Whether it is roses, carnations, freesias or decorative plants, various types of seeds, tomatoes, radishes, peppers, planting the soil or planting flowers in pots, whether it is done on a small or larger scale, gardening can be an activity that we are rarely allowed to have today, bringing both physical and mental benefits.
What is Gardening Therapy?
Doctors in London have already started prescribing outdoor gardening instead of antidepressants. They aimed to capitalize on the physical and mental therapeutic benefits of gardening while increasing the local production of vegetables and fruits. The program launched in 2013, in the southern part of the British capital, is now present in the offices of many doctors. Ed Rosen, the initiator of the program, wanted to emphasize:
We started this with a specific focus on patients with health conditions that can be improved in the long term, such as diabetes, arthritis, and asthma. Our patients tend to be older, as they are the ones who have developed poor health throughout their lives. But the young ones are not completely missing either. Older people also tend to be more socially isolated and alone than younger people, as their partners often die or their families move away. So we wanted to create a health-generating activity that people could really enjoy.
Whilst the list of health benefits is getting longer, the importance of gardening cannot be stressed enough.
