19/09/2016 11:00 PM
Gardening is a beloved hobby of many, because it allows us to spend time outdoors and see a clear end result in the form of flowers, vegetables or fruits. However, fresh air and home-grow plants aren’t the only good things about gardening - this blog post explains the many benefits...
Improves your physical health
One of the most obvious benefits of gardening is that it vastly improves ones physical health. And it is not just something people say, since multiple studies have proven this fact and most gardeners will attest to it, too. Gardening by itself could be categorised as a moderate physical activity, with an emphases on upper body strengthen from tasks like weeding and planting and lower body strength from squatting and standing while doing different gardening tasks. So there is no wonder that you are able to burn up to 500 calories an hour, which in return lets you stay healthier and fit. On top of getting your daily exercise in from gardening, you can also successfully maintain a good body mass index (BMI), because of the high caloric burn that gardening provides. (And the fact that you are growing your own fruits and vegetables and therefore are probably consuming more fresh, organic food!)
Relieves stress
Another great thing that gardening does is relieves stress and improves your mood. A study done by two Dutch researchers determined that even as little as 30 minutes of gardening will make you less stressed, more relaxed and therefore much healthier. Stress is caused by elevated Cortisol levels in our bodies, and stress can lead to other health problems like headaches and even heart disease. To ease stress, we need to lower the stress hormone levels, and that can efficiently be done by gardening. The study showed, that 30 minutes of gardening outside fully restored positive mood and banished stress. And even if you don’t have the ability to garden outside, consider setting up a small indoors garden using flower pots and T5 grow lights or any other artificial lighting, because you can still reap the stress relieve benefits of gardening even if you aren’t doing it outdoors.
Improves mental health
For those who have suffered or suffer from depression or other mental health problems, gardening can be a therapy to them. The combination of physical activity, natural surroundings and the satisfaction, awareness and cognitive stimulation that you get from gardening promote the feeling of well-being and happiness, which are crucial parts of mental health. Gardening is also used in horticultural therapy, which essentially uses gardening to help in treatment of different psychological and physical disorders. This therapy so far has shown great results in improving the quality of life even in patients suffering from dementia and recovering from stroke related mobility loss problems. Since there are so many different benefits of gardening therapy, virtually every patient could find aspects of their live that this therapy can help with.
Has cost benefits
Lastly, gardening even has a couple of money benefits. If you are able to grow more veggies and fruits than you can consume, you can sell them in your local market or to your local grocery store and earn some additional spending money.
Did you know that research shows that gardening actually increases your property value? Things like community gardens, parks and such are able to rise property values by up to even 9.4 percent during a five year span and can also significantly rise tax revenues. And to think that all that comes just from having gardens and allotments around is amazing and definitely worth getting your hands dirty!