How Gardening Is Improving Your Health

If COVID-19’s quarantine time kick-started anything, it’s America’s love of gardening. This solitary activity gained a massive following while people stayed home, and it’s actually become an increasingly trendy way to spend time at home. 

The trend is very, very real these days. Though it started off with the Millennial trend of succulents, people quickly became interested in growing tomatoes, roses, and everything else you can stick in dirt. Just about everywhere you go, you can see people posting photos of plants, talking about succulents, or decorating their gardens. 

Gardening is about as wholesome as it gets, but what most people don’t realize is how beneficial it really is to one’s health. Studies have shown that gardening improves your health in dozens of different subtle, yet striking, ways. Here are some of the more surprising perks that come with this habit…

  1. Gardening outdoors helps you get vitamin D. We all know that getting exposed to too much sunlight can increase skin cancer risk, but if you use sunscreen and spend 15 minutes or so outdoors, it’s actually beneficial. When we go out in the sun, our bodies start to produce vitamin D naturally. This vitamin helps improve mood, bone growth, and hormone regulation.
  2. Indoor gardening can help you keep cleaner air. It’s a known fact that plants help curb pollution, especially when it comes to carbon dioxide. Having a couple of plants indoors has been linked to better air quality inside your home. For smokers, that’s a huge blessing. 
  3. Gardening is a form of exercise. Feeling gulty about not hitting the gym as of late? You’re not alone, but there’s some good news. If you’re a gardener, you’ll be happy to know that you’re partaking in an old school form of exercise. All that digging, weeding, hauling dirt, and planting can help you increase muscle tone and burn off calories
  4. Studies show that gardening is a great way to reduce anger and stress. All the exercise you do while working in the garden has another major perk: releasing endorphins. Endorphins are “feel good” hormones that help you manage stress, feel happy, and keep you calm.
  5. Actually, even seeing flowers can help you boost your mood. If you’re not doing too much working out during your gardening, you still can get a major mood boost. One study showed that just seeing flowers in bloom (like what you get in indoor gardens) can help release endorphins—even if you’re not planting them.  
  6. It’s a great way to help you work on responsibility. It might seem like a small thing, but keeping plants alive is a pretty big responsibility. Even remembering to water them every other day can help encourage you to become more responsible in other things and help you establish a nice routine for yourself. 
  7. Working in your garden is also a proven way to reduce your risk of dementia. If you thought that giving your body a workout was the only perk you get, think again. A recent study followed people who were in their 60s and 70s as they lived life. Some gardened, others didn’t. Those who gardened were between 36 to 47 percent less likely to get dementia later on. 
  8. You could also be giving your diet a much-needed boost. Growing your own vegetables and fruits is a great way to encourage a healthy diet and reap the rewards of a new hobby. If you haven’t experienced the delicious flavor of home-grown blueberries, you don’t know what you’re missing. All the vitamins you’ll take in are nothing compared to the amazing taste of fresh-grown veggies. 
  9. It also helps you gain a better grip on the world around you. When you are out in a garden, you can’t help but notice the little things around you and how they impact your world as a whole. Small things like seeing squirrels playing, or even seeing the first blooms of spring, can help you understand and love nature for the amazing system it is. 
  10. Gardening is a great skill for boosting your confidence. There’s a lot of reason to believe that people who suffer from low self-esteem tend to be that way because they feel they don’t have any interesting skills or talents. When you hone your gardening skills to the point that you can care for a rare orchid or rose, you will feel a little pride in your work. 
  11. This is one hobby that guarantees you’ll get fresh air. If you go outside, you’re going to be able to inhale fresh air while you’re working on your garden. If you have an indoor garden, then you’re still improving the air quality around you since plants are famous for making air cleaner. It’s a win, no matter what you do.
  12. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it gardening can help you improve your ability to accept things as they are. We often feel pressure to have everything be perfect in our lives. The thing is, nature doesn’t work that way and gardening will remind you of that every day. The longer you garden, the more likely it is that you’ll gain a more accepting mindset and genuinely see the curveballs life throws as a good thing.
  13. The exercise you get from gardening can prevent osteoporosis. Osteoporosis can occur when you don’t use your body enough. Exercise keeps bones strong, and prevents osteoporosis. Is it surprising, then, to know that gardening has been linked to lower rates of osteoporosis?

Along with all of the innate gardening benefits you get, this hobby also happens to be a good way to meet people. Gardening clubs exist in almost every community on earth, and they happen to be great places for people to meet others with the same interests. If you want to get social support or just find new friends, the gift of gardening can give that to you, too.

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