×

This article on Epainassist.com has been reviewed by a medical professional, as well as checked for facts, to assure the readers the best possible accuracy.

We follow a strict editorial policy and we have a zero-tolerance policy regarding any level of plagiarism. Our articles are resourced from reputable online pages. This article may contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses (1, 2, 3) are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers.

The feedback link “Was this Article Helpful” on this page can be used to report content that is not accurate, up-to-date or questionable in any manner.

This article does not provide medical advice.

1

13 Surprising Health Benefits of Gardening

Francis Bacon has rightly said, ‘Gardening is the purest of human pleasures.” Caring for plants and building your gardens can not only make your home look beautiful but also offer you amazing health benefits. Yes, gardening can do wonders for your health and there is also enough scientific research regarding this. Let us read further and explore about 13 surprising health benefits of gardening.

13 Surprising Health Benefits of Gardening

Nature has a great impact on our health and wellness. While gardening, we get a lot of scope to spend time with nature. In a green environment, we can get calmer and feel good too. Moreover, the physical exercise that we perform while gardening can also contribute to our well-being.

  1. Gardening Can Help Your Body Fight Diseases

    One of the best health benefits of gardening is that it helps in fighting against several diseases. When you go out for gardening your skin uses sunlight for making Vitamin D. It is estimated by researchers that spending 30 minutes in the sun can produce between 8, 000 to 50, 000 IU of vitamin D in your body. (1)

    Vitamin has lots of benefits for the human body, including the benefits for healthy bones and also improving the function of the immune system. Studies have found that staying out in the sun can help in reducing your risk of bladder cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. (2)
    So it can be said that a little sun exposure while gardening can do wonders for your body in fighting against diseases.

  2. You can Increase Your Strength Through Gardening

    Gardening is a great physical exercise and can help you in increasing your strength. You will be performing moderate exercise when you dig, shovel, or chop wood while gardening. All these works would make you work your muscles, which can ultimately help in building your strength. It is indeed that while you are working in your garden, you will be using every major muscle group in your body that would help you increase your overall strength.

    Researchers have found that gardening can help with weight gain because of increasing age, and also that gardening could also help you sleep for up to 7 hours at the night. (3)

  3. Gardening Lowers Your Stress Levels

    One more health benefit of gardening is that you will be able to lower your stress levels with gardening. In a study, people were exposed to a stressful stimulus. Then they created two groups where one group was asked to garden and the other group to quietly read. (4) Then the levels of stress hormones were tested by the researchers in everyone’s body. It was found that the group where people gardened had lower levels of stress hormone than the other group. It was also reported that in the group that gardened, people’s mood turned more positive than the other group.

  4. You Can Protect Your Memory Via Gardening

    It’s been explained by doctors that exercise improves cognitive functioning in our brain. It has been shown from some new evidence that gardening might spur growth in the brain’s nerves associated with memory.

    Korean researchers gave people being treated for dementia, 20-minute gardening activities. (5) After the people planted in vegetable gardens, it was discovered by the researchers that there were an increased amount of certain brain nerve growth factors which are linked with memory in females as well as males.

    It was also found by analysts that horticultural therapy that uses gardening to improve mental health, might be effective in treating patients with dementia. This was a research review of 2014. (6)

    In Norway and the Netherlands, patients with dementia usually participate in groundbreaking “Greencare” programs where they work in gardens and farms for a large part of the day.

  5. Gardening Can Be a Great Tool If You Are Recovering From Addiction

    Working with plants or gardening can be a great way to recover from addiction. In a study, researchers noted that in people who were recovering from alcohol addiction, plants provoked positive feelings, and were an effective rehabilitation tool. (7)

    In another study, people in an addiction rehabilitation program participated in natural recovery and they were allowed to choose gardening or art as their special natural therapy. (8) It was found that those who chose gardening as their natural therapy completed the rehabilitation program at a higher rate and it was also found that they had more satisfying experiences than the people who chose art as their natural therapy.

  6. With Gardening There Is a Lower Risk Of Heart Attacks and Strokes

    An excellent surprising benefit of gardening is that it can aid in reducing the risks of heart stroke or heart attack in people who regularly participated in it. You can go outside and spend some time with your plants while gardening, and this could reduce your stress and anxiety, and can also lower your blood pressure. Ultimately, it takes off a lot of stress from your Cardiovascular system.

    It is shown in research that those who are above 60 years and participate in gardening activities, have a 30% less chance of suffering a stroke or heart attack than people of the same age group who do not involve in gardening.

  7. Benefits of Gardening In Improving Your Sleep

    There is a pleasant effect of spending time outside. This even helps in clearing your head of all stressful and anxious thoughts and this in, turn, would help you improve your sleep. The moderate exercise that you do while gardening, such as weeding and tending to your garden along with other tasks done in the garden will help you feel more tired and you will be able to fall asleep faster and deeper. So, if you regularly garden, you could feel the improvement of your sleep quality and feel refreshed the next morning.

  8. Gardening Can Help You Eat Better

    When you plant your garden, especially the fruits and vegetables plants, you get a chance to eat healthier. The vegetables that you grow in your garden will not be having pesticide or herbicide treatments on them and thus you will be eating fresh and organic fruits and vegetables and you will be eating better and healthier. This would ultimately help you improve your overall health.

  9. You Can Burn High Amount Of Calories Through Gardening

    One more surprising health benefit of gardening is that you can be able to burn a high amount of calories via gardening. We know that gardening could be a moderate-intensity level of exercise. According to a study published in the American Journal of Public health, it was shown that individuals who participated in a community gardening program experienced lower body mass indexes than their neighbors who did not participate in the program. (9) This shows that you can lose a fair amount of weight with gardening.

  10. Gardening Is Great For Your Bone Health

    Our bones get thinner and more brittle as we age. The level of vitamin D in our body begins to drop, and we know that Vitamin D is the main vitamin supporting bone health. (10) Getting exposed to the sun and working in your garden allows you to receive more Vitamin D from the sun and helps in preventing your bones from turning weak, thin, and brittle.

  11. You Can Lower Your Blood Pressure Levels With Gardening

    If someone has high blood pressure, they have an increased risk of suffering from different cardiovascular issues. However, with gardening one can experience a drop in their levels of blood pressure and that too without any medication. (11) The more time one spends in the garden, the better will be your cardiovascular health. Once your blood pressure levels drop, it reduces the stress on the arteries.

  12. Gardening Can Improve Mindfulness

    A state of mind where you can focus on the present moment is Mindfulness. You can experience mindfulness with meditation. However, a similar state of mindfulness can also be experienced by gardening. When someone is gardening they dedicate their entire attention to that task and this could make them feel focused in that particular moment.

  13. Your Blood Sugar Level Can Be Controlled With Gardening

    One more known fact is that gardening is a great exercise for patients with diabetes as it aids in managing blood sugar levels in the body. Studies have shown that diet and exercise together can significantly reduce the development of Type 2 diabetes in people who are at a risk for the disease.

Conclusion:

So if you are fond of gardening or trying to take on this as your new hobby, be generous in accepting amazing health benefits and turning out to be a new ‘Healthy YOU”. Gardening not only invites you to the nature outsider but also helps in improving your health in numerous ways. Apart from all these, the best thing about gardening is that it improves family bonding, empowers self-esteem, and develops connection. So, whether you have a small space or a huge lawn, try gardening and allow your nature presents its wonders to you.

References:

Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:February 17, 2022

Recent Posts

Related Posts