There is no denying that being healthy in your everyday life is and should be a top priority. Whether or not you realize it, there are a few ways you can incorporate healthy actions into your life besides going to the gym a few days a week. One of them is doing your own landscaping and keeping a garden.
Gardening offers a myriad of health benefits. Let’s take a look.
Exercise
This health benefit might not be as surprising, but the amount of exercise you can get just from maintaining your own lawn and keeping a garden is astounding. Between lifting bags of soil, digging holes for seedlings, watering plants, or pushing a lawnmower across your yard, it is impossible not to get a good workout. If you cannot lift heavy weights, consider watering with a garden hose instead of using a watering can. In addition, opt for a lightweight model of a garden hose. For example, Flexzilla garden hoses are both lightweight and kink-free.
If your yard is not the size of a football field, you might want to consider the healthy option of using a mower that doesn’t require gas or electricity. Backyard Boss has conducted the research and found this to be the best reel mower for smaller yards. Just imagine all the steps your counter will add when using one of those.
The bottom line is, a regular exercise routine is important for a healthy life so all of the activities that come along with gardening will fill that requirement for you.
Mental Health
There are certain areas of health that differ for men and women, but, when it comes to clarity of mind and healthy mental activity, we are all the same.
Depression
Feeling sad is a global epidemic and the reasons why people feel depressed range from losing a loved one to cancer to chemical imbalances. The thing is, no matter what the root of your depression might be, one thing that seems to light up almost everyone is a surge of endorphins. This can be achieved by exercise.
Also, just being outdoors among nature has also been shown to help folks suffering from anxiety and depression. Not only does the sunlight do wonders for our mood, keeping a garden does wonders for our creative spirit, which leaves people with a feeling of having done something great.
Alzheimer’s & Dementia
The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease published a study that activists like gardening, because they are physical, could reduce a person’s chance of developing Alzheimer’s by half. Dementia sufferers that are given horticulture therapy have come away from it with a great sense of feeling good.
Stress & Anxiety
Sometimes the weight of the world and all of our responsibilities and annoying daily letdowns can put a serious toll on our health. Bills, work, kids, spouse, not to mention the state of the environment and the current political climate are all examples of things that bring stress and anxiety to many a person’s kitchen table.
Gardening is a great way to reduce the impact of these unwanted guests in your life. Scientists from the Netherlands implies gardening is greater for stress relief then doing something relaxing like reading. While reading is great for many reasons, it seems the act of putting your hands in dirt and cultivating a yard that includes a variety of living things can help you relax much better.
Diet
When you grow your own vegetables and use them for the meals you prepare for yourself and your family you are choosing to put healthy things inside of you that you know are free of pesticides and weren’t grown with inorganic methods. Also, when you grow healthy tomatoes and vegetables, your kitchen is suddenly full of them so you’ll find that you are eating them more often.
A diet filled with green leafy vegetables, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes, among the many other colorful options out there is the healthiest thing you can do for your body. If you are a juicer, your bounty will serve you well. You can roast them, or just put everything together in a salad.
If you live in an area of the world where keeping a vegetable garden is available only certain a times of the year then you have the option of canning and pickling your bounty so that you have healthy vegetables all year round.
Immunity Boost
We spoke about getting your hands in the dirt earlier in this post. This is where it makes a serious impact on your health. The soil you toil is filled with bacteria that can help our immune system work at its best. When you have a healthy immune system you will get sick less and be able to fight off any infections in your body. Also, if you suffer from allergies, gardening can lessen the harshness of your reaction according to the University of Copenhagen.
Conclusion
As you can see, the positive effects of gardening are numerous. So start pushing that reel mower and get that hoe ready, because your health is about to sprout up with your amazing garden.
