Gardening for Your Health

Spring has sprung ladies! I have a question to ask, do any of you like to garden?

Did you know besides the physical activity that goes with digging in the dirt, gardening is also a wonderful way to relieve stress and is emotionally rewarding.

I have been an avid gardener for 25 years and my children know that I find complete joy stalking garden centers in early March in anticipation of winter’s last freeze so that I can create my summer gardens to be enjoyed by family and friends when they visit our home.

There is something so natural and organic when you plant your own gardens and watch them grow. Perhaps it’s a maternal urge to keep creating something and watch it grow. Or from an interior designer’s perspective creating a better outdoor living space where Mother Nature is the artist.

I come from a lineage of women gardeners. I remember my grandmothers vast vegetable gardens growing up and enjoying fresh vegetables and flowers set upon the table.

I have only been successful in growing tomatoes and herbs in my garden by our pool. But there is nothing better than eating your own organically grown vegetables in the summer.

Gardening has all-around physical benefits in terms of cardiovascular, muscle, and bone health but check with your doctor first to see how much gardening you can do.

5 Health Benefits from Gardening

1. Gardening strengthens your immune system. While you’re outdoors basking in the sun, you’ll also soak up plenty of vitamin D, which helps the body absorb calcium. In turn, calcium helps keep your bones strong and your immune system healthy.

2. Gardening can reduce your risk of stroke (along with other activities as jogging and swimming) as reported in “Stroke: Journal of The American Heart Association”.

3. Gardening decreases the likelihood of osteoporosis. When you dig, plant, weed, and engage in repetitive tasks that require strength or stretching, all of the major muscle groups are getting a good work out.

4. Being surrounded by flowers improves one’s health. In behavioral research conducted at Rutgers University by Jeanette M. Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., the results showed that flowers are a natural and healthful moderator of moods and have an immediate impact on happiness, a long term positive effects on mood, and make for more intimate connections between individuals

5. Gardening may lower the risk of dementia. Some research suggests that the physical activity associated with gardening can help lower the risk of developing dementia. Two separate studies that followed people in their 60s and 70s for up to 16 years found, respectively, that those who gardened regularly had a 36% and 47% lower risk of dementia than non-gardeners, even when a range of other health factors were taken into account.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I hope you get outside and enjoy the spring weather!