Gardening has been known to be a type of low-intensity workout. It may involve a lot of work, but gardening has a lot of benefits for you. Here are five of them:
Vitamin D Exposure
Gardening allows you to expose yourself to sunlight, and sunlight graces humans with vitamin D. This vitamin boosts you calcium levels which can improve your immune system and bones. Gardening is one great way to get adequate sunshine while having fun. Of course, this doesn’t rule out the fact that you still need to protect your eyes with sunglasses and your skin with sunscreen.
Growing your own garden means you’ll get nutritious fruits and vegetables straight from your garden to the table. You’ll have fresh produce each time, making your meals healthier for you. You can be sure that they’re more robust than what stores sell because you’re the one taking care of your own crops. You’re also the one who has control about what fertilizers they should get. Isn’t that wonderful?
As mentioned in the introduction, gardening is a workout. Gardening allows you to break a sweat by planting, twisting, bending, spraying, pulling out weeds, reaching for plants, and handling tools. If you have a large garden, you’ll also walk a lot with your backpack sprayer spraying pesticides to the plants in need. Gardening is an excellent exercise that can strengthen your stamina and make you more flexible.
One study conducted in the Netherlands and reported by CNN found that gardening can combat stress compared to any other hobby. Gardening even just for half an hour can reduce the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, giving way for dopamine and other happy neurotransmitters to take over your mind and body.
This benefit is also perfect for those who are retired. Gardening can fight loneliness by providing a community for people. Those who have post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD are even encouraged to garden because it can help them engage with others in a healthy fellowship. Gardening is a hobby that gives self-fulfillment, and this is just what retired and people living with PTSD need.
Lowered Risk of Dementia
A study carried out last 2006 discovered that gardening could reduce the risk of dementia by 36%. That’s good news for people aged more than 60 years old! The researchers of the study tracked 2,800 people for 16 years and concluded that gardening is indeed an excellent physical activity that can decrease the risk of dementia.