Question

benifits of gardening article 120-150words

Answer 1

                                benifits of gardening

Gardening is one of those pastimes which brings happiness and health for all age people. There are a lot of benefits of gardening which show the importanc of this hobby. The physical benefits of fresh air and exercise are perhaps the most obvious, but emotional and psychological benefits cannot be ignored.

"Ever wonder why God placed Adam and Eve in a garden?" Upson said. "The reason is that gardening is good for you!".

Steve Upson, horticulturist for the Ardmore-based Noble Foundation says, 'The older I get, the more aware I become of the importance of physical activity in maintaining my health," Upson said. "Numerous studies show that regular physical activity reduces the risk of premature death, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, and certain types of cancer."

Gardening contributes to physical health, since activities such as digging, planting, weeding, and harvesting are all part of three types of physical activity: endurance, flexibility, and strength.

Answer 2

In this article we’ll first explore the health benefits of gardening as supported by recent scientific research, and then we’ll look at how we can expand the scope of our permaculture designs to derive maximum health benefits from our gardens.

Why Gardening is Good for You

Studies show that gardening promotes physical health, mental health through relaxation and satisfaction, and better nutrition. In the first part of this article we’ll explore just that, the many well-researched and documented health benefits of gardening – the reasons why we should be doing any kind of gardening!


Gardening for the Body

The primary reason why people decided thousands of years ago to grow plants was to sustain their bodies. This is still a very valid reason today, but there are many other reasons why gardening is beneficial to our physical health. Some of these are:

Stress relief

Exercise

Brain health

Nutrition

Healing

Immunity

Stress relief – A study in the Netherlands indicated that gardening is better at relieving stress than other relaxing leisure activities. Two groups of people were required to complete a stressful task, one group did some gardening for 30 minutes while the other group did some reading indoors over the same time. The gardening group reported being in a better mood than the reading group, and they also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol [1].

Exercise – The activity of gardening is also good for our bodies. It’s healthy regular physical exercise which helps prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, adult-onset diabetes and osteoporosis. Researchers at Kansas State University already have shown that gardening can offer enough moderate physical activity to keep older adults in shape [2]. This was confirmed by another study where the researchers concluded that gardening is a great way for older adults to meet the physical activity recommendations set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine [3] .

Brain health – A study that followed people in their 60s and 70s for up to 16 years found that those who gardened regularly had a 36% lower risk of dementia than non-gardeners, even when a range of other health factors were taken into account [4].

Nutrition – Studies have shown that gardeners eat more fruits and vegetables than other people. The freshest food you can eat is the food you grow, and when you have access to a garden filled with fruits and vegetables, you’re able to eat some of the healthiest food you can get! A European study investigating the links between diet and disease has found that people who consume more fruit and vegetables have a lower risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease [5].

Healing – Interacting with nature also helps our bodies heal. A landmark study by Roger S. Ulrich, published in the April 27, 1984, issue of Science magazine, found strong evidence that nature helps heal. Ulrich, a pioneer in the field of therapeutic environments at Texas A&M University, found that patients recovering from gall bladder surgery who looked out at a view of trees had significantly shorter hospital stays, fewer complaints, and took less pain medication, than those who looked out at a brick wall [6].

Immunity – In 2007, University of Colorado neuroscientist Christopher Lowry, then working at Bristol University in England, made a startling discovery. He found that certain strains of harmless soil-borne Mycobacterium vaccae sharply stimulated the human immune system. It’s quite likely that exposure to soil bacteria plays an important role in developing a strong immune system [7].

Gardening for the Mind — Better mental health

The same Mycobacterium vaccae, a harmless bacteria normally found in dirt, has been found to stimulate the immune system of mice and has also been found to boost the production of serotonin, a mood-regulating brain chemical. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression. Contact with soil in the garden may actually elevate our mood [7].

The antidepressant properties of M.vaccaewere discovered accidentally while being used for experimental human lung cancer treatment by cancer researcher Mary O’Brien at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, England. After the patients were treated with heat-killed inoculations of the bacteria, O’Brien’s team observed not only fewer symptoms of cancer, but also improvements in their patients’ vitality, emotional health and mental abilities.

Researchers often find in their studies that subjects who participate in gardening have a positive mental outlook [8] [9] [10]. Studies reported in the Journal of Health Psychology in 2012 also show that people who feel a connection to Nature are indeed happier [11].

Gardening has been shown to help prevent dementia in seniors [12]. Gardening requires you to think, learn and use your creativity. By keeping the mind active, it serves as a protective measure against such degenerative diseases.





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