It is now well documented, that low to moderate level exercise from activities such as gardening is just as good if not better for the health of your heart and lungs.
A 30 minute session of weeding or lawn mowing can burn about 150 calories.
Studies reported on by the British Medial Journal state that individuals who participated in just 10 – 59 minutes per week of moderate physical activities during their leisure time had an 18% lower risk of death from any cause over the study period.
US 2008 guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate activity done in at least 10 minute sessions.
People who participated in 150–299 minutes per week reduced their overall risk of death by 31%. Those who increased up ten times this amount to 1500 min or more per week, almost halved their risk (46% lower).
The risk of death from cardiovascular events such as strokes and heart attacks was the main aim of the study but it also found that the risk of death from cancer also improved with moderate physical activity.
Gardening better than running?
It is worth noting from these studies, that higher intensities of exercise such as running did not improve risk of death significantly over the 46% achieved by moderate exercise. In fact the benefits reduced because of the associated injury risk and joint damage.
From a musculoskeletal practitioner point of view, this I find highly interesting because in the UK, our orthopaedic departments are overburdened with the need for knee and hip replacements due to damage directly attributable to high intensity exercise such as road running.
Moderate intensity exercise such as gardening does not place this severe load on joints.
Fresh Air
Modern humans spend far too many hours locked away indoors in increasingly sealed up houses or offices.
Spending time outdoors allows us to breathe in fresh air. Whilst I suppose this depends whether you are situated in the country or a city, it is still important for our lungs to be breathing oxygen from the outdoor environment.
A good number of plants, such as herbs and pine trees also give off essential oils called Phytoncides which are volatile organic compounds or airborne chemicals that disperse in large numbers due to their high vapor pressure and low water solubility. which can have a relaxing or calming effect on the mind and body systems.
Work carried out by Dr. Qing Li explored the notion that forest bathing may be beneficial to immunity by reducing stress.
He found that phytoncides, once inhaled, significantly increase levels of natural killer (NK) cells in the human immune system and that these effects lasted for more than 30 days after a trip to a forest.
Their ability to ease stress is due to reducing the stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline and boosting the parasympathetic nervous system.
Dr. Qing Li’s research has also shown that phytoncides reduce blood pressure and heart rate; reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression and fatigue; improve sleep; increase energy, concentration and memory and boost the production of anti-cancer proteins.
Evergreens such as pine, cedar, spruce and conifer seem to produce the highest levels of phytoncides.
The Japanese activity of “forest bathing” is becoming popular globally.
Gardening for Health Talks
We have number of talks covering this and other gardening related subjects.
All available via Zoom