Gardening is great fun. It’s physically strenuous, it’s mentally stimulating and very rewarding. Being healthy is an important thing in life, but, you might not have been aware of some of these surprising health benefits of gardening.
Remember, you don’t have to have a green thumb to be able to get into gardening. We all start somewhere, and whether it’s just a patch of grass or a full blown garden, there are benefits to all types of gardening.
Gardening Burns a Lot of Calories
Being out in the garden, and pulling up plants, digging up soil, walking around pushing a lawn mower, or trimming and edging, well, it works out to be a big exercise!
If you’re looking to work out or lose weight, but don’t have access to a gym or have other health problems, gardening is an excellent calorie burner.
Gardening once a week gives you a great opportunity to move, bend, stretch, lift, pull and push, all things that we also do in the gym. All of this burns calories – which can help you lose weight and gain muscle toning.
Gardening Helps You Get Vitamin D
It’s a very well-known but underappreciated fact that vitamin D is great for us. Being out in the garden for a few hours a week helps you breathe in fresh air, and get the sun’s vital rays. Of course, make sure you put on enough sun screen and cover up.
The sun is our bringer of life – naturally spending time in it is healthy for us.
Sometimes in our daily lives we don’t catch as much sun as we should – but 30-40 minutes a day, or 2 hours a week should be enough to keep our doses up.
Growing Your Own Food Leads to Getting Better Nutrients
We know that eating green and eating organic and GMO free is better for you. Well, if you can get healthier still, it’s by growing your own. You can add it to your own salads or dishes for dinner.
What you grow you eat, and what you eat you are. Veggie patches are great for your nutrient intake!
I can speak from personal experience, that what you grow in your garden, you always eat. Great veggies to plant for this include: lettuce, cucumber, beetroot, tomatoes, herbs like coriander or parsley, and others.
Lowers Your Blood Pressure
Doctors recommend 30 minutes per day of bringing your heart rate up to have a healthy lifestyle.
High blood pressure can lead to a number of other issues – such as heart problems.
What better and easier way to get through 30 minutes than by working out in the garden? My recommendation is to rake leaves, or water plants/ grass, or do weeding or general chores on a daily basis.
Gardening Can Relieve Stress
Mental health is another underappreciated, but extremely important aspect of our health. Gardening is great for our mental health in many ways. As previously mentioned, by adding better nutrients into our diets, by helping us gain more vitamin D, by giving us a workout, by allowing us to breathe in fresh air, by giving us a sense of achievement, and by a methodical approach.
Stress is something we all suffer from time to time – gardening is a great way to alleviate it!
The process of watching something grow, and thrive, and having a big role in that, is an incredibly rewarding experience. There is also a form of escapism in gardening. You can pour your heart and soul into it, and forget about the world for a few minutes or hours each day.
So, now that you have read this, will you get out in the garden more? If you’re not sure where to start or need a bit of help to get it going, give Amico a call today on 1300-GARDEN (1300- 427 336).
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