… how does your Garden grow?
It’s National Garden Week, a weeklong party to honor plants and gardeners. For those with a green thumb or two it is an opportunity to show off the fruits of their labor, literally and figuratively.
Aside from the visual and nutritional beauty of its results, gardening also has a number of, in some cases surprising, health benefits:
It builds self-esteem. Working the soil to grow something, to nurture it so it can be enjoyed by you and others, is an accomplishment and a source of pride.
Gardening strengthens the heart. All of that digging, planting, weeding requires physical effort that provides cardiovascular benefits.
Gardening reduces stress and can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Gardening gives your mind something positive to focus on and put your mind to work with a task and a goal.
Gardening can make you happy. Digging in the dirt and getting soil under your nails and inhaling the M. vaccae healthy bacteria that lives in the soil can increase serotonin production and reduce anxiety.
Gardening can improve hand strength. All of that digging, planting and pulling works the muscles in your hands and helps keep your hands and fingers strong.
Gardening can give you a boost of Vitamin D. A healthy dose of Vitamin D increases Calcium levels, which benefits your bones and immune system. Exposure to sunlight boosts Vitamin D levels in the body. Just don’t forget the sunscreen! (See my blog post “Keeping your Skin in the Game”.)
Growing food can help you eat healthier. When you grow fruit, herbs or vegetables, you know that they have not been treated with pesticides, and there is nothing tastier and more satisfying than eating your freshly harvested produce, from garden to table.
Of course all of that digging, bending, crouching, reaching and lifting can also cause some physical discomfort, especially in people who don’t exercise regularly.
Keeping yourself fit by maintaining a healthy weight, endurance, strength, balance and flexibility through regular exercise and stretching, will help you enjoy gardening and its rewards for many years to come.
Get digging, Ladies, and watch your garden grow!
Sources: : https://healthtalk.unchealthcare.org/health-benefits-of-gardening/: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com