Gardening, no matter the type of gardening, flowers or food, there’s something about putting your hands in the dirt, digging, creating something that’s really beautiful. For many people gardening is a sensory experience, for others it’s a source of fresh, healthy produce, while others see it as a form of physical exercise that promotes mental health through relaxation and satisfaction by relieving stress, and even improves your mood.
Here are a few ways gardening can benefit your physical and mental health. First, gardening gets you out in the fresh air and sunshine and it also gets your blood moving. Digging, planting and weeding combines three types of physical activity – strength, endurance and flexibility, which are good forms of low impact exercise. Researchers estimate that gardening burns an average of 300 calories per hour, while heavy yard work can burn more than 600 calories per hour. While this may sound like an aerobics class, these are movements you do while working in the garden. The physical benefits include developing/maintaining muscle strength, improving coordination and balance. Gardening can benefit individuals that are physically fit as well as those individuals who find more vigorous exercise a challenge, such as those who are older, have disabilities or suffer from chronic pain. The repetitive tasks of digging, planting and weeding reinforces exercise with a context that reinforces limberness of your limbs and the use of your hands.
Secondly, gardening can benefit our mood and act as a stress reducer, and it’s some of the healthiest food you can eat. For example, asparagus, broccoli, beets, okra, black beans and dried fruit are foods known as mood stabilizers. These all contain various forms of vitamin B, which not only fight chronic illness, but also activate the brain’s secretion of serotonin, which has almost become synonymous with feelings of well-being. Vitamin B in its various forms is also of great help in the fight against those feelings of mental confusion, irritability and nervousness that are associated with stress.
Sweet potatoes and spinach, like other vegetables, contain potassium, which can become depleted under stress. Sweet potatoes are a good source of iron, a lack of which may cause you to feel stressed. Iron is essential to the flow of oxygen toward the brain and muscle tissue. Also, fiber in sweet potatoes assists in processing carbohydrates. Spinach contains magnesium, a lack of which is associated with migraine headaches and a general feeling of fatigue.
Don’t forget vitamin C foods such as red peppers, tomatoes and strawberries. When you are stressed, your body releases free radicals thought to cause degenerative diseases. Vitamin C helps to keep the free radicals in check and repairs the body. Basically, it helps protect the body from the cumulative effects of stress. Vitamin C also helps bring blood pressure down as well as boosting our immune system.
As you can see, gardening can generate positive outcomes as a good source of physical activity, potential for improved mental health as well as nutritional benefits. So get out and enjoy yourself in the garden.
Tammie Giminez, MS, RD for North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in the Department of Food and Nutrition Services in Harrison, Ark.
