River Sofia
Why is gardening important for your health?
Gardening comes with a myriad of well-documented health benefits. The most obvious of these has to do with the fact that quite a bit of gardening is done outdoors. Exposure to sunlight increases your vitamin D, which is good for bones, teeth, and muscles. And speaking of muscles, gardening is a great form of low-impact exercise — high impact if you’re hefting huge pots or wheelbarrows of soil around.
In terms of mental health, gardening has also been shown to decrease the risk of dementia and as a type of therapy for those already suffering from it, according to a study published by the journal Psychiatry Investig. This might have to do with the mental health benefits we experience just being in nature. Gardens, by virtue of the human-made nature of their construction, allow us a means to connect to nature in a sort of self-determined way.
