7 Must-Know Health Benefits of Gardening and Why This is the Year to Finally Start Your Garden
If you know anything about us over at A Helping of Health then you know that we love gardening! There’s nothing better than harvesting and eating the fruits and veggies that you’ve grown from seeds and there’s no better way to spend a Saturday than with your hands in the dirt. We could spend hours upon hours (okay, okay - Aubrey could) out in the garden every day weeding, watering, harvesting, and simply admiring all of the plants growing in our garden. As strong believers in leading intuitive and sustainable lifestyles, actively participating in a hobby that can also be used as a way to take care of ourselves and our environment is key to our well-being. Luckily for us, growing your own food is not only enjoyable, but provides a load of both mental and physical health benefits, too!
My happy place.
Vitamin D
As I’m sure you already know, most gardening takes place outside during the warm months. This means that while you’re outside tending to your plants you’re also soaking in a healthy dose of sunshine, which is responsible for the synthesis of vitamin D. Vitamin D plays an important role in bone health and preventing issues such as osteomalacia and osteoporosis. It also helps keep our cardiovascular and respiratory systems strong and has a positive impact on our mental health (1). Be careful though - too much sun exposure can lead to skin cancer and damage - and we don’t want anything to do with that! As always, be sure to practice sensible sun exposure and sunscreen use.
Physical Activity
The process of gardening also happens to require a good amount of physical activity. Whether you’re weeding, shoveling dirt, digging, watering, or raking you’re sure to be getting plenty of exercise while you’re out in the garden. I’m sure you’ve heard about the benefits of regular physical activity plenty of times, but in case you haven’t, there are A LOT. Improving cardiovascular and respiratory health as well as muscle, bone, and joint health are just a few of the plethora of physical benefits that exercise provides. But don’t expect to only experience physical benefits - regular physical activity has been shown to improve overall mood as well as fight anxiety, depression, and decrease stress (2). In a world full of uncertain and stressful situations, who wouldn’t want to reap the mental health benefits of physical activity, especially when it involves being surrounded by nature?
Mental Health
Speaking of the mental health benefits that regular exercise provides, the act of simply being out in the garden and in nature has been shown to have a positive impact on mental health. There have been a multitude of studies done throughout the years showing the mental benefits that nature provides for us and gardening is the perfect way to fully immerse yourself in nature. Even if you live in an apartment and have a simple balcony garden, the act of working the dirt with your hands and seeing the leaves of your different plants can reduce feelings of anxiety, depression, and overall stress. In fact, nature has such a large impact on our mental health that there is a holistic healing practice called horticulture therapy, which involves patients learning about and tending a garden to help improve different mental and physical health disorders (3). Pretty cool, right?
There’s nothing better than homemade pickles!
You Can Save Money
Okay, so this isn’t technically a health benefit but if you’re saving money you may be decreasing your financial stress, which in turn can help improve your overall stress levels. Hey, I think it counts! So why spend $5.00 on a small carton of strawberries at the grocery store when you could spend the same amount on a packet of seeds that will give you hundreds of strawberries instead? The same can be said about pretty much all types of produce, which makes growing your own food ideal for those who may be tight financially or who want to save a bit of extra cash. Better yet, if you’re able to grow enough of your own food and are willing to take the time to preserve it, you can continue to enjoy home-grown produce throughout the winter months as well - saving you even more money. Better tasting produce and money saved? Sign us up!
Taste and Freshness
Another awesome thing about growing and eating your own food is that it tastes SO. MUCH. BETTER. No one will ever convince us otherwise! Items from your garden are harvested and eaten when they are at their freshest, most flavorful, and most nutrient-dense. They don’t have to go through the process of being hauled across the country on a truck, sitting in a supermarket for days, and waiting in your fridge to finally be used. The longer it has been since an item has been harvested, the less flavorful, nutrient-packed, and delicious that item becomes. If you don’t believe us, I encourage you to go out and compare the taste of a farm-fresh carrot from the farmers market or farm stand to a carrot that you can buy at the store. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Higher Fruit and Veggie Intake
Have you ever noticed that whatever type of food is readily available to you is what you’ll most likely end up eating? Whether it be because it takes less energy to decide that you’ll be having spaghetti for dinner instead of pizza because you already have spaghetti in your cupboard or because you simply forget that pizza is even an option because you don’t see it when you open the fridge, the availability of food often dictates what we decide to eat.
The same goes with growing and consuming fresh produce. If you have an abundance of fruits and veggies that are ripe and ready to be harvested out in your backyard, it’s easier to use them to make a meal than to go out and buy something else at the grocery store. This can lead to you increasing your fruit and veggie intake over time, allowing you to increase your overall nutrient intake and giving your body all of the awesome nutrients it needs to thrive! You can also decide to leave the pesticides and fertilizers commonly used on supermarket produce out of your growing plan, allowing you to know exactly what went into your food.
Now don’t take this the wrong way - just because you have all of these beautiful snap peas available to you to eat doesn’t mean you necessarily have to eat them if your body is telling you it wants something else. After all, eating and living in an intuitive and sustainable way means that you should be listening to your body’s cues as to what is required for you to feel both physically and emotionally satisfied that day. If you’re feeling a pizza one night instead of a stir-fry with snap peas, it’s okay! Simply put the snap peas in the fridge to use the next day. Having fresh food available to you via gardening should enhance your life, not cause you to restrict other foods or dishonor your cravings!
A section of our 2021 garden.
It’s Enjoyable
Lastly, gardening is just plain fun! It’s amazing being able to watch something that you planted as a seed grow into a beautiful, lush plant that also provides you with dinner. Gardening can become a beneficial hobby that is not only good for you physically, but that fills your soul up as well! It can act as your quiet alone time to unwind at the end of a long day, as a classroom for your entire family to learn more about nature and ecosystems, or as a method of self-care as you grow nutritious food that allows you to nourish your body from the inside-out. Gardening can be made into anything you want it to be, which is yet another reason we love it so much.
We also want to remind you that you can grow food wherever you live! Even if you live in an apartment in the middle of the city you could try growing a few herbs on your windowsill or putting a planter box out on your balcony. Finding a local community garden is also an excellent idea if you’re wanting a bit more space. This can also be a great way to meet others who are interested in the same thing and build community!
As seed starting season is almost upon us (more on that soon!), we hope this inspires you to give gardening a shot this year, whether this is your first time or your 50th! There is truly nothing like growing your own food and we promise you won’t regret it!
We would love to hear if you’re planning on growing some of your own food for the first time this year or your experiences with gardening in the past if you’re a seasoned gardener! Be sure to leave a comment below! We can’t wait to hear from everyone!
Aubrey, RD
Citations
Sowah D, Fan X, Dennett L, Hagtvedt R, Straube S. Vitamin D levels and deficiency with different occupations: A systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1). doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4436-z
Malm C, Jakobsson J, Isaksson A. Physical activity and sports-real health benefits: A review with insight into the public health of Sweden. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/7/5/127/htm. Published May 23, 2019. Accessed January 20, 2022.
Soga M, Gaston KJ, Yamaura Y. Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine Reports. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301401. Published November 14, 2016. Accessed January 20, 2022.
