Employee Health and Wellness: Gardening for Better Health

Gardening not only yields fruits and vegetables for the dinner table, it also benefits your physical and mental health. Working in the garden gets your body moving as you squat, dig, bend, till and mulch in your garden. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) places even light gardening in the “moderate physical activity” category. And while gardening may seem less tedious than lifting weights, it is no less beneficial for your body. Light gardening or yard work can burn off 330 calories in an hour for a 154-pound individual.

Low-to-moderate intensity gardening can also improve your brain functioning. Research involving seniors, published in the National Library of Medicine, indicates substances that help the brain grow more cells and promote blood vessel growth significantly increased after just 20 minutes of gardening, helping to improve memory and cognitive function. Another benefit is that being outdoors helps increase serotonin production, generating a positive mood and calm mental outlook.

Gardening routines, such as watering and weeding, create a rhythm which can actually ease stress. Working in the garden is an opportunity to slow down and think over a problem or plan a course of action. It is also extremely gratifying to plant and harvest your own food.

Gardening also can serve as a way to strengthen social connections. Community garden plots bring together people with diverse backgrounds to work together on a common goal. These types of social connections are important because they help lower stress and improve one’s resilience.

Having a garden provides access to healthy food options from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that provide their own unique health benefits. Dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale are great immune-boosting foods. Peppers contain the chemical compound capsaicin, which is known to help reduce inflammation. Tomatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin C as well as potassium, which is beneficial for blood pressure control. Sweet potatoes are high in beta carotene, an antioxidant that may help slow the aging process. The fiber and antioxidants in sweet potatoes are also important for digestion. Aside from the health and social benefits of gardening, it is also a way to save money as you eat what you grow!

Information provided courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Library of Medicine.