Last Updated on August 10, 2020
Well, vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium and prevent diseases like osteoporosis, which are incredibly common among the elderly. Just don’t forget to put on some sunscreen with at least SPF 30 before you get down to business.
It’s crucial to protect your skin against the dangers of UV radiation. Oh, and drink some water from time to time to keep your body properly hydrated.
5. Gardening is an immune system booster
The vitamin D boost we have just mentioned can also lower cortisol levels in the bloodstream, which consequently improves the immune system. But that’s not all. Here’s what’s interesting. Gardening tasks require you to be almost constantly with soil on your hands.
This exposes your organism to different types of non-pathogenic bacteria that train your immune system and strengthen it. When your immune system is often in contact with harmless bacteria, it will learn to ignore them.
In this way, it will be better prepared to attack and neutralize dangerous bacteria that can cause serious diseases. Furthermore, there are also several bacteria in the soil that in themselves have benefits for our health. This is the case with Mycobacterium vaccae, a bacteria that activates serotonin in the brain, infection-fighting T-cells, and cytokines.
6. Gardening helps to keep your brain sharp
Gardening implies constant learning: new techniques, using new tools, planting new species and learning how to take care of them, solving new problems, and so on.
All this stimulates different parts of your brain and helps keep it sharp. A study published in the Medical Journal of Australia back in 2006 predicts that older people who practice gardening activities daily have a 36% lower risk of developing dementia. Of course, one study is not enough to draw any definitive conclusions. But it is a good start.
7. You can grow your food
Besides being incredibly satisfying, growing your own food can also improve your eating habits. If you have a vegetable or fruit garden, you will be able to eat fresh, healthy, and tasty products regularly – you can be sure that both your fruits and vegetables grow without chemical treatments. Completely organic.
You will also be making your contribution to fighting climate change. Having a garden and growing your own food adds green space, reduces toxic gasses, allows you to recycle waste, and makes you buy fewer things. It’s not much, considering the bigger picture. But we gotta start somewhere.
