Scientific studies show that people who make New Year’s resolutions to exercise and eat healthy food often find themselves backsliding only a few weeks into January. Getting to the gym gets harder, the exercise routine becomes too routine, and the temptations of Big Macs and soft serve ice cream become increasingly difficult to avoid.
At the same time all of this is going on, the yard or the community garden plot is gearing up for a new year of growth. Squirrels are running around and birds are tweeting. There are a lot of interesting things out there. Maybe it’s time to switch gears and do some gardening instead of running on a treadmill.
If your resolution is to eat better, gardening is the perfect way to grow fruit and vegetables for an inexpensive source of tasty nutrition. Just-picked produce tastes much better than grocery store offerings that have been sitting around for several days. Gardeners can grow plants chosen for their taste, rather than for shelf life. Vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes, peaches warm from the sun, and just-picked basil will encourage you to stick to the diet. And beans that go into the pot a half-hour after harvest are a great source of plant protein.
If your resolution is to be a happier person, get outside and play in the dirt. Recent scientific evidence shows that gardening can improve health in many different ways, including making you happier. Experiments have shown that inhaling small amounts of a common soil bacterium can help regulate serotonin levels in humans, improving mood and lowering stress. (See Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 147(3), 135-144 and Stuart-Smith, The Well Gardened Mind, (2020) Scribner.) Digging in the dirt can actually make you feel better and less stressed.
In The Well Gardened Mind, Sue Stuart-Smith, a British psychiatrist, cites numerous studies that show the beneficial effect of working in a garden on prison inmates, soldiers with post traumatic stress syndrome and mental health patients. She posits that working outdoors in a pleasant environment can relieve stress and encourage rehabilitation.
A 2018 Clinical Medicine article entitled “Gardening for health: a regular dose of gardening,” by Richard Thompson, states: “Health professionals should encourage their patients to make use of green space and to work in gardens, and should pressure local authorities to increase open spaces and the number of trees.” Thompson cites studies which show that hospital patients who can see greenery feel less pain and are ready to go home sooner. A study of computer rooms showed that putting green plants in the room lowered the blood pressure of workers. One study even showed that green space was associated with a lower incidence of dementia.
“Why does gardening seem to be so beneficial to health?” Thompson poses. “It combines physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight. Sunlight lowers blood pressure as well as increasing vitamin D levels in the summer, and the fruit and vegetables that are produced have a positive impact on the diet. Working in the garden restores dexterity and strength.” He goes on to state that gardening can also be good aerobic exercise. “Digging, raking, and mowing are particularly calorie-intense; there is a gym outside many a window.”
A 2023 article entitled “Can Gardenting Count as Exercise?” published in Henry Ford Health, an online publication of a Michigan hospital chain, suggests that a session in the back yard be treated like any other exercise routine, starting with stretching and a warmup and ending with a cool down. Warmup can mean pulling weeds in a raised bed or raking dried leaves. The article states that digging holes is one of the best aerobic exercises because it engages so many muscle groups. “Take every opportunity to dig.” The writer also suggests alternating high-intensity work (carrying bags of potting soil, mowing) with lower intensity tasks. To up your exercise level, reduce expenses, and fight climate change, use manual tools instead of electric or gas-operated equipment. The cool-down can be gathering flowers for a bouquet or picking vegetables for dinner.
Studies repeatedly show that if you enjoy an activity, you will probably stick with it. Other studies, like the one presented in the Henry Ford Health article, show that 45 minutes of gardening burns as many calories as 30 minutes of aerobics, with no gym fees, travel, or spandex outfits needed. Slap on the sunscreen, put on a wide-brimmed hat and your gardening gloves, go out the back door, and grab that shovel for better health and a happier you.
Margie Siegal is a long term gardener in Alameda and a supporter of Alameda Backyard Growers. Reach her via [email protected].
