Benefits Of Spending Time Outdoors: Free Medicine
Being at the will of Mother Nature can be incredibly intimidating. Nature proposes an environment that lacks WiFi, provides an onslaught of bugs and an uncontrollable thermostat, in other words, an awful AirBnB. Although there is much resistance to the great wild, there are many great benefits that make the local nature trail worth it.
Taking a quick trip out of the office for a change of scenery can be revitalizing and if that trip is outdoors, it can improve our health. Embracing our natural environments has proven to be both beneficial to our mental and physical well-being. From positively affecting our cortisol levels, improving our eyesight and blood pressure, something as simple as bird watching, fishing, or hiking could be free medicine at our fingertips.
Many doctors and scientists have found that being outside incorporates elements that serve our health, including:
- Free vitamin D from the Sun in healthy doses helps the immune system and is critical for bone development. Dr. Christine Ashour states in her article, “My Doctor Told Me to Get Outside” via the White Plains Hospital blog, Health Matters, explains that efficient vitamin D absorption can protect against osteoporosis, heart attacks and even cancer.
- Improvement in healing ability, is a benefit shared by certified therapeutic recreational specialist Erica Price on Sharp Health News. Price states that researchers found that patients who spent their recovery outdoors required fewer painkillers and had shorter hospital stays than patients who remained indoors during their healing processes.
- Improved focus, which was reviewed by University of Chicago psychologist Marc Berman, PhD, and his student Kathryn Schertz. The American Psychological Association featured in their report, “Nurtured by Nature”, by Kirsten Weir that Berman and Schertz made the correlation between green views and the cognitive development of children. In their report, it was found “that green spaces near schools promote cognitive development in children and green views near children’s homes promote self-control behaviors. Adults assigned to public housing units in neighborhoods with more green space showed better attentional functioning than those assigned to units with less access to natural environments”.
- Overall good health and well-being, another convenience of being in nature, which was reported as accessible from being outside for only 120 minutes.Online journal, Scientific Reports, featured a study by Mathew P. White, Ian Alcock, James Grellier, Benedict W. Wheeler, Terry Hartig, Sara L. Warber, Angie Bone, Michael H. Depledge & Lora E. Fleming, that 120 minutes outdoors can improve your health. In the study the scientists questioned that the physical activity included in being outdoors may account for some of the benefits. “Moreover, physical activity conducted in nature may be more psychologically beneficial than in other locations, suggesting a complex interaction between the two which requires further research to fully understand”.
Sources: Ashour, C. (2021, August 13). Benefits of spending time outdoors in nature - white plains hospital. Health Matters. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://healthmatters.wphospital.org/blog/january/2021/my-doctor-told-me-to-get-outside/
Price, E. (2020, May 19). 5 ways being outdoors can make you healthier and happier. 5 Ways Being Outdoors Can Make You Healthier and Happier -. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.sharp.com/health-news/5-ways-being-outdoors-can-make-you-healthier-and-happier.cfm
Weir, K. (2020, April 1). Nurtured by Nature. American Psychological Association. Retrieved February 5, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature
White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J. et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Sci Rep 9, 7730 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3
