What Are the Health Benefits of Organic Gardening?

More and more people are deciding to grow their own organic food. But what are the health benefits of doing this?

Health Benefits of Eating Organic Food

The first thing to discuss is the fact that eating organic food is good for you. If you’re growing your own food in the garden, you’ll be much more likely to eat that food rather than the junk food that a lot of people rely on. You should start to notice that you’re eating for fresh vegetables, and that can only be a good thing for your health.

So, how can you get started? You just need to overhaul your garden furniture, layout and flowerbed to create the space to grow food. Your organic food growing space doesn’t have to take up the whole garden though; it just needs to be big enough for the amount of food you want to grow.

Stress Relief

All studies have shown that people feel more relaxed and less stressed after doing some gardening. It’s one of the best things about gardening. It gets you out in the sunlight and breathing in fresh air. If you’re the kind of person that spends a lot of time in the office or in front of a computer screen, gardening can be the perfect way of winding down.

It also gives you more exercise than you might realise. You don’t necessary feel like you’re exercising when you’re pulling out weeds or planting trees, but it’s actually very physically demanding. This means you also keep your heart and lungs in good health and reduce the risk of heart disease significantly.

Brain Health

Lifestyle factors play a big part in brain health. People who have sedentary lifestyles and don’t make an effort to stay healthy are much more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease when they’re older. But research has also found that gardening can be one of the very best ways to reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.

Gardening involves so many key mental functions. And it is believed that this is why it can be so effective at reducing the risk of mental health problems in older age. It uses our brain’s sensory awareness, it makes us learn new things, it employs problem-solving skills, and when you combine all these things, it helps your brain a lot.

Dexterity

Keeping your hands healthy is probably not something you think about very often. But this can be vital, especially as we grow older. If your hands start to lose their dexterity, it becomes to carry out the most basic and simple of tasks. But gardening can help keep hands active and healthy for much longer.

Gardening has even started being used as a form of rehabilitation for people who are having problems after suffering a stroke. It helps to rebuild strength and other basic mobility capabilities. This shows how useful it can be for keeping your body and active, no matter how old you are or what condition your body is in.