Benefits of Gardening and Caring for Plants for Health

In addition to spending free time, gardening activities and maintaining plants apparently have tremendous benefits for our health, you know. What are these benefits? Let's find out here.

Planting activities is an activity that can be a hobby by anyone. Not only favored by women, but this activity is also much favored by the adam. With gardening and farming, you can plant and maintain plants that you like, ranging from various types of flowers, vegetables, to fruit.

List of Health Benefits of Gardening and Caring for Plants

Although not all houses have yards for planting plants, gardening can still be done in an urban farming style, by utilizing flower pots, used plastic containers, or using a landless (hydroponic) planting system.

Whatever the place and medium, gardening and maintaining plants have benefits for your health, including:

1. Increase endurance

Gardening activities are usually done outdoors. When gardening, your body will be exposed to sunlight. Sunlight, especially in the morning, produces ultraviolet or UV light which when touched on the skin will be converted by the body into vitamin D.

Vitamin D has an important role in maintaining your body's immune system, so you don't get sick easily. In addition, this vitamin is also useful for increasing calcium absorption which is useful for strengthening your bones, you know.

However, make sure you use sunscreen or a hat so that your skin doesn't get sunburned.

2. Expel boredom and stress

Dense activities in the office or the same routine every day can make you feel bored and stressed. Well, to get rid of these feelings, you can try gardening activities.

Planting plants that you like and see their development every day, from the growth of shoots, leaves, flowers, to fruits or vegetables that you can harvest, can make you feel happy and proud. Plus, as your plants grow and develop, the scenery at home becomes even more beautiful and soothing.

Not only that, sun exposure when you grow crops or just water your favorite plants can also trigger the brain to release the hormone serotonin, a hormone that can improve your mood. So, with just this simple activity, your feelings can be much better than before.

3. As a means of physical training and sports

If you don't like to exercise, by gardening at least once a week, you can exercise without having to do difficult movements that you don't like! This is because gardening makes your physics move actively and is strength trained.

When gardening you will do many things, from dredging the ground to fill pots, moving pots that have been planted, fertilizing plants, to lifting buckets of water to water plants. This activity will certainly make you use a lot of muscles and sweat.

4. Maintaining brain health

A study revealed that gardening is able to maintain brain health because this activity will make the mind become busy and focused, as well as opening opportunities for social interaction with people outside the home.

This is very good for brain health, especially for the elderly (elderly) who are at great risk of experiencing dementia later in life.

5. Make you accustomed to eating healthy foods

If you choose to grow vegetables or fruits while gardening, chances are you and your family will automatically be more motivated to eat healthy foods that grow in your home.

How come? To grow and take care of it takes quite a long time. When it's harvest time, you and your family will be more enthusiastic to feel the results. In addition, the harvest you get will be much cleaner and free of pesticides, making it healthier.

Plus, you also don't need to go far shopping for vegetables and fruit because you can freely pick them from the garden when they are ripe and can be consumed.

Gardening can indeed make you dirty because you have to play with soil and fertilizer. However, the benefits of gardening and maintaining plants for health are quite interesting, right?

If you have never gardened before, don't hesitate to start, yes. You can also invite other family members. The benefits of gardening for health are not only for adults, but even children and the elderly can also feel it.

However, there are important things you must remember, namely if you are allergic to a type of plant or flower pollen, you need to be more selective in choosing the type of plants that you will care for. Avoid plants that you clearly know can trigger allergic symptoms or flowers that have a lot of pollen.

After gardening is finished, you are also encouraged to take a shower immediately and change clothes to cleanse yourself from allergy-triggering substances that might stick during gardening.

If during gardening you experience allergies that cause swollen faces, shortness of breath, or even weakness, consume or use allergy medications that you have. If the complaint does not improve, immediately consult a doctor nearest.

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