Most people are drawn to spaces filled with grass, trees, and leafy vegetation. Even if it's just a walk through a suburban city park or puttering about in a backyard garden, green spaces make us feel better.
But the way we describe the effects of green space is all very amorphous and abstract and general, isn't it? We "feel good" sitting on the grass. "It's nice" to take a walk along a forest path.
Let's dig deeper and explore the specific ways in which green spaces improve our lives.
Green spaces improve immune function.
Just a single-day trip to a forest park can increase the number and activity of immune cells called natural killer cells, as well as upregulate anti-cancer proteins, for up to a full week. [1]
Green spaces reduce stress.
If I'm ever stressed out and nothing's helping, I'll head out to the hills for a quick hike. So it's no surprise that neighborhood green spaces are associated with healthier cortisol levels in deprived urban communities, [2] and forest bathing therapy has been used to lower cortisol levels. [3]
Green spaces lower blood pressure.
A week-long evergreen forest retreat reduced hypertension in elderly Japanese, while a control group taking a similar retreat in the city experienced no benefits to blood pressure. [4] Heck, even in 10-year-old kids living in urban areas, low levels of nearby green space were associated with higher blood pressure. [5]
Green spaces reduce mortality.
The presence of green space is fairly often linked to reductions in all-cause and stroke mortality. In a cohort of 575,000 urban Ontario residents aged 35 and older, for example, living near greenery reduced mortality. [6]
Green spaces promote physical activity and exercise by making it more enjoyable.
The closer you are to a green space, the more likely you are to be physically active. [7] Better still, green spaces promote the precise type of physical activity we so desperately lack these days: walking. [8]
Green spaces reduce blood sugar.
Diabetics who go on forest bathing trips enjoy lower blood sugar and improved HbA1c. [9] And in Australians, living near green space was independently associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. [10]
Green spaces reduce air pollution.
Grass, trees, and plants of all kinds reduce air pollution, so when you live in an area with ample green space - even an urban environment generating lots of pollution - you can breathe easier. [11]
I know what a lot of you are thinking: correlation doesn't necessarily equal causation. We don’t know for sure that spending time in nature directly leads to these benefits. But here’s the thing: Even if there weren't any established health benefits to green space, I'd still go for weekly hikes. I'd still camp with my family. I'd still go snowboarding every winter. I'd still walk barefoot in the cool dewy grass in my yard every morning.
Wouldn’t you?
Taking walks in the park, going for hikes in the forest, planning a camping trip—these aren't risky behaviors. These are fun activities and behaviors that you were probably going to do anyway. And we know they feel good. Do you need a better reason than that?
