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The Stress Diminishing Benefits of Gardening Outdoors
Aside from the natural Vitamin D that you likely think of when enjoying outdoor gardening, there are other benefits of gardening outdoors which can diminish your stress levels and help you live a longer, healthier life. Vitamin D is produced in your body by sunlight and can help protect you from certain cancers and heart disease linked to stress. But, there are other elements in the activity of outdoor gardening that can plan an important part in exposing your body to beneficial vitamins and minerals. The exercise you get from gardening helps to increase your bone strength and provide you with a healthy immune system that’s better able to fight…
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Raise Your Serotonin Levels and Decrease Stress By Digging in the Dirt
In his book, Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv writes about how we have been harmed by living lives that are no longer connected with nature. What Louv refers to as “nature deficit disorder” is linked to obesity, attention disorders, and depression. In fact, scientists have discovered that you can raise your serotonin levels and decrease stress by digging in the dirt. The scientific term for healthful bacteria that soil contains is Mycobacterium vaccae – a non-pathogenic form of bacteria found naturally in dirt. This amazing form of bacteria can increase serotonin levels that keep your mood upbeat and help reduce allergies and other physical disorders which arise…