BY SANDRA GUY
Let’s admit it. We’ve all run, silently screaming, out of the condo, apartment or house just to get some fresh air — even through our masks.
Just take a long, relaxing breath, even if you can see your breath in the cold (that can be fun, actually). Walk briskly, even if it’s on a muddy sidewalk. Let the holiday lights brighten your mood. Aren’t your neighbors keeping their lights up as we wait out the pandemic? Experience the calm that comes from seeing grass and the sky.
It’s not your imagination.
Research has found evidence that spending time in nature can protect against a startling range of issues, including obesity, diabetes, depression, ADHD and cardiovascular disease.
That’s especially important since a recent study showed that 74 percent of U.S. adults are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes nearly 43 percent who are obese — who have a body mass index of 30 or higher — and another 31 percent who are overweight, with a BMI of 25 to 29.9. BMI is a measurement of body fatness and can help tell if a person’s weight is healthy.
After reviewing hundreds of studies examining nature’s effects on health, University of Illinois environment and behavior researcher Ming Kuo said she believes the answer lies in nature’s ability to enhance the functioning of the body’s immune system.
“I pulled every bit of the research in this area together that I could find, and was surprised to realize I could trace as many as 21 possible pathways between nature and good health — and even more surprised to realize that all but two of the pathways shared a single common denominator,” said Kuo, director of the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“The realization that there are so many pathways helps explain not only how nature promotes health, but also why nature has such huge, broad effects on health,” she said in a news release.
“Nature doesn’t just have one or two active ingredients. It’s more like a multivitamin that provides us with all sorts of the nutrients we need,” said Kuo, who is a contributing author of a free e-book on the subject, The Natural World as a Resource for Learning and Development: From Schoolyards to Wilderness.
“That’s how nature can protect us from all these different kinds of diseases — cardiovascular, respiratory, mental health, musculoskeletal, etc. — simultaneously,” she said.
Other research in the e-book by Rachel Szczytko of North Carolina State University, showed that outdoor learning can improve attention span and decrease disruptive behaviors in children with emotional, cognitive and behavioral disabilities.
Separately, scientists have surmised that breathing in phytoncides — airborne chemicals that plants produce —increases our levels of white blood cells, helping us fight off infections and diseases.
Research also has shown that natural scents such as roses, pine and soils can make people feel calmer. And Vitamin D from sunlight, even in the wintertime, has long been known to help the body’s calcium absorption. Sunlight, too, can brighten mood and boost alertness.