How Nature Can Positively Benefit Mental and Physical Health

People often tell others to make sure they spend some time outdoors and parents make sure their kids play outside. Why is that? Let’s take a look at some of the research that led to this frequent advice. 

Impact of Nature of Physical Health

An emphasis on access to natural light and for “green spaces” to be prioritized for urban regions is more and more common. A study found how visibility of natural settings impacted physical health, specifically for patients recovering from gallbladder surgery. Patients who had access to a natural view had faster recovery rates, better nurse evaluations, needed less medication, and had less complications, compared to patients with an urban view (Ulrich, 1984). Another study by Ulrich showed that exposure to natural scenes lead to a response associated with recovery of physical energy (Ulrich et al., 1991).

Not only does a nature scene impact physical recovery, parts of nature, like plants, have components that promote health. Plants emit phytoncides, which are “antimicrobial volatile organic compounds,” that reduce blood pressure, have antibacterial and antifungal qualities, and boost immune functioning by increasing natural killer cells (Kuo, 2015).

In combination with the straightforward understanding of physical movement positively benefiting one’s physical health, walks in natural environments have been shown to lead to various physical benefits. Being in nature is associated with reductions in stress levels, depressive symptoms, and increased self-esteem (Taniguchi et al., 2022). The hormone Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which has anti-diabetic and osteoporosis preventative properties, increases after a forest walk (Kuo 2015).