February 3, 2023 – Despite the boom in wellness culture in recent times, Americans proceed to struggle to keep up a healthy lifestyle long-term. We have more options than ever before, but something still isn't working.
According to the CDC, six out of 10 Americans suffer from diet-related chronic diseases – heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and kind 2 diabetes – most of that are preventable through healthy eating and regular exercise.
So possibly it's time to think creatively and become involved yourself.
For years, Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) leaders knew what number of health advantages got here from planting seeds and tending crops, but they’d no real option to measure it scientifically. From 2017 to 2019, environmental health expert Dr. Jill Litt and her colleagues on the University of Colorado Boulder studied 37 DUG-run community gardens in Colorado to see if gardening could reduce common health risks related to diet-related chronic diseases.
The randomized controlled trial – the gold standard for measuring the effectiveness of recent interventions – found that these novice gardeners saw significant increases of their fiber intake and time spent doing moderate to vigorous physical activity. The researchers also found an overall decrease in anxiety among the many gardeners, particularly amongst those that began this system with higher stress levels.
The garden, says Litt, is an answer that represents a conscious departure from medicine.
“This saves you from having to point the finger at your doctor and tell you that you need to lose weight and eat better because we know that won't change your behavior,” says Litt.
The garden also provides a social element, which is crucial for many who wish to spend time with others while working but aren't excited by Soul Cycle or Barry's Bootcamp.
Doug Wooley, 42, suffers from spina bifida, a congenital spinal defect that may result in physical disabilities. He has been gardening for ten years, lots of which have been spent on the Denver Urban Gardens.
Wooley uses walkers and other mobility aids. As a baby, he hated going to physical therapy. Staring at the identical 4 partitions and medical posters week after week and having little social contact was not a very motivating environment, he says.
“When I go out into the garden, I’m essentially doing all the things I did in physical therapy, only it’s exciting and fun,” Wooley says.
And along with the advantages when it comes to mobility, he has the additional advantage of having the ability to watch his plants grow, construct a reference to the food he eats, and share that have with a gaggle of individuals doing the identical.
Litt sees a vibrant future for gardening as a life-style intervention, but hopes the discussion can move away from the give attention to weight and obesity. In her view, going to the doctor, stepping on a scale and realizing you're obese doesn't solve core problems.
“I would like to see us focus on the building blocks of a healthy and active life,” Litt says. “And if you have a larger build, that's fine, too. But let's work together to figure out how to eat well, create some balance and reduce stress. Maybe those things together will create the cocktail we need.”