7 Benefits of Gardening That Help Your Mind and Body

There’s more to gardening than just making your house look good. Caring for plants and flowers can do wonders for your wellbeing, and the physical exercise can contribute to healthy weight loss, and reduce your blood pressure. It can soothe anxiety, and improve your mood too.

So with spring on the way, what better way to enjoy your garden log cabin, than sitting back at the end of the day in a beautiful garden and look over your hard work.

1. Gardening burns a lot of calories.
   Gardening is considered to be moderate-intensity exercise, even just an hour of light gardening can burn up to 330 calories, which is more than walking at a moderate pace for an hour. Men and women who regularly roll up their sleeves and get busy in the garden have significantly lower BMIs (body mass index).
   
2. It can lower your blood pressure.
   Just 30 minutes of moderate-level physical activity most days of the week can prevent and control high blood pressure.
3. Spending time outside is good for your bones.
   When you're outdoors and your skin is exposed to the sun, it prompts your body to make vitamin D. This vitamin helps your body absorb calcium, a mineral essential for bone formation. You should always still apply sunscreen if you're planning on spending more than a few minutes in the sun to lower your risk of skin cancer.
4. Growing your own food can help you eat healthier.
   Besides the physical exercise, you'll get tending to a vegetable garden, a productive plot can also promote a better diet by supplying fresh, healthy produce. What could be better than getting your 5-a-day from fruits and vegetables that you have grown yourself?
5. Gardening can relieve stress.
   Gardening has been linked to reducing depression and anxiety, to the point that it has been used as a type of rehabilitation for people recovering from injury, surgery, strokes, and many other conditions. Not only does it give people control over a situation when they might feel helpless, but it also teaches them a new skill that can restore confidence.
6. It can provide a source of community.
   It need not be a solitary activity. Even if your family or partner is not interested or unable to help in the garden, there are many allotment sites in the UK with their own community.People who toil in allotment gardens have significantly better self-esteem, mood, and general health compared to those who did not garden.
7. Gardening can make you happier.
   The act of growing plants may also help boost your mood. It can change your outlook on life, and it will increase your quality of life. Growing something green and alive is a hopeful act to commit to and gives you faith in the future.

At the end of the day, once all the hard work is done, then that’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour. Pull up a chair outside your garden log cabin and relax!