Could your interest in seeds and gardening make you healthier?

People always talk about the health benefits of gardening - but what are they, and where is the evidence? Although, here at Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk), you'd only expect us to encourage you to shop for all manner of herb and vegetable seeds, they do make possible many wonderful dishes that expand your diet - from roast dinners to steaming casseroles and delectable salads. Plus, it's widely recognised just how positive an effect gardening can have on a person's physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

One of the most obvious benefits of gardening is that it really brings you closer to nature. In an age in which so many of us find our brains frazzled by constant exposure to computers and email, it's refreshing to get a little bit closer to a primal state by tending to the garden. Sifting your hands through the dirt and planting seeds from the extensive range stocked by ourselves can be very liberating, and it's even more rewarding to see the results sprout over time. Not only do you get to grow fresh, healthy produce, but you'll be moving around a lot and breathing in the fresh air, making you physically fitter and less stressed out.

For evidence of the stress-relieving properties of gardening, simply consider a study in the Netherlands a few years back, in which people were made to complete a stressful task before being divided into two groups of people. The instruction for one group of people was to read indoors, while gardening was the designated task for the other. Both of these activities are regarded as relaxing, and yet, after doing them for 30 minutes each, it was the people who gardened who reported being in a better mood than the reading group. Lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol were also evident.

One reason for gardening leaving such people in a much better mood was the effortless attention that it requires, in contrast to the kind of directed attention that the likes of mobile phones and emails demand. Such effortless attention may even help to remove symptoms of depression, as indicated by the results of a study conducted in Norway, in which people who had been diagnosed with depression, "bipolar II disorder" or persistent low mood grew flowers and vegetables for six hours a week. Their activities with vegetable and flower seeds left half of the participants with a measurable improvement in their depression symptoms after three months.

Gardening also helps as exercise, because although it is hardly hardcore weightlifting, it is a nonetheless pleasurable and goal-oriented activity that people are likely to do often, and also involves many different movements. There is even evidence that the physical activity that gardening involves could help to lower the risk of developing dementia. We could go on, but we are running out of space in today's blog - so let's just say that the health benefits of gardening are no myth, irrespective of whether you buy seeds from Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk)!

  

Editor’s Note: Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.