According to a study, gardening activities are equivalent to suggested weekly exercise goals for maintaining a good level of mental health
Researchers at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom conducted a study indicating that the practice of gardening can help improve people’s mental health.
To carry out the research, volunteers from the Together We Grow Garden project in Colchester were given equipment that is normally used on athletes to measure their performance.
This was done to monitor the oxygen levels, heart rate, and movement of the participants as they practice gardening-related tasks, taking into account how much energy is ultimately used in carrying out activities such as weeding, planting, watering, and digging, which is essential in the case of gardening.
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According to the doctor’s opinion. Robert Southall-Edwards, who leads the study, It was possible to note that activities involving gardening are equivalent to suggested weekly goals for exercise to maintain a good level of mental health, and are therefore an activity that can replace more common physical exercise because it requires a level of effort and energy expenditure. Quite similar to the physical activities performed in gyms, for example.
“This may encourage more people to pick up a shovel, watering can or shovel in their spare time and secure more funding for community projects,” Edwards said in a statement.
According to the researchers, the energy expended in practicing digging is similar to that in racing, while weeding and watering have energy expenditures comparable to riding a bike or training with dumbbells in the gym.
The result impressed Wayne Setford, founder of the Together We Grow Garden project, which promotes the spread of community gardens in the UK.
“If we make sure that gardening can be described as an activity that helps people stay active, we will be more likely to get financing from companies that finance sports and physical activities,” he says, predicting a possible greater interest in gardening on their part to keep people active, in addition to contributing In community and sustainability through less intensive farming, less use of pesticides and other technologies such as genetic manipulation of products, a common practice among large companies in this sector such as Monsanto, but which can have long-term harmful effects on the body of those who consume such foods.
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