Hug a Houseplant for Health

 
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It’s great to see more summer green outside. But scientists say we should bring that green in year-round for all sorts of health and wellness benefits. Given the importance of sound science over the past COVID year, let’s see what researchers say about the benefits of the humble houseplant:

  • The Journal of Physiological Anthropology reports that plants in your home or office can make you feel more comfortable, soothed, and natural. Looking after a plant indoors lowered stress-related factors like blood pressure and heart rate which completing a short computer-based task increased.

  • Brain scan studies have shown that real plants in the environment may increase focus and concentration—and, no, the brain isn’t fooled by fake plants.

  • BJPsych International site  is saying that ‘indoor horticulture’ can be therapeutic with studies showing improvement in conditions like depression, anxiety, and dementia. (In some England clinics patients are getting ‘prescriptions’ for potted plants.)

  • Hospital-based research has found that patients recovering from surgery needed less pain medication and recovery time when they had plants and natural settings in their environment.

  • Workplace studies consistently found live plants in the environment reduced stress and sick time, and improved productivity and creativity.

  • More workplace research with over 440 Amazon staff in India and the US found that natural elements like plants were associated with higher job satisfaction and workplace commitment and with helping ‘to buffer the effects of job stress and anxiety.’

  • Even NASA is onto plants. In the 1980s, NASA studied the benefits of phytoremediation or ‘plants scrubbing contaminants from the air’ in space capsules. Subsequent research is suggesting that modern technologies like biofilters may be more compact solutions for space capsule purposes but for your home or workspace consider adding some green friends to help purify the air.

    TIP: If all these benefits have you heading for the plant store, ‘science’ says these houseplants have the most ‘phytoremediation’ benefits:  Areca, Lady, Dwarf Date, and Bamboo Palms; Boston fern; Rubber tree; Spider plant; Ficus tree. Enjoy!

    (Source: www.healthline.com/health/healthy-home-guide/benefits-of-indoor-plants)