The Health Benefits of Nature On Our Well-Being

Through research and study, we are discovering that being outdoors provides huge

benefits and positively impacts our well being for a physical as well as a mental aspect. This is

an such an interesting topic to dig into. There is so much to uncover. The positive effects not

only impact adults but children as well. It is very important for people to understand the effect

that nature can have on us because it is such a simple act. It is so easy to take a walk in the park

or go on a hike. The positives include a boost to your immune system. There are studies that

show nature and being outdoors provides positive impact for those children suffering from

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This

topic interests me because I am an avid outdoorsman. I want to further educate myself about the

health benefits that coincide with being active in an outdoor setting.

Improving our health and well being is easy and right outside all of our doors. A simple

ten minute walk can help alleviate stress and can even help boost the immune system, and

obtaining the appropriate amount of sunlight can reduce the risk of cardiovascular issues (​Weller,

R. B., 2016​). High blood pressure is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease throughout the

world. The referenced article discusses and explains that constant exposure to nature and more

importantly sunlight has a positive effect on lowering blood pressure. “Epidemiological data

show correlation between increased sun exposure and reduced blood pressure amongst the

population which decrease cardiovascular mortality” (​Weller, R. B., 2016​). Exposing yourself to

the outdoors and being in nature can provide so many health benefits without having to use

supplements, like vitamin C, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, etc. Regular consumption of Vitamin D in

pill form may not help or may show little to no positive response to those with with
cardiovascular problems, “yet multiple trial data points show that oral vitamin D supplements

have no effect on these endpoints.” (​Weller, R. B., 2016, p. 2​).

Exposure to the outdoors is a really great way to boost your blood cell counts, especially

your white blood cells. Plants give off certain chemicals. When we breathe in those chemicals

there is a boost in our white blood cell count. The author states, “​While we breathe in the fresh

air, we breathe in phytoncides, airborne chemicals that plants give off to protect themselves from

insects. Phytoncides have antibacterial and antifungal qualities which help plants fight disease.

When people breathe in these chemicals, our bodies respond by increasing the number and

activity of a type of white blood cell…” (​Li, Q., Nakadai, A., et al., 2006, p. 2​). These chemicals

are also known to destroy the bad cells that can inhabit our bodies. In one certain part of the

article it says, “these cells kill tumor and virus infected cells in our bodies” (​Li, Q., Nakadai, A.,

et al., 2006, p. 2​). Enjoying nature and being outside are two of the easiest ways to become

healthier as well as maintain your health.

There are health benefits of being in nature and the amazing thing is that nature does not

discriminate based on age. Both young and old can take advantage of what our world has to

offer. ​The issue at hand is that the majority of the people, young and old, take little advantage of

going outside much and immersing themselves in nature. ​By engrossing yourself in nature there

is a distinct possibility that you will see positive improvements in the following bodily functions.

Your mental health will strengthen. You will boost your immune system and lower your risk of

illness. Your stress and anxiety levels will decrease. It has even been shown that being outdoors

can help one focus better.

 It seems as though children are increasingly inactive. “It is clear that kids spend

significantly more time inside than out. This seems to be a result of technology. The average

American child is said to spend four to seven a day in unstructured play outdoors and over seven

hours a day in front of a screen” (Choen, D., 2018, p. 1) Children play video games on game

consoles and their phones more time than not. I can speak to the fact that a large percentage of

my friends would rather stay inside and play video games and watch television than be outside

fishing, hunting, playing sports, etc. I feel like I am in the minority. I personally feel tired,

sluggish and bored when I am confined inside for an extended period of time. I love being

outside and I personally feel healthier and refreshed when i can be outdoors on a consistent basis.

The majority of the workforce spends most of their time inside. Being inside for an

extended period of time is known to cause stress and many of the day’s most stressful tasks

occur at work (Dreyer, B.C., ​et al., 2018, p. 1​). T

​ his seems to be the new normal. It is proven

that having something as a simple as access to a window view inside of an office can provide

like benefits to being outside and improve well being ​(Dreyer, B.C., ​et al., 2018, p. 2​).​ We tend

to see lower stress levels and decreased anxiety. It is also proven that people are more productive

in the workplace when they have a window to look out of rather than not having a dark, dingy

workspace (​ Dreyer, B.C., ​et al., 2018, p. 3​)​. More and more architects/builders are designing

and constructing buildings are that environmentally friendly. This means that they building

structures that have more windows and an increased amount of living organisms. These

structures are ​environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a building’s

life-cycle from design to, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction
The result is an overall happier workplace with lower stress and anxiety levels ​(Dreyer, B.C., e​ t

al., 2018, p. 3​).

Recently scientists have starting looking at the psychological effect of and inactive

lifestyle on preschool age kids. The study focused on how being outside can help them

physically and mentally. Today's more urban environment is hurting the children of our

generation. They are becoming disconnected from the outside world. “The urban environment

has been criticized for promoting ‘nature-deficit’ and ‘child-nature disconnectedness” (Sobko,

T., et al​, ​2018, p. 1​).​ This article discussed how the urban environment is causing problems for

young kids such as childhood obesity and lack of social skills. Increased outdoor activity during

recess is benefiting these preschool age kids both mentally and physically. xxx

It is possible that being in nature can help kids that suffer from ADD and ADHD. While

experiencing the outdoors it is proven that these kids can keep focused and stay better

concentrated. I have experienced this first hand. I have a friend that suffers from ADHD. When

he is stuck inside he has and increase in his ADHD symptoms but when he is outside enjoying

the outdoors his ADHD symptoms lessen almost immediately. G

​ reen outdoor settings appear to

reduce ADHD symptoms in children across a wide range of individual, residential, and case

characteristics (Kuo, F.E., et al., 2004)​.​ As I dove deeper into this article I found it interesting

that after school or weekend activities that are outdoors greatly reduce symptoms and are a

possible treatment for ADD and ADHD (Kuo, F.E., et al., 2004). This suggests that common

after school and weekend activities conducted in relatively natural outdoor environments may be

widely effective in reducing ADHD symptoms. In five, ten or twenty years might we see that

prescription medication in treating ADD and ADHD are a thing of the past?
 Nature and the outdoors is a great way to keep yourself healthy both mentally and

physically. It appears that is also a great way to cope and possibly treat those with ADD and

ADHD. Optimal views such as natural light exposure along with good greenhouse environments

such as living organisms can help alleviate stress and anxiety in the workplace. Small changes

such as those above can increase productivity and also boost the social environment in the

workplace. We have see a rise in an inactive lifestyle in both children and adults. We don’t

partake in outside activities and it is shown that we would rather be inside. The result is an

increase in obesity and the decrease of physical and mental well being which is a huge problem.

Sunlight exposure and being in nature, which are both free, help keep our mind and body healthy

without the use of prescription medications.

 References

Dreyer, B. C., Coulombe, S., Whitney, S., Riemer, M., & Labbé, D. (2018). Beyond Exposure to

Outdoor Nature: Exploration of the Benefits of a Green Building’s Indoor Environment

on Wellbeing. ​Frontiers in Psychology, 9​. ​https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01583

Kuo, F. E., & Faber Taylor, A. (2004). A potential natural treatment for

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study. ​American journal

of public health​, ​94​(9), 1580-1586. Retrieved from

https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.94.9.1580

Holick, M. F. (2016). Biological effects of sunlight, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, infrared

radiation and vitamin D for health. A

​ nticancer research​, ​36​(3), 1345-1356. R
​ etrieved

from h​ ttp://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/36/3/1345.full.pdf+html

Sobko, T., Jia, Z., & Brown, G. (2018). Measuring connectedness to nature in preschool children

in an urban setting and its relation to psychological functioning. ​PloS one​,​13​(11),

e0207057. R
​ etrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6264829/pdf/pone.0207057.pdf

Weller, R. B. (2016). Sunlight has cardiovascular benefits independently of vitamin D. ​Blood

purification​, ​41​(1-3), 130-134. Retrieved from

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/441266

Li, Q., Nakadai, A., Matsushima, H., Miyazaki, Y., Krensky, A. M., Kawada, T., & Morimoto,

K. (2006). Phytoncides (wood essential oils) induce human natural killer cell

activity.​Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology​, ​28​(2), 319-333. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16873099
Cohen, D. (2019). Why Kids Need to Spend Time in Nature. Retrieved May 25, 2019, from

https://childmind.org/article/why-kids-need-to-spend-time-in-nature/

Dreyer, B. C., Coulombe, S., Whitney, S., Riemer, M., & Labbé, D. (2018). Beyond exposure to

outdoor nature: Exploration of the benefits of a green building’s indoor environment on

wellbeing. F
​ rontiers in Psychology​, ​9​. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30214420

Sobko, T., Jia, Z., & Brown, G. (2018). Measuring connectedness to nature in preschool children

in an urban setting and its relation to psychological functioning. ​PloS one​,​13​(11),

e0207057. Retrieved from

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0207057