Gardening is good for you

In the first of his new factual column on the benefits of gardening, Dr Richard Claxton uncovers all the evidence-based ways it can help your physical health.

- VICKI TURNER

Gardeners know it, and the research evidence is convincing: gardening is good for you in so many ways. A 2003 Dutch study showed that for every ten per cent increase in regular exposure to gardens or green space, there is a health improvement equivalent to being five years younger. I can't think of any drug that could make such a claim, and if there were such a thing, people would be queuing up to take it.

More than half the UK population are gardeners, and this figure rises as we get older, so it follows that gardening can therefore be beneficial to the health of our ageing population. But we don't need to wait until we're a certain age: school garden projects have shown an impact that can lay the foundations for a healthy life.

Fit, strong and happy

Many studies have shown that gardeners are more physically active than non-gardeners, and a 2018 systematic review confirmed that gardening causes falls in blood pressure, heart rate and body mass index, which protect us from stroke, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, cancers and other diseases.

So how do these benefits actually work? Let's start with the bones: gardening can maintain mobility, and physical exercise is known to enhance bone density and protect against osteoporosis. Stronger bones mean fewer fractures, and bones are also protected by the healthier levels of vitamin D seen in gardeners. This is metabolised into its active form by sun exposure on the skin. And vitamin D has other benefits: reduced levels make us feel low in mood and fatigued indeed weakness of the muscles is a symptom of vitamin D deficiency.