In the countryside, on the beach or in the park: the benefits of contact with nature

Living in big cities can be good because of the broader job market, access to all kinds of services and products and the abundance of options for social life, but contact with nature, at some point, ends up being missed for the well-being. Academic studies prove that spending time in the countryside, on the beach or even in the park close to home is one of the best fuels for both mental and physical health.

We pooled the evidence from some of these studies. When is your next “escape” from the hustle and bustle? 🇧🇷

“Forest bath” reduces stress

A study at the University of Chiba, Japan, put the concept of “forest bathing” (Shinrin-yoku, in Japanese) to the test, which is nothing more than spending some time a week near trees to relax. In 24 different parts of the country, 280 volunteers (12 per location) spent a whole day in the midst of pollution and public transport, rested the next day and were sent to a park or forest on the third day of the experiment.

Both on the post-city rest day and the day after the forest bath, everyone had their cortisol (a stress-generated hormone), blood pressure, pulse and heart rate measured.

Results: after the forest bath, cortisol levels and blood pressure were lower and the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (which decreases adrenaline and blood sugar) was more pronounced in all volunteers when compared to the day after the day in the city.

The intention of the study is to convince Japanese companies to encourage their employees to adopt Shinrin-yoku as a preventive medicine strategy.

Contact with nature prolongs women’s lives

The non-accidental mortality rate of women who live in green areas/beach or frequent green areas/beach at least 6 hours a week is 12% lower than that of those who live in large centers and do not have frequent contact with nature . That’s the conclusion of a study of 108,000 women by Bigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston Hospital & Medical Center) in conjunction with Harvard University.

Nature improves memory

A memory test, two groups of students with 30 people of both sexes in each, a trip to the city center for one group and a trip to the forest for the other. This was the study done by the University of Michigan to see if the environment interferes with the ability to retain information.

It worked like this: all 60 students took a memory test. Then they were taken to the above mentioned places for one hour. On the way back, they redid the tests. Those who were in the forest achieved an average of 20% better results in the test, while those who went to the city center did not show any change in the results.

The researchers’ analysis was that urban environments “suck” our concentration because of the excess of stimuli (cars, lights, people) and natural ones relax neurotransmitters, reducing stress and boosting memory.

Seeking Nature Helps Cure Depression

In Australia, seven professors from the University of Queensland studied 1538 Brisbane residents, aged between 18 and 70, to understand the relationship between nature and mental health.

The numbers are impressive: for every 30 minutes a week of contact with nature, whether on the beach, in the countryside or in parks, treatments for people fighting depression showed 7% better results than those for those who only stay in the urban environment . This means that those who managed to stay three and a half hours a week in contact with nature, for example, had a benefit of almost 50% in the treatment against depression compared to those who stayed alone in the city in the same period.