Dr. Elizabeth Tully
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21Sep

5 Über Benefits of Gardening

Posted by: E Tully Categories: Gardening
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Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience. ~Pam Brown

Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience. ~Pam Brown

  5 BENEFITS OF GARDENING 

 

NONE OF WHICH

INVOLVE CATS

 

 

  •  Gardening Relieves Stress 

We all have ways of decompressing after a stressful day. If you thought watching TV or curling up with a good book is a great way to reduce stress, you might be surprised to learn that a 2011 study from the Netherlands¹ showed that Gardening beat reading as a stress reliever.  According to the Journal of Health Psychology, 30 minutes of gardening lead to a greater reduction of stress hormone (cortisol) than did 30 minutes of reading.  Gardening also increased a ‘positive mood’, where reading did not.

  • Exposure to Sunlight Increases Vitamin D levels

Your mother always told you to get more fresh air but she probably wasn’t aware of the myriad benefits of sunshine and vitamin D.  We now know that adequate vitamin D levels are paramount  to help prevent cancer, diabetes, depression and more.  The amount of vitamin D you absorb depends on how much skin is exposed, the time of day, the color of your skin and where you live.  The Vitamin D Council suggests “You only need to expose your skin for around half the time it takes for your skin to turn pink and begin to burn.”²  Doing some gardening in short sleeves before applying sunscreen can help increase your vitamin D levels.

  • Gardening Tasks Can Increase Fitness

The movements associated with gardening, like digging, planting and weeding  require stretching and strength yet are  low impact and can be done at an enjoyable pace.  Since gardening is goal oriented, many people find it easier to motivate themselves for the prize of a luscious tomato than for the abstract notion of improving blood flow or improving one’s grip.

  • Gardening Can Lower Your Risk of Dementia

An online article by CNN suggest that the physical activity needed for gardening can reduce one’s risk of dementia:

Two separate studies that followed people in their 60s and 70s for up to 16 years found, respectively, that those who gardened regularly had a 36% and 47% lower risk of dementia than non-gardeners, even when a range of other health factors were taken into account.

These findings are hardly definitive, but they suggest that the combination of physical and mental activity involved in gardening may have a positive influence on the mind.³

  • Gardening is a family activity

Gardening is a great way to spend time with children and give them an appreciation for nature.  Gardening helps children stay active, improve coordination and develop a work ethic.  You don’t have to read studies to understand that children are happy exploring the outdoors. Moreover, growing vegetables with your family can improve their diet, decrease obesity and increase their appreciation for whole natural foods.

 

WHAT’S IN YOUR GARDEN?

DSCN0724

 

1.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20522508

2. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/how-do-i-get-the-vitamin-d-my-body-needs/#

3. http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/08/why.gardening.good/

 

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24Aug

Why Knowing your Vitamin D Levels Might Save Your Life

Posted by: E Tully Categories: Nutrition Research
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NOT JUST FOR STRONG BONES

Can raising low vitamin D levels prevent disease and forestall untimely deaths?

Vitamin D has long been touted for keeping our bones mineralized and our skeletons strong, but did you know research shows that optimizing vitamin D can improve brain disorders, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease?   Other studies demonstrate its effect on depression, diabetes and cancer.  Cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s shorten the life span, sometimes dramatically.  Depression drives many people to suicide.

 

THE SUNSHINE VITAMIN SHINES

Are you absorbing your vitamins?

Traditionally called the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is produced in our bodies by a complex reaction that starts when ultraviolet light is absorbed by our skin.  Vitamin D deficiency is associated with rickets, a disease in which the bones do not mineralize properly.  This leads to soft bones and skeletal deformities.  When I was in school we were taught to look for the signs of rickets in younger patients. The stellar results of contemporary vitamin D research had not yet “shed light” on many modern maladies.

 

NOT WIDELY AVAILABLE FOR CONSUMPTION

No, a drive through fish sandwich doesn’t count!

Vitamin D is available in foods, such as fish, fish liver oils and egg yolks and certain fortified products such as milk.  If you don’t eat these foods regularly, and you don’t get outside as much as you should, vitamin D deficiency may be a problem.vitamin_d_foods

 

THREE D’s AND THE BIG C

 

1. Dementia

Recent research in the journal Neurology* (1) shows a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of getting dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.  In this study, seniors who had low vitamin D levels, increased their risk of dementia by 53% and their risk of Alzheimer’s by 70%.  Severely deficient subjects increased their risk of dementia by a whopping 120% and their risk of Alzheimer’s by a huge 125%.

2. Diabetes

If remembering your name in your old age is not enough to send you scurrying to the lab with your arm out, vitamin D levels have been shown to have an effect on diabetes.  A study in Nephrology News* (2) shows a link to vitamin D and prediabetes. Among the group studied supplementation with vitamin D decreased the risk of progressing to diabetes by 8%.

3. Depression

Studies indicate a link between vitamin D levels and depression*(3).  An eight year-long study at Rush University Medical Center*(4) show that depression and dementia are linked.  Those with higher levels of depression had greater risk of dementia later in life.  With depression and suicides on the rise, it would be shortsighted not to get a blood test to see if your vitamin D levels are normal.

4. Cancer

A 2007 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition*(5)  reported a reduction if all-cancer risk in menopausal women.  The statistics show a 77% reduction of cancer rates in women whose vitamin D levels were brought up to 40ng/ml.  This study makes us realize that you can’t just assume your vitamin D levels are adequate,  you must be tested in order to get results.  Other published studies, such as a 2011 report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, show a link to vitamin D levels and colorectal cancer*(6).

 

THE GRAND DESIGN

Our bodies were designed with a Grand Design for Health.  That design wakes us up in the morning and tells us to sleep at night.   Modern medicine has been very good at naming and studying all the things that can go wrong with the human body.  In recent years, they have begun to look at what keeps the Grand Design on track.  It looks like proper vitamin D levels is part of the Grand Design.

Get your vitamin D levels tested and improve your health.

 

 References:

1. http://www.neurology.org/content/early/2014/08/06/WNL.0000000000000755.abstract

2. http://www.nephrologynews.com/articles/110293-raising-low-vitamin-d-levels-lowers-risk-of-prediabetes-progressing-to-diabetes-in-study

3.  http://www.timesonline.com/aging/vitamin-d-might-help-fight-symptoms-of-depression/article_249dea15-71c6-5b64-b235-1f1462573d09.html

4. http://www.neurology.org/content/early/2014/07/30/WNL.0000000000000715.short?rss=1

5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17556697

6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21876081

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