Good morning!

Happy Friday, my friend.

Speaking of cardiology office visits, I geek out talking with my patients about how they like to stay active. As you would guess, ‘gardening’ is a very common response this time of year. 

Well, that just makes my heart sing because gardening is a fantastic activity. 

It got me thinking, oh gardening, how I love thee, let me count the ways.

(I don’t get it, we weren’t talking about cardiology visits?!)

It makes us feel better – in this study from the Netherlands, they found that the group that spent 30 minutes gardening after a stressful activity reduced stress hormone levels (cortisol) much more than another relaxing activity, reading inside. Nature. Nature. Nature. (although if you are looking for a good book),

Improved diet: The best way to get our vitamins and fiber is straight from our food. People who garden tend to eat better than those who eat Taco Bell, I mean don’t garden. Fruits and vegetables are of course very Mediterranean diet-esque. We talked about the Mediterranean diet on these pages in ’23..

36% lower risk of Alzheimer’s dementia – growing tomatoes? seriously??

Vitamin D – Our skin produces the majority of Vitamin D for our body. Yes, you have to be careful. How much sun do we need? As you can imagine, there are a lot of variables. I liked the way this doctor describes it.

Yes, it IS great exercise! It’s like a long athletic game of Twister, only with weeds and rutabagas. Plus, none of those awkward Twister moments 

Social connection: These community gardens are a fantastic way to catch up, collaborate, and get to know each other. We all need each other and there are more and more studies every week showing there are big-time health benefits from us being together.

Do you like to share your vegetables with coworkers?

And if you’d like more reasons, here is a great meta-analysis on the health benefits of gardening.

Okay, I’ll think about it, how do I get started?

Here is the Better Homes and Gardens’ approach.

Maybe you want to start with container gardening?

Or my favorite, raised garden beds?

I hope you have a wonderful, green weekend.

david