Remember Nature

                                           Nature Pictures
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The idea that spending time in nature can make you feel better is intuitive. We all feel this to be true, and many of us have anecdotes of our own or from friends or family that support that idea. People who have been suffering from stress, sickness, or a trauma can spend quiet contemplative time in gardens or taken to the mountains or woods to heal. But nature is not just wilderness. The benefits of nature can also be found in our communities’ parks and green spaces.  

Researchers are amassing a body of evidence, proving what we all know to be true: nature is good for us and has both long and short term mental and physical health benefits.

Below you’ll find hundreds of free research studies, news articles, and case studies, organized by adult and children health topics

                          
According to Dr. Roger S. Ulrich, Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M and member of The Center for Healthcare Design, demands on our health-care system are increasing across the board. The U.S. population is growing older. At the same time, there's a push for both lower costs and increased quality.
 How Nature Helps
Dr. Ulrich’s famous study published in  Science  showed that patients with views of trees in their rooms had much shorter post-operative stays than others in the study that had views of brick walls. He also states that designing hospitals so that patients have access to nature and other positive distractions will reduce their recovery time. 

Further research published in Psychosomatic Medicine show that access to natural light in post-operative patients reduces their use of pain medicine and their recovery time.
 

                          

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number one cause of death in the United States isheart disease, resulting in one in four deaths or 26.5 million Americans per year. Annually, heart disease costs Americans $108.9 billion in health care and lost productivity. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects 68 million Americans, which is one in three individuals. The annual cost in the United States is $3.5 billion in lost productivity and $47.5 billion in health costs.

How Nature Helps

According to a study published in the International Journal of Health Research, exercising outside has greater health benefits than exercising inside or in a typically urban setting. The research revealed that people engaging in “green exercise” were shown to have lower blood pressure, higher self esteem, and improved mood compared to indoor exercisers. 

Regular cardiovascular exercise helps us keep our hearts and circulatory systems strong and healthy. Cities designed with safe sidewalks and bicycle lanes encourages us to go outside and engage in routine exercise, whether it’s walking to the corner store or riding your bike to work.