Get more exercise. Eat right. Make latest friends.
As we compile our lists of resolutions aimed toward improving physical and mental health in 2023, latest CU Boulder research suggests one addition could have a strong impact: Gardening.
Funded by the American Cancer Society, the first-ever, randomized, controlled trial of community gardening found that those that began gardening ate more fiber and got more physical activity-;two known ways to cut back risk of cancer and chronic diseases. In addition they saw their levels of stress and anxiety significantly decrease.
The findings were published Jan. 4 within the journal Lancet Planetary Health.
These findings provide concrete evidence that community gardening could play a crucial role in stopping cancer, chronic diseases and mental health disorders.”
Jill Litt, senior writer, professor within the Department of Environmental Studies at CU Boulder
Filling the research gap
Litt has spent much of her profession in search of to discover reasonably priced, scalable and sustainable ways to cut back disease risk, especially amongst low-income communities.
Gardening seemed a super place to start out.
“Irrespective of where you go, people say there’s just something about gardening that makes them feel higher,” said Litt, who can be a researcher with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.
But solid science on its advantages is tough to come back by. Without evidence, it’s hard to get support for brand new programs, she said.
Some small observational studies have found that individuals who garden are inclined to eat more vegatables and fruits and have a healthier weight. But it surely has been unclear whether healthier people just are inclined to garden, or gardening influences health.
Only three studies have applied the gold standard of scientific research, the randomized controlled trial, to the pastime. None have looked specifically at community gardening.
To fill the gap, Litt recruited 291 non-gardening adults, average age of 41, from the Denver area. Greater than a 3rd were Hispanic and greater than half got here from low-income households.
After the last spring frost, half were assigned to the community gardening group and half to a control group that was asked to attend one 12 months to start out gardening.
The gardening group received a free community garden plot, some seeds and seedlings, and an introductory gardening course through the nonprofit Denver Urban Gardens program and a study partner.
Each groups took periodic surveys about their dietary intake and mental health, underwent body measurements and wore activity monitors.
A fiber boost
By fall, those within the gardening group were eating, on average, 1.4 grams more fiber per day than the control group-;a rise of about 7%.
The authors note that fiber exerts a profound effect on inflammatory and immune responses, influencing the whole lot from how we metabolize food to how healthy our gut microbiome is to how susceptible we’re to diabetes and certain cancers.
While doctors recommend about 25 to 38 grams of fiber per day, the typical adult consumes lower than 16 grams.
“A rise of 1 gram of fiber can have large, positive effects on health,” said co-author James Hebert, director of University of South Carolina’s cancer prevention and control program.
The gardening group also increased their physical activity levels by about 42 minutes per week. Public health agencies recommend not less than 150 minutes of physical activity per week, a advice only 1 / 4 of the U.S. population meets. With just two to 3 visits to the community garden weekly, participants met 28% of that requirement.
Study participants also saw their stress and anxiety levels decrease, with those that got here into the study most stressed and anxious seeing the best reduction in mental health issues.
The study also confirmed that even novice gardeners can reap measurable health advantages of the pastime of their first season. As they’ve more experience and revel in greater yields, Litt suspects such advantages will increase.
Blooming relationships
The study results don’t surprise Linda Appel Lipsius, executive director of Denver Urban Gardens (DUG), a 43-year-old nonprofit that helps about 18,000 people annually grow their very own food in community garden plots.
“It’s transformational, even life-saving, for thus many individuals,” Lipsius said.
Many DUG participants live in areas where access to reasonably priced fresh vegatables and fruits is otherwise extremely limited. Some are low-income immigrants now living in apartments-;having a garden plot allows them to grow food from their home country and pass on traditional recipes to their family and neighbors.
The social connection can be huge.
“Even should you come to the garden trying to grow your food on your personal in a quiet place, you begin to take a look at your neighbor’s plot and share techniques and recipes, and over time relationships bloom,” said Litt, noting that while gardening alone is nice for you, gardening in community could have additional advantages. “It isn’t just in regards to the vegatables and fruits. It is also about being in a natural space outdoors along with others.”
Litt said she hopes the findings will encourage health professionals, policymakers and land planners to look to community gardens, and other spaces that encourage people to come back together in nature, as an important a part of the general public health system. The evidence is obvious, she said.
Gardening works.
Researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado State University and Michigan State University also contributed to this study.
Source:
University of Colorado Boulder
Journal reference:
Litt, J.S., et al. (2023) Effects of a community gardening intervention on food regimen, physical activity, and anthropometry outcomes within the USA (CAPS): an observer-blind, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Planetary Health. doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00303-5.