Time Spent in Nature Is Good for You

Research has repeatedly suggested that spending time in natural environments improves mental and physical well-being. Now, scientists are gathering the data needed to incorporate this phenomenon in health-care guidelines.

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ABOVE: © UNSPLASH, David Narcu

Mathew White is on a mission to garner Mother Nature the respect he thinks she deserves when it comes to human health. For decades, scientists and health-care professionals have recognized that exposure to green spaces, such as public parks or forests, is linked with lower risks of all sorts of ailments common in the developed world—including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and mental distress—and even of mortality. Experimental work has demonstrated myriad physiological responses that occur when people spend time in natural environments: blood pressure drops, heart rate decreases, immune function improves, and the parasympathetic nervous system directs the body to rest and digest.

As humans increasingly populate urbanized areas, they are spending less and less time in natural environments—perhaps to the detriment of their health. But before doctors can start advising their patients to head to the nearest park, there is an important outstanding question, ...

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Meet the Author

  • Jef Akst

    Jef Akst was managing editor of The Scientist, where she started as an intern in 2009 after receiving a master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses.

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