While there’s a pill for everything, scientists out of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare have found just spending time in nature reduced subjects’ need for commonly prescribed drugs.
The scientists, who published their findings in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, noted conditions including high blood pressure, asthma, insomnia, and even anxiety and depression could be improved just by getting a load of Mother Nature.
Exposure to so-called green and blue spaces — that is, respectively, forests, fields and the like, and beaches, rivers and streams — had an overwhelmingly positive effect on people, compared to those who don’t visit the great outdoors.
The scientists noted it was an observational study tracking the responses of tens of thousands of people, so a direct “cause and effect” will need further study.
That said, those who visited such green or blue spaces three or four times a week were associated with lower odds of using psychotropic medication, high blood pressure meds and medication to treat asthma versus those who did not.
The researchers concluded this study and others should lead city planners to “increase the supply of high-quality green spaces in urban environments and promote their active use” as one way to “improve health and welfare in cities.”