TUESDAY, May 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) — A small urban garden can help your health, especially if the garden has fertile soil, a new study shows.
The researchers found that a month-long period of indoor gardening increased bacterial diversity on participants’ skin and appeared to improve their inflammatory response.
Researchers have suggested that growing, harvesting and consuming food produced in an urban garden every day could help city dwellers ward off disease.
The study’s lead author said: “The findings are important, as urbanization has led to a significant increase in immune-borne diseases, such as allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases, which has led to higher healthcare costs. We live very ‘clean’ in cities.” Mika Saarenpaa is a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
“We know that urbanization leads to reduced exposure to microbes, changes in the human microbiota, and increased risk of immunological diseases,” Sarenpaa added in a university press release. “This is the first time we can show that significant, natural human activity can increase the diversity of the microbiota in healthy adults and, at the same time, contribute to the regulation of the immune system.”
In this study, participants planted gardens on regular farms, using plants purchased off the store shelf. Crops included peas, beans, mustards and salads.
One group of 15 people planted gardens in microbe-rich natural soil, while another group of 13 people planted gardens in microbe-poor peat soil.
The researchers said that peat is the most widely used growing medium in the world.
However, people in the control group had no improvement in inflammatory response or skin bacteria, suggesting that peat-based gardening does not provide the health benefits of gardening in diverse forest soils.
The improvements among people working in rich soils could theoretically lead to better health through improved immune response to disease, the researchers said.
The new study appears in the latest issue of Environment International.
“If gardening becomes a hobby, it can be assumed that the regulation of the immune system becomes more and more continuous,” Saarenpaa said.
Based on these findings, Sarenpaa said schools and parents should consider having their children plant rich soil in gardens, because immune system development is most active in childhood.
“My research underscores the dependence of our health on the diversity of nature and soils in particular,” Saarenpaa said. “We are one species among others, and our health depends on a range of other species. Ideally, urban areas should also have a diverse natural environment so that health-benefiting microbial exposure does not have to be sought in specially designed products.”
more information
Mayo Clinic offers more information about the health benefits of gardening.
Source: University of Helsinki, press release, 23 May 2024
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