Can living in an area with more vegetation and green space really help you live longer? According to this study the answer is yes!

This was a long term study done on nurses that lived across the United States. They filled out health questionnaires over the course of almost 10 years. The survey questions monitored many factors like smoking, weight, activity levels and overall health. The survey also had their address so satellite images were used to determine the amount of green area around where they lived.

This is an interesting study due to the amount of women in the study and the time they were followed for. It is also interesting because many of the women lived in urban areas so this doesn’t suggest you need to move to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to get the benefits of nature.

The results from the study show that the women with the most green space near their home and significantly lower causes of death from all causes and were strongest for respiratory and cancer deaths.

The reasons being near nature decreases these causes of death are many. For respiratory issues it is likely due to the fact that trees and plants filter the air and reduce the pollutants. As for the other causes of death the reasons are likely due to several different factors. In this study they pointed to other studies done that show being exposed to nature is a natural stress reliever. Stress weakens our body in many ways and can make us more vulnerable to any disease process.

This study only included women but the same benefits likely apply to men also as other studies have demonstrated.

The take away from this article is surround yourself with nature as much as possible. This can just mean getting out into a local park more often or even just increasing the amount of house plants you have.

We spent the vast majority of our existence in the outdoors. It is hard wired into our DNA. It is only very recently in human history that we spend the majority of our time inside man made building with artificial lighting.

So get out side and live longer!