Scientists Have Discovered That Living Near Trees Is Good For Your Health
I have always been fascinated by nature and one of my greatest wishes is to live in a small retreat house in the forests or mountains. I have always felt this way about nature since I was young… it is a deep longing that has always been within me.
One of the concepts behind the building of Kechara Forest Retreat is to allow more people to spend time in Nature amidst the trees and greens, especially for people who work long hours in the office and have to stare at their computer screens.
We see trees almost everywhere we go but many of us may not realize that trees play a very important role in keeping our environment fresh and clean. What we may also not realize is that if we do not “help” trees keep our environment clean, there is no other way that we can obtain fresh air.
Yes, trees are very beneficial and valuable, and we should be planting more trees instead of cutting and destroying them. Trees also help balance an ecosystem by providing a habitat and food for birds and other animals. They are the creations of Mother Nature and if we do not take care of them, who will? The environment will slowly deteriorate and I don’t think any of us want a smoky, dirty and dark environment for the next generation of people.
I hope you enjoy this article and decide to make a positive change, before it’s too late.
Tsem Rinpoche
Scientists Have Discovered That Living Near Trees Is Good For Your Health
By Chris Mooney
People relax in the shadow of the trees flanking an alley at the ‘Parc Royal’ in Brussels. (STEPHANIE LECO/European Pressphoto Agency)
In a new paper published Thursday, a team of researchers present a compelling case for why urban neighborhoods filled with trees are better for your physical health. The research appeared in the open access journal Scientific Reports.
The large study builds on a body of prior research showing the cognitive and psychological benefits of nature scenery — but also goes farther in actually beginning to quantify just how much an addition of trees in a neighborhood enhances health outcomes. The researchers, led by psychologist Omid Kardan of the University of Chicago, were able to do so because they were working with a vast dataset of public, urban trees kept by the city of Toronto — some 530,000 of them, categorized by species, location, and tree diameter — supplemented by satellite measurements of non-public green space (for instance, trees in a person’s back yard).
They also had the health records for over 30,000 Toronto residents, reporting not only individual self-perceptions of health but also heart conditions, prevalence of cancer, diabetes, mental health problems and much more.
“Controlling for income, age and education, we found a significant independent effect of trees on the street on health,” said Marc Berman, a co-author of the study and also a psychologist at the University of Chicago. “It seemed like the effect was strongest for the public [trees]. Not to say the other trees don’t have an impact, but we found stronger effects for the trees on the street.”
Indeed, given the large size of the study, the researchers were able to compare the beneficial effect of trees in a neighborhood to other well-known demographic factors that are related to improved health, such as age and wealth. Thus, they found that “having 10 more trees in a city block, on average, improves health perception in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $10,000 and moving to a neighborhood with $10,000 higher median income or being 7 years younger.” (Berman notes that self-perception of health is admittedly subjective, but adds that it “correlates pretty strongly with the objective health measures” the study considered.)
Indeed, the finding wasn’t limited to self-perceived health. For cardio-metabolic conditions — a category that includes not only heart disease but stroke, diabetes, obesity and more — the study similarly found that an increase of 11 trees per city block was “comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $20,000 and moving to a neighborhood with $20,000 higher median income or being 1.4 years younger.”
The results are powerful because of the size of the study, however, because they are “correlational,” as scientists put it, they cannot definitively identify the precise mechanism by which trees seem to improve health. However, there are some obvious possibilities, including one explanation that seems likely to at least partly account for the results. This is that trees are known to improve urban air quality by pulling ozone, particulates, and other pollutants into their leaves and out of the air, and thus, partly protecting people from them.
But that’s not the only possible explanation. Others, says Berman, include stress reduction that comes from being around greenery — a mental effect that translates into physical benefits — or the possibility that being around trees somehow increases one’s propensity to exercise. He also suggests that air quality improvement alone may not be able to explain why people subjectively perceive their health to be better when they live around more trees, in addition to the improvements seen in other health measures — implying a possible psychological factor.
“People have sort of neglected the psychological benefits of the environment,” said Berman. “And I think that’s sort of gotten reinvigorated now, with these kinds of studies.” Particularly beneficial to the research has been the availability of satellite techniques to precisely quantify the amount of green space in a given residential area, he said – and the ability to combine that kind of data with large health databases.
It’s important to note that while the research was conducted based on data from the city of Toronto — which being in Canada, its citizens have universal health care — that is not necessarily a problem, as health disparities still exist in Toronto. “Canadians with lower incomes and fewer years of schooling visit specialists at a lower rate than those with moderate or high incomes and higher levels of education despite the existence of universal health care,” the study notes.
One interesting finding — that street trees seemed to have a more beneficial effect than private or backyard trees — may be explained by the fact that they are “more accessible to all residents in a given neighborhood,” the paper notes.
The researchers are not shy about using these results to make policy prescriptions — they think it would be well worth the cost to plant more urban trees. “Ten more trees in every block is about [a] 4% increase in street tree density in a dissemination area in Toronto, which seems to be logistically feasible,” the study notes.
“I’d feel pretty confident to say to a municipality, increase the number of trees by 10″ per block, said Berman.
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I personally find that I feel more fresh when wake up to the greens. When you breathe in and out slowly, you can feel the fresh air that is going into your body. It also makes your body calm and relax. So, it is not surprising that living near tree is good for our health.
Thank you very much Rinpoche and blog team for sharing something that is good for the body, mind and soul 😍🌈🌳🌻🐇🐈🌞☀️🍄🐿
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article. I personally find that I feel more fresh when wake up to the greens. When you breathe in and out slowly, you can feel the fresh air that is going into your body. It also makes your body calm and relax. So, it is not surprise that living near tree is good for our health. The local council or the government should plant more trees and stop chopping trees. If the tree is old or dying is okay to chop it off but they need to replant a new one to replace it.
With folded palms,
Vivian
Here is article that indicates that the Ozone layer can be healed.
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/keep-up-the-good-work-our-earth-is-healing.html
Since, human existed and started to rule the earth, the world has never stopped from developing! Great news! However, while developing human beings have never stop to destroy our ‘peace’ of earth. We burn, deforestation, kills and we can name all the activities that are ruining the earth.
All actions from human being are generally motivated by greediness and selfishness. If we do not take any action to stop any activity that arr destroying the mother nature. We are certainly going to pay back later, or precisely, now! Weather around the world are no longer consistent and natural disasters are happening more frequently. Are we going to realize it and act only when we see the earth cracks into parts and people are running around and screaming ‘HELP’?
I have always loved being around trees especially large tropical rainforest ones with interesting textures on their trunks and lush leafy foliage. My favs are Angsana (Pokok Sena) for its gorgeous textured trunks, The Flame of the Forest (Pokok Bunga Semarak Api) with its vibrant vermilion blooms and Acacia with its unique crescent-shaped leaves. Now I know why. There is a scientific explanation to why being around trees is beneficial for you.
I particularly like these 2 benefits stated in the article –
#1 – trees are known to improve urban air quality by pulling ozone, particulates, and other pollutants into their leaves and out of the air, and thus, partly protecting people from them.
#2 – stress reduction that comes from being around greenery — a mental effect that translates into physical benefits — or the possibility that being around trees somehow increases one’s propensity to exercise.
Thank you for sharing these findings, Rinpoche.
I can make sense out of the research that was done. Most people go to resorts that are tucked away from city life and immerse themselves in nature, whether it’s in the mountains or at the beach. Both places are relaxing and soothing to the mind.
Living in the concrete jungle is very draining and stressful to the psyche. I find that walking around malls for a few hours drains me completely and sometimes creates headaches. Compared to walking around for hours in Kechara Forest Retreat minus the sun,although I’m physically tired, I don’t feel drained.
I guess with more trees, there is more oxygen. And trees emit ions that uplift and heal us. That’s why we feel for revitalized and fresh when we are surrounded by plants.
If we’ve paid enough attention, we will realise that there’s a difference between living near trees/ greens/ mountains than living in the city. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen, therefore their existence is very potent.
Human has been cutting down trees, burning down forests and etc, with out selfish actions we have made deforestation a huge environmental issue and putting all the living beings on this earth at risk. We should really stop cutting down trees, the deforestation has contributed towards many environmental issues which we are facing now.
Before I got to the paragraph which reads “include stress reduction that comes from being around greenery — a mental effect that translates into physical benefits”, while reading the article I thought that well, perhaps it’s the psychological effect of living among trees and nature and that feeling of “ahhhhhhh” and being unable to unwind, that helps people feel healthier. I know I certainly feel the difference when I travel between KFR and KL.
At first you think that you’ll miss KL and its convenience and amenities but whenever I am in KL, I can’t wait to get out of there. It’s too many people, too much noise, too much dust, too much traffic, too artificial and just generally extremely unpleasant. You automatically put up this barrier around you to protect yourself, and you have to be on guard all the time. There are just so many people around you – TOO many people around you! – that you never know what’s going to happen. Returning to KFR, that guard automatically comes down…and then you realise how tiring being in a city makes you, having to keep that guard up all the time.
Cities that are greener I feel generally have a better standard of living because it takes somewhat of an enlightened leadership to dedicate spaces to parks and nature, when it could equally be exploited for commercial purposes.
Finally, I’m not sure it’s so accurate to say that “People have sort of neglected the psychological benefits of the environment” because certainly the authorities are hyper-aware of the psychological effects of the environment and use it to people’s disbenefit. When they torture prisoners for confessions, it’s solitary confinement combined with sensory deprivation or sensory overload – cold, concrete rooms with no windows, with extremely loud rock music, for example. If you are aware of the negative impact the environment can have on a person’s psyche, then you’re going to be aware of the positive impact it can also have. It swings both ways!
Trees are the lungs of the planet.
From Scientific Discoveries, the record which appeared in the open Access Journal have shown that “public planted trees seemed to have a more beneficial effect than private or backyard trees”. This may be due to these trees are more accessible to all residents in a given neighbourhood as alleged in the study notes. As these trees have been given such beneficial effects to the neighbourhood that are related to inprove health, Rinpoche reminded that the community should take good care of the trees. They must keep the environment fresh, clean and fill with more fresh air. The research authorities also reiterated that these trees are known to improve urban air quality, by pulling ozone, particulates and other pollutants into their leaves and out of the air, thus protecting the people from them, therefore, helping to balance the ecosystem in the vicinity, thus doing the work of mother nature! As revealed by Rinpoche, “This is one of the concepts behind the building of Kechara Forest Retreat, fondly known as KFR, which is to allow more people to spend time in nature admist the trees and greens, especially for people who works long hours in the office”. Thank you Rinpoche for your very kind concern and wonderful thoughts!
I like the research has been conducted with the result for having more trees in the city would improve the health perception in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income or being 7 years younger. If there is no more trees in this earth, we can foresee that our life is shorter or all the live beings would no longer existed.
Global warming at in the alert level. We may not able to urge everyone to follow us to take actions to save the world and other resources. However, we can start from our own and share out all these concerns via FB, Twitter and etc. etc.
Thnak you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Personally, I like going back to the nature as I become more inclined towards spirituality. I used to walk barefoot on grass field and got a lot of health problems sorted because of that. There were times when headache got cured by just doing that.
Our body is formed with the earth elements and it makes sense that we need to get back to nature and connect. Cement and tiles are tidy and nice, but they do not allow us to release our tensions etc. We get to refresh and rejuvenate in a way, hehe!
The next time we are caught in between a garden or cemented floor, think twice and make the best decision for ourselves and our family 😀