Exercise Time Spent in Nature Boosts Immunity
Japanese people embrace a practice shinrin-yoku which means “forest-bathing” or “taking in the forest atmosphere”. People enter the forest to listen, smell, touch, breathe in the forest. It was specifically meant to help citizens with depression, anxiety, and suicide. Because it was so quickly embraced by the people, researchers were drawn to study the practice for its immunological benefits also. What they have discovered is impressive.
Spending time outdoors has long been recognized to improve health in many ways. Only in the last five years have researchers begun to identify the boost to immunity as a major pathway to many of the established benefits.
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Shinrin-Yoku Forest Bathing
Time to go camping, hiking and fishing! No...glamping, curled up with your favorite social media account and your smart phone, does't count. The immunological benefits of time spent in nature remain elevated up to 30 days after spending a weekend in nature. Benefits are highest at 3 days, and gradually decrease to baseline over a total of 30 days. Add to that aromatherapeutic effects of the trees and plant life. They release phytoncides which decrease stress hormones. The reduction of stress improves immunity by increasing the number of natural killer (NK) cells and these cells have increased the activity. Plus, pro-immunity proteins increased such as: perforin, granzyme A (GrA), and granulysin (GRN).
Immunity - A Central Pathway to Benefits of Green-Space Exercise
Ming Kuo of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois conducted a literature review in search of pathways contributing to the many benefits of outdoor activities with emphasis on looking for a potential central pathway contributing to a many of the health benefits. She concluded that immunity was one of the central pathways to many, if not most, of the benefits associated with physical activity in the outdoors.
References
Kuo, M. (2015). How might contact with nature promote human health? Promising mechanisms and a possible central pathway. Frontiers In Psychology, 6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01093
Fitzgerald, S. (2019). The secret to mindful travel? A walk in the woods. Nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/lists/forest-bathing-nature-walk-health/#close
Li, Q. (2009). Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 15(1), 9-17. doi:10.1007/s12199-008-0068-3