Besides healthy eating, I spend a lot of time encouraging people to be active.
Summertime is the perfect time to take your kids, grandkids (or parents) outside. Not only is it fun, but there is a growing body of scientific evidence indicating that spending time in nature is essential to both physical and emotional health.
The Japanese, in particular, have been studying what they call Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing.”
In a recent study of 280 people in Japan, scientists found that walking through a forest or other wooded area for a few hours lowered concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol, lowered the pulse rate and lowered blood pressure.
These all translate to a healthier heart and mind.
In his book, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv discusses some new studies that suggest exposure to nature may reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and improve all children’s cognitive abilities and their resistance to negative stress and depression. In fact, you don’t even have to move in nature.
In a landmark study in the ’80s, a man named Roger Ulrich demonstrated that hospital patients who viewed nature, such as trees and animals from their rooms, recovered faster, spent less time in hospital, required fewer painkillers and had fewer post-operative complications than those patients who did not.
In Salmon Arm, we are very lucky to be in close proximity with natural areas.
Whether it be taking a walk in the bird sanctuary, mountain biking in South Canoe or swimming in the lake, we don’t have any good excuses not to get outside.
If you are interested in exploring the outdoors, but don’t know where to go, the Shuswap Trail Alliance has trail maps available online (www.shuswaptrailalliance.com) and in print at the Visitor Information Centre.
Serena Caner is a registered dietician who works at Shuswap Lake General Hospital.
