That life in the open air, whether in your garden or in a contest such as a forest or in the countryside or in the mountains, can have a beneficial effect on health, is a something known for some time.

But the mechanism by which this improvement in mood and self-esteem occurs, has never been clear, until a team of scientists tried to study the phenomenon.

The approach was managed by examining two aspects, the more purely fiscal and the mental.

Physical benefit was measured by monitoring low-effort activity, such as potting, changing flower beds, cutting grass , aerate the earth or fertilize.

The low intensity efforts performed during gardening operations affect a large number of muscles and for a prolonged time, this allows you to burn many calories without overloading the system cardiocirculatory.

So it can be said that the movement distributed over many muscle levers allows you to keep the whole body in shape, in a harmonious way and without incurring, generally, phenomena of work overload.

From a mental point of view, the research has focused on understanding how the brain can trigger positive and pleasant sensations during this activity.

To understand the mechanisms that generate well-being during gardening activities, they examined many of the stereotypes in circulation, such as the presence of bacteria in the soil that would have a 'positive influence on the brain, a condition also assessed on mice in the laboratory that gave little reliability.

The presence of greater oxygenation was also taken into consideration, in the presence of many plants in the work area and a cleaner condition of the air , again for the filter effect that plants can play.

But even here it would not seem to confirm that these phenomena can improve the conditions of anxiety and stress accumulated by man.

A hypothesis that has interested scholars concerns the colors that the eye perceives during its stay in nature, in particular they have discovered that green shades can have a beneficial influence on mood.

To refute this thesis they projected images of natural areas, whose chromatic prevalence was composed of green, then they mixed the colors giving preference to black, red , to gray and so on.

The result was that during the projections on a green basis, the brain reacted in a way to express tranquility and satisfaction, while using other colors, this well-being decreased remarkably.

Furthermore, the study took into consideration the level of anxiety and stress of the participants during the occupations they carried out in the garden.

Taking care of the soil, flowers, lawn and plants, actively, seems to free the mind from many thoughts that crowd it, avoiding that sense of humoral screwing that it is typical of people who keep thinking and rethinking any small or big problem.

Let's say a sort of brain swich-off that gives greater tranquility and a feeling of well-being.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.