An Ounce of Prevention...
Tips for Healthy Living from the Division of Preventive Medicine
How can you combine several wellness goals into one activity?
What hobby can...
- increase your physical activity?
- provide you with fresh and delicious vegetables and fruits?
- enable you to enjoy fresh air and the great outdoors?
- beautify your environment?
Gardening
Fruits and vegetables promote good health. They contain vitamins, minerals and fiber that help protect you from chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
Eating fruits and vegetables in place of high calorie snacks can help keep excess weight off.
What better way to add them to your diet than by growing them in your own backyard? No space, you say? If you live in a place with no yard, you can still garden. Visit your local nursery to find varieties of vegetables that can be grown in pots on a patio or by a window.
Gardening is a great way to increase physical activity. Adults should engage in activities that raise breathing and heart rates and strengthen muscles for at least 2 ½ hours per week. Active people are less likely to have high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and depression. It is possible to burn 150 calories by gardening just 30-45 minutes.
Now that spring is here, beautify your outdoors by growing healthy foods and beautiful flowers and get some exercise as well.