Plants are amazing! They nourish us, they sustain us, they help the planet breathe, and they still manage to look beautiful while they do it. The plants with which we share the world play a pivotal role in making our air breathable and our planet liveable. And we’re slowly coming to the realization that we can, should and must do more to protect them. Plants aren’t just beneficial to the planet, they’re beneficial to you too!
If you lead a busy and stressful lifestyle (and who among us doesn’t), you may be surprised at how beneficial plants can be in helping you to improve your quality of life, manage stress, and remain in good mental and physical health.
Surround yourself with them at home and at work
There’s a reason why businesses of shapes and sizes spend a great deal on populating their premises with plants. Sure, they help to beautify the place, and add a spot of color and cheer to an otherwise monochromatic indoor landscape, but that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. Proximity to plants, trees and natural light is a proven mood-booster. And the power of indoor plants to help relieve stress in the workplace is profound and scientifically proven.
Whether in the home or the workplace (in many cases they’re one and the same at presence) can help to create a calmer and more peaceful working environment. Their presence purifies the air in your working space, stimulates the mind, aids cognition and focus, and creates a feeling of peace and tranquility that mitigates the effects of stress. One study demonstrated that looking at plants for just three minutes can be enough to reduce stress and anxiety in the workplace. Not to mention improving productivity, thereby mitigating the stress and frustration that come with lost time and energy.
Some of the best plants for stress relief in the home and office include;
- Aloe vera
- Japanese peace lillies
- Peppermint plants
- Snake plants
- Jasmine
- Chamomile
Eat more of them, the planet, your body and your budget will thank you!
Our diet can play a huge part in mitigating the physical and psychological effects of stress. Especially when it comes to battling the inflammatory effects of chronic stress. And since inflammation is known to increase our risk of a range of chronic diseases, it’s in your best interests to mitigate it through your diet.
Eating a wholly (or mostly) plant-based diet can actually help to relieve stress and reduce the effects of inflammation throughout the body. There’s a reason why vegans tend to be less at risk to heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses associated with chronic inflammation and stress.
Eating more plants and less of everything else isn’t just good for you, it’s good for the planet that we all share. Plants require much less land, water, energy and other resources to farm than animals raised for their milk or raised for slaughter. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of soybeans in the US are grown to feed to cows. Does that strike anyone else as bafflingly inefficient?
A plant based diet is also extremely cost effective, helping you to directly address one of the biggest sources of stress in our lives… money. Many people assume that a plant-based diet is expensive to maintain. But that’s easily disproved. Sure, it can be expensive if you consume a lot of processed vegan food products like meat and dairy substitutes. But if you’re living on a wholefoods plant-based diet, not only are you getting peak nutrition with a daily dose of vitamins, minerals and immune boosting phytonutrients, you’re also feeding your family affordably. Fresh fruits and veggies are cheap, and frozen / canned produce is even cheaper. Eat more plants and less of everything else and watch your disposable income increase!
Take plant based supplements to keep stress and anxiety at bay
While a plant based diet can help mitigate the effects of stress, there are also a range of supplements that busy people can take to keep stress and anxiety at bay. These include CBD infused products- see this link to learn more, as well as Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, the amino acid glycine, b-complex vitamins and melatonin supplements to aid restful sleep.
If you’re keen to manage your stress effectively but don’t want to resort to prescription meds, these naturally derived supplements can be extremely helpful.
Use them to make your home smell gorgeous
Plant based essential oils are also a great way to keep your home smelling gorgeous and give yourself the gift of aromatherapy every day in your home. Set up some diffusers around the home with the following essential oils to get the most out of every room;
- Stimulating peppermint for your home office
- Warming and relaxing sandalwood for the living room
- Refreshing citrus for the kitchen
- Calming jasmine or lavender in the bedroom
Gardening in your gut to prevent gastric ulcers and other painful symptoms of stress
As well as living on a planet full of plants, we also have a plethora of plant matter living inside us. Within your own gut is a veritable rainforest of tiny flora that’s so complicated and so potentially impactful for our mental and physical health that it’s often referred to as the “second brain”. The perfectly balanced ecosystem in the gut plays a pivotal role in not only facilitating effective digestion but in stabilizing our moods and maintaining our mental health. When we are excessively stressed, however, this perfectly balanced ecosystem can become overwhelmed by gut bacteria and result in stress related disorders like leaky gut and ulcers. These are often painful and can exacerbate stress.
Look after the plants in your gut, and they’ll look after you. The good news is that if you’re eating a healthy diet and taking steps to manage stress, your internal rainforest will pretty much take care of itself. However, if you want to give it a little extra helping hand, you may find that eating fermented or prebiotic foods (sauerkraut, garlic, pickled onions, leaks, kimchi, tofu and tempeh) can all help to stabilize gut flora and maintain a healthy digestive system.
Human and plant living in perfect harmony!
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