There is a benefit to being surround by nothing but fields!
Living in the country can be a pain at times, there might be days when you feel a million miles from civilisation and just wish you had a cinema nearby, but there is one major benefit to being from a rural area.
A new study has found that being surrounded by greenery is of a huge benefit to your health.
Research found that women who live in a greener environment actually live longer.
While it may seem obvious that being surrounded by nature is good for you, even the researchers themselves said they were amazed by just how significantly it affected life expectancy.
“We were surprised to observe such strong associations between increased exposure to greenness and lower mortality rates,” researcher, Peter James of the Harvard Chan School Department of Epidemiology, according to Yahoo.
“We were even more surprised to find evidence that a large proportion of the benefit from high levels of vegetation seems to be connected with improved mental health.”
108,630 American women took part in the study from 2000 to 2008. Their risk of mortality was compared to how much greenery there was where they live.
People who lived by lots of plants, vegetation and parks have a 12% lower mortality risk than people who live around little or no greenery.
The study also found that women who live around nature were 34% less likely to die due to respiratory diseases and they were also 13% less likely to die from cancer.
There are a few reasons for this, people who live in rich green landscapes are more likely to spend time outdoors, exercising and socialising, which are good for physical and mental health. There is also likely to be much less traffic which causes a lot of air pollution as well as noise, which means you’ll have healthier lungs and fewer headaches.
So next time you’re looking out your window at a green field full of cows, be thankful because it could mean that you live longer. And if you happen to live in the city, get yourself a few plants for your apartment and plant a small tree in your garden, it’s for the good of your health!
