Linking gardening to diabetes may be little surprising for you, but it is true that spending some time on outdoor gardening can work wonders on diabetic patients. Much to the surprise of many people, there is dramatic reduction in the symptoms of type 2 diabetes with increased gardening hours. The fact is, gardening gives good exercise for the patients which is very much important to normalize the high blood sugar levels. It is one of the best options for people who cannot take rigorous exercises as fitness regime in their daily routine. Gardening doesn’t look like a traditional workout but it does promise some health benefits in general, particularly for the diabetic patients. Let us see in what way gardening can be beneficial to the diabetic patients.
A good physical activity
A good exercise regime and healthy diet with targeted calorie count has high importance in preventing and caring for diabetes. People often get nervous when they think of hitting the gym because the first thing that comes to their mind is treadmills and exercise machines. While working in gym is important for some people with specific reasons, there is a slow transition in the exercise trends where people are looking out for more natural stress free methods. People have realized that there is no need to forcefully exercise in gym for hours to reduce the calories. Instead they can practice working in a garden and simultaneously shed those extra calories in a stress free way. Gardening is one such enjoyable activity that has consistent multiple benefits. Working in garden such as soil tilling, weed extraction, watering and other plant maintenance activities, definitely provide some good physical exercise to keep blood sugar levels in check.
Vitamin DThere is no real evidence to say that vitamin D deficiency is directly related to the risk of type 2 diabetes but some studies have shown that there is a vague connection between these two things. Regardless of the above fact, people can certainly enjoy numerous health benefits by doing some outdoor gardening. When we do gardening outside, naturally our body gets exposed to the sunlight that has rich vitamin D content, which is most vital for bone and muscle maintenance and functioning of other body systems.
Reducing Stress LevelsMany gardeners have realized that a couple of hours in gardening drops Cortisol, a hormone that decides the level of stress in our body. There is nothing more relaxing for the mind than watching our plants grow and mature. One could feel extremely soothing when they involve in gardening activities, add new plants and dirt their hands in soil. It takes little effort to have our own garden in adding new plants, but the results that we get in the form of vegetation, flowers, fruits & vegetables is amazing to experience. It reduces trauma in diabetic patients and releases tension that is caused by going through medical procedures and diabetic drugs.
Enjoy garden grown vegetables and fruitsBy following organic gardening principles, one can enjoy fresh and quality fruits and vegetables harvesting from their own garden. Gardening gives the opportunity to have our own methods in gardening, so that we can avoid using harmful chemicals as fertilizers and pesticides. Diabetic patients have to be extra cautious about what they eat because they need to take less starchy foods to control calorie in take. It is easy to grow fruits and vegetables in a home garden that are known to be beneficial for diabetic patients such as tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, berries etc.