Improve Your Mental & Physical Health by Simply Adding Houseplants
Plants are very important. It’s no secret plants are vital to our survival. Everything: food, construction materials, natural medicine, oh and that whole the process of taking carbon dioxide and transforming it into clean oxygen. It's not a surprise then, recent studies highlight that household plants have a direct impact on our wellness.
There are numerous reasons why indoor plants might improve our mental health, and an unmistakable reason is they’re better to smell and look at. Wallpaper and carpet have a hard time competing with living things and floral colors. A recent study further supports this notion in its research that there is a direct correlation between the amount of care required to keep a plant alive and the positive psychological effect it had in the caretaker. We learn from the research, those who share extended periods of time in the presence of plants tend to have healthier relationships with other people and therefore experience increased levels of happiness.
Fact: Plants Help People
A separate study found that flowering plants provide higher levels of happiness and therefore, keeping flowering houseplants around the house and in the office potentially could significantly reduce stress levels. Science is science. Studies have shown that people who spend more time around houseplants are much more likely to help others, and often have more advanced social relationships. People who care for houseplants are more likely to care for others, reaching out to their peers and building shared bonds because of their shared interests.
More Plants, Less Stress
Natural aesthetic beauty is believed to have a calming effect, and including ornamental houseplants around the home is a great way to lower stress and anxiety. As a result of the happiness derived from a home or work space that has plants in it, the likeliness of suffering from stress-caused depression is lessened as well. The research supports that by having plants in your house, you improve your mental health by activating peace and open spaces to your brain.
Plants Help You Remember Your Honey To-Do List
Keeping ornamental houseplants in the home increases memory retention and concentration. How? The calming influence of natural environments increases a person’s ability to fixate on the task at hand. Going outside or being around plants inside your home can boost memory retention up to twenty percent, a recent University of Michigan study showed (Sewach).
Convinced? Great. Here are some examples of great plants to have in your apartment:
Spider Plant
One of the most popular indoor botanicals is the spider plant, and your family is going to like them because , spider plant. Best. name. ever. They’re extremely easy to take care of, and spider plants are impressively great at absorbing allergens or mold from the air and can be put to good use in parts of the house that are prone to dampness: bathrooms and laundry room. Spider plants are fairly low maintenance, too. Offer them with bright, indirect light and they will flourish. Water the houseplant well but do not allow it to become too soggy, which can lead to root rot. In fact, spider plants don't mind drying out partially between waterings.
Snake Plant
A study of CO2 conversion in houseplants by Harvard University found that the snake plant is one of the most oxygen-producing plants. In case you're interested, ficus and pothos are other plants on the list. One of the greatest snake plant health benefits is it can make small contribution to remove toxic air pollutants. It can do more than absorb CO too, it can absorb benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene; all of which are cancer-causing pollutants. It's one of the low maintenance plants out there as it can withstand weeks of neglect without losing neither shape nor healthy and vibrant look. They can thrive in environments with limited light and water.
See any similarities with our two suggestions? If you have kid visitors, we’re trying to help it easier to get them excited! Who gets Spider and who gets Snake?