{"id":15411,"date":"2022-03-24T21:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T01:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/gardening-is-it-the-key-to-health\/"},"modified":"2022-04-01T15:42:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T19:42:36","slug":"gardening-is-it-the-key-to-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/gardening-is-it-the-key-to-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardening \u2013 Is it the Key to Health?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><strong><em>\u00a0By:<\/em> Jen Haugen, RDN, LD &#8212;<\/strong><\/div>\n<p>What if I told you that you could simply plant a garden each year and it could contribute to lower blood pressure or better health?\u00a0 According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/high-blood-pressure\/in-depth\/high-blood-pressure\/art-20046974?pg=1\">Mayo Clinic<\/a>, the research on how to lower blood pressure is quite strong, \u2013 things like be at a healthy weight, eat healthy foods and lower your sodium intake \u2013 what you might not realize is that when you plant a garden, you are by default doing all those things and more that contribute to better health and better blood pressure.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I was a supermarket dietitian, I envisioned a garden where kids could learn about their food and prepare it right in the garden.\u00a0 The vision became a reality and hundreds of kids and families have benefitted from this garden experience.\u00a0 By having kids involved in the gardening process \u2013 the planting, the weeding, the watering and the harvesting, we were able to change negative attitudes about fruits and vegetables to positive ones.\u00a0 And parents took notice of these new enthusiastic attitudes and offered more fruits and vegetables at home because of it.\u00a0 Kids were eating better.\u00a0 And even more, many of those families decided to plant a garden right at their own home to give their child a more frequent gardening experience.<\/p>\n<p>If working in a garden as a child can make that much of an impact, it can also have an influence on us as adults.\u00a0 Here are a few ways gardening can make an impact on your health:<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Lose Extra Pounds and Exercise<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Consider this: The average time spent per week on home food gardening is 5 hours which is 300 minutes.\u00a0 It\u2019s recommended we strive for 150 minutes per week.\u00a0 Add to that, vigorous gardening (that elevates heart rate) can burn up to 300 calories in 30 minutes.\u00a0 That\u2019s equivalent to 3,000 calories in five hours of heart-pumping weeding and raking a week.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget: One pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Eat a Healthy Diet<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Did you know a well-maintained home food garden can produce a \u00bd pound of fresh produce per square foot and that it would be worth on average $2.00\/pound?\u00a0 With the average investment into a garden being about $70.00 and an average garden size of 600 square foot, the yield, or total harvest, would be 300 pounds of food with a value of $600.\u00a0 That\u2019s a $530 return on investment and a lot of calories saved.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Add that to saving calories outside the garden by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theskinnyonlowcal.org\/does-diet-soda-really-help-with-weight-loss-and-diabetes\/\">choosing diet beverages<\/a> over sugary ones, and you\u2019ll really be on track.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Reduce Your Sodium<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While all these fresh fruits and vegetables are growing in the garden, don\u2019t forget to plant your favorite herbs.\u00a0 Fresh herbs can add an abundance of flavor in place of additional salt.\u00a0 Fresh basil, cilantro, parsley and chives are popular as they can be added to a variety of dishes.\u00a0 Yet, oregano, thyme and rosemary are also good choices and are a bit hardier with the weather.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>De-Stress<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Research suggests that just 30 minutes of gardening contributes to less stress and can enhance your mood, making you feel happier.\u00a0\u00a0 Getting outside into the fresh air can really contribute to health!<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>It\u2019s Fun to Do with Family<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Considering all the benefits of gardening on health; don\u2019t keep this activity to yourself!\u00a0 It\u2019s wise to invite family and friends to join you in the garden as well.\u00a0 Kids love to be involved in the watering and weeding process, and even before that, the choosing what\u2019s planted and the planting process.\u00a0 Definitely make gardening a family activity so the whole family reaps the harvest together.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16154 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/jenhaugen1-e1406904523734-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/jenhaugen1-e1406904523734-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/jenhaugen1-e1406904523734-150x150-95x95.jpg 95w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><strong>Jen Haugen, RDN, LD<\/strong>, is a Minnesota-based dietitian, writer and gaRDening.\u00a0 Known as the \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jenhaugen.com\/\">Down-to-Earth Dietitian<\/a>\u201d on her website, jenhaugen.com, Jen specializes in writing to move mom to create the recipe to a nourishing life centered on food, faith, gardening and making memories together as a family.\u00a0 As a communications consultant, Jen specializes in online social media engagement, website content development, recipe development and speaking.\u00a0 Jen also works part-time as a school nutrition dietitian working to enhance and promote healthy options throughout her school district.\u00a0 You can find her on Facebook at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenHaugenRD\">Jen Haugen RD<\/a> and on Twitter <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/jenhaugen\">@jenhaugen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/aspartame.org\/gardening-is-it-the-key-to-health\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gardening \u2013 Is it the Key to Health?<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/aspartame.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Aspartame<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0By: Jen Haugen, RDN, LD &#8212; What if I told you that you could simply plant a garden each year and it could contribute to lower blood pressure or better health?\u00a0 According to the Mayo Clinic, the research on how to lower blood pressure is quite strong, \u2013 things like be at a healthy weight, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,63,3,157,165,156],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gardening \u2013 Is it the Key to Health? - Calorie Control Council<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/gardening-is-it-the-key-to-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gardening \u2013 Is it the Key to Health? - Calorie Control Council\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0By: Jen Haugen, RDN, LD &#8212; 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