The Real Benefits of Touching Grass

The phrase “touch grass” is now officially mainstream. Even though it started as a reference to video gamers who never get offline to go outside, the true meaning is about reconnecting with nature for all the amazing mental, physical, and even spiritual benefits. We can view our senses as health portals that nature taps into to heal us; indeed, nature is medicine.

The idea is to get outside, according to board-certified internist, pioneer of EcoMedicine, and author of Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years — The 7% Outdoor Rx Restores Them, John La Puma, MD. We spend 93 percent of our time indoors (87 percent indoors, 6 percent inside a vehicle) according to The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS), so we need to make the most of the 7 percent we’re outside. “Sunrise or sunset walks, green exercise, forest bathing, and soil-to-skin gardening reboots your body’s innate resilience,” says La Puma. “Stack deep sleep, real food, daily movement, close bonds, and time in nature, and you can gain up to 20 extra years.”

La Puma is such a believer in the healing powers of the great outdoors that he bought a three-acre abandoned nursery in Santa Barbara, CA, and led the first skills-based nature-as-medicine Continuing Medical Education Course for physicians there, co-developed with UCLA. He believes nature-based medicine is the future of healthcare.

Here are some proven ways to get healthy outside.

Catch Morning Sunlight

Morning sunlight is key for setting our circadian clock that helps us sleep as well as manage other processes like hunger and body temperature. Even if it’s cloudy, try to go outside and see the light as close to when you wake up as possible without sunglasses or windows. Sunlight stimulates the cortisol awakening response (CAR), which is what helps set your circadian rhythm. Cortisol is also what gets us out of bed and ready to face the day and sets the foundation for dopamine, the pleasure molecule, and serotonin, so anxiety and mood are also helped. Morning light also sets up the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone, 12-14 hours later.

La Puma says to look at the sky within 60-90 minutes of waking, even if it’s from a balcony or the rooftop of an apartment. On a sunny day, you only need 10-15 minutes; 20-30 minutes on an overcast day.

During the day, keep your desk near a window as natural light signals the brain to stay alert and focused. Then try to catch afternoon or early evening light outside as the sun goes down; yellow and orange wavelengths tell your brain bedtime is near and even reduce ill effects of artificial lights like screens.

Get Dirty in the Garden

People love to garden and may not realize just how good it is for their health. When your hands are in soil, your skin interacts with the microbiome of the dirt. This affects your own gut microbiome as the microbes travel through our skin, says La Puma. Studies show that families that garden have greater microbial diversity and more fiber-fermenting bacteria than the non-gardening families; soil-endemic microbes were found in the fecal samples of the gardeners. A more diverse gut microbiome contributes to immune function since roughly 70-80 percent of our immune cells are in the gut. A balanced gut ecosystem also helps break down dietary fibers, produces short-chain fatty acids, improves digestion, and protects against harmful pathogens.

Plus, one study found that daily gardening reduced the risk of dementia by 36 percent in people aged 60+. There are many potential reasons, including sun exposure, which produces vitamin D (a deficiency increases Alzheimer’s risk), the microbiota, which helps produce serotonin in the gut, lowered cortisol levels, and the moderate exercise gardening provides.

Take a Walk

A walk outside lowers blood pressure and blood sugar levels—and clears the mind. One meta-analysis of studies showed that walking even two minutes within 60-90 minutes of eating a meal can help lower blood sugar and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Walking with a friend gives the added oxytocin benefits from both social bonding and physical activity, decreasing anxiety and increasing empathy (in mice anyway).

You don’t need 10,000 steps a day either—that number was made up by a Japanese company marketing a pedometer in 1965 because it sounded good. A meta-analysis of studies published in The Lancet shows that health benefits plateau around 7,000 steps for someone over age 60, and 8,000 for those 60 or under. In addition to lowering blood pressure, walking reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke and may improve certain areas of cognitive function, like memory and executive function.

Go for a Swim

“The cure for anything is salt water; sweat, tears, or the sea,” author Isak Dinesen famously said. There’s even more to it. Salt water contains minerals like magnesium that can improve the skin’s barrier and enhance hydration, as proven in places like the Dead Sea.

Just being near water changes the electrical activity of your brain, says La Puma, shifting brainwaves from a high-frequency beta state to the slower, calmer alpha and theta waves. Alpha waves are the frequency in the brain when you’re relaxed but awake, as in meditation. Theta waves are associated with creativity, intuition, and that lovely twilight state between waking and sleeping. Staring at the ocean can take you there, as does the sound of waves or water that naturally slows the heart rate and lowers blood pressure, he says.

Experience a Forest—or a Park or Yard

Forest bathing—which is focusing on your senses while in a forest, park or even a yard—can lower blood pressure, adrenaline and cortisol levels. One study showed that having a “nature experience” three times a week for 10 minutes or more produced a 21 percent drop in cortisol as measured in saliva, as published in Frontiers in Psychology. La Puma says, “When you breathe in the forest, you’re literally inhaling phytoncides, which are aromatic compounds trees release that supercharge your immune system by dramatically boosting your natural killer cells.” (Natural killer cells are a type of white blood cell that destroy infected cells, even early cancer cells, so they’re an essential part of our immune system.) Forest bathing is not exercising in the woods; it’s about slowing down in nature and being completely present.

Forest bathing also helps alleviate rumination, that cycle of overthinking that seems to come from nowhere. Focusing on the senses draws our attention away from the “internal mental chatter”.  Qing Li, MD is the world’s leading expert in forest medicine based in Tokyo; one of his studies showed forest bathing also significantly reduces tension, anxiety, anger, and fatigue, as published in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine.

La Puma suggests experiencing nature as a ritual through the senses one by one: place your hand on the bark of a tree; watch the light move through the leaves and notice the color green around you (one study showed that green light reduces pain and anxiety and improves sleep); touch the soil; close your eyes and listen to the birds, wind, or just your heartbeat; breathe deeply to notice the smell of the earth and flowers; feel a part of the environment.

View a Vista

Viewing the horizon beyond the ocean, a far-off mountain, a starry sky, or even a tree combats indoor screen time, a big part of the “indoor epidemic”. Vastness creates the experience of awe, an emotion that involves key brain networks. In other words, when the perspective shifts, your own perspective can shift too, including self-reflection as we perceive ourselves as smaller. Awe can also be activated by intense meditation, powerful and engaging music, and videos of natural phenomena sped up or slowed down, like watching a flower open, as reported in Human Brain Mapping.

“Awe slows the heart, deepens the breath, and produces a calm shift in the body,” says La Puma, who suggests focusing on the horizon or a mountain in the distance. “These are classic signs of vagus nerve activation. It triggers compassion, gratitude, and admiration,” he says, feelings we don’t often get from our tiny hand-held screens.

Plant an Herb Garden

Even the thought of planting an herb garden calms me. Herbs and spices are antioxidant, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory; some help protect against cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, type 2 diabetes, and even cancer. (Herbs are the leaves; dried spices come from any part of the plant.) Thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, basil, mint, turmeric, dill, parsley, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, lemongrass, chili pepper, fenugreek, pepper, and ginger all have proven anti-inflammatory effects. Compounds in some, like curcumin and gingerol, inhibit COX enzyme activity, which is the same way ibuprofen works.

Spices have been used for their medicinal properties for eons; they contain more polyphenols than broccoli, dark chocolate, or berries. They’re also antibacterial and antiviral, which is why they’re typically used as preservatives in food. Amounts vary for different benefits; for example, most experts recommend 500 mg to 1000 mg of curcumin extract daily to combat inflammation, the active compound in turmeric, which is easy to take as a supplement. You can use spices and herbs in your own healthy cooking to enhance the flavors of food and know you’re supporting your well-being too.  

Touching Grass

Don’t forget to actually touch grass too; walking barefoot on your lawn improves physical mechanics, foot strength and body alignment; proponents claim the Earth provides negative electrons that neutralize free radicals, aka “grounding”. You’ll feel better and sleep better too, and like most nature activities, it’s free.