How Nature Supports Immunity, Longevity & Brain Health — Backed By Research

We hesitate to call nature a "tool" you can use to benefit your health—as that greatly underestimates the amazing capacities of the world around us—but we also can't ignore the sheer number of healing benefits associated with getting outside. In fact, mbg's senior sustainability editor Emma Loewe, author of the new book Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us, considers nature a critical pillar for optimal health and well-being. "Incorporate nature time into your wellness routine. It's just as important as eating healthy and exercising," she says on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. 

"Essentially it's taking a walk through a forest but really engaging all of your senses as you do it so you're really 'bathing' in your surroundings," Loewe explains. "And medical doctors are finding that after taking that trip into a forest while employing some of these mindful practices, people tend to come back with increased immune health." Specifically, she references a 2018 study that measures forest bathing's impact on natural killer (NK) cells2, which are the first line of defense in the immune system. 

You heard it here first: "People tend to live longer if they live close to green space," notes Loewe. A 2016 study even found that those who had access to green space had a 12% lower rate of mortality, even when the researchers adjusted for other risk factors like age, smoking status, etc. 

Yes, we just discussed how nature supports a long life, but Loewe says these longevity benefits actually have a lot to do with mental health—we likely don't have to remind you how stress can affect your overall health. "Mental health is not just nice to have. It's necessary to have, and nature is a place we can go to improve it," she says. 

Just take this "Mappiness" study, for example, which used an iPhone app to ping participants at different times of the day to ask them what they were doing, how they felt, and what environment they were in. The results? "[Researchers] found that most often people felt restored and relaxed in an area that had both blue space and green space," Loewe recounts. What's more, they felt the least relaxed indoors. 

And to circle back to the forest bathing conversation, research has shown that the phytoncides on forest trees (aka, what gives them their smell) were associated with increased heart rate variability. "It's the calming look of the branches, the calming smell of the leaves; all these things combine into that nature experience," Loewe notes. 

Indoor nature spaces can have an impact, too. Loewe highlights Matthew Wichrowski, MSW, HTR, a horticultural therapist at NYU: "Essentially his job is to go from room to room throughout the hospital and ask clients about the sorts of plants or flowers that they enjoy," she explains. "He sources them and brings them to their rooms, helps them plant them, and gets them set up in a nice spot."