Half an hour in the deep forest protects your immunity for two months!
Walking through the forest at least once in his life, everyone enjoyed the beauty of nature. This is why some people choose to live in or next to forests and why other people travel thousands of kilometers to walk in the redwood forests, rainforests of Costa Rica or Ecuador.
However, scientists from Japan have discovered that a tradition called Shinri-ioku or "forest bathing" is still going strong, and the reasons for this are biochemical in nature.
Namely, researchers found that staying in the forest improves natural immunity, which is important for preventing cancer as well as other chronic diseases.
How does that happen?
When scientists tested people before and after a two-hour walk in the woods, they found 50% and more T-cells in all but one person. They had lower blood pressure, felt calm, as well as clarity in their heads. Forest trees and plants emit into the environment “antimicrobial volatile organic compounds of plant derivatives, called phytoncides, to kill fungi and bacteria”. Fungi and bacteria can be a problem for our immune system, and it turns out that trees don't like them either.
Forest trees are often hundreds, if not thousands of years old. Trees and other plants have perfected protection, i.e. compounds that can kill fungi and bacteria. When you walk in the forest, your breath unites with these components. The effect lasts about 2 months.
Let's say, when we walk in the forest, we bathe in its natural immunity. We are immersed in the "phytochemical" immune system of the forest.
Professor King Li of the Department of Hygiene and Public Health at the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo presented this story to American science writer Anya Lenny Phillips.
The article has more specific information on the effects on specific hormones, including the effects of noradrenaline and DHEA on stress and adiponectin. Namely, a lower level of adiponectin is associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity
In any case, daily exposure to fresh air is a physiological need of man and one of the Laws of Health that enable man to live healthy and happy.
Indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than outdoor air. Living with stale air can lead to health problems, from itchy eyes, headaches and sleep problems to asthma and allergies
We spend a lot of time indoors, so it is important that the environment in our homes is healthy. Too much or too little humidity in the air can be harmful, but we can take certain steps to make sure that it is always at an optimal level of comfort.
People are healthiest in buildings when the relative humidity level is between 45 and 55 percent. If the air humidity is below this value, there is a risk of dry and irritated skin, irritation of the eyes and nose and disturbed sleep. Low humidity conditions also favor viruses, increasing the risk of illnesses such as colds or pneumonia. High humidity, higher than 55 percent, increases the risk of mold growth that can release spores that worsen asthma symptoms and respiratory diseases. It is estimated that today 84 million Europeans live in damp areas that can endanger their health.
Considering the potential problems, humidity is an issue that deserves attention. It is affected by the seasons (it is lower in winter and higher in summer), but also by the number of people or the level of activity in the room. You can easily regulate it, for example by opening a window, which will reduce CO levels2 and keep the air fresh. Dampness and condensation in interiors are signs of too high air humidity, and if the walls or floors are particularly cold to the touch, they can cause condensation to form when in contact with moist and warm air.
Indoor air is polluted by a seemingly immeasurable number of sources. It's about everything from an excessive amount of CO2 to food particles from cooking, pet hair, moisture from bathtubs, showers and washing machines. 65 % of all Europeans dry their laundry indoors at least once a week, which releases moisture, and the average family produces approximately ten liters of liquid every day. Tests have shown that children's rooms are often the most polluted rooms in the house. 45 % of all children's rooms have too high CO levels2 due to insufficient ventilation. Do the ventilation on several windows
The contents of indoor air can include gases, particles, biological waste and water vapor, all of which are potentially hazardous to health. It is recommended to ventilate the home three to four times a day for at least 10 minutes at a time, with several windows open. In addition, ventilate the bedroom before going to sleep and after getting up in the morning.
Clean and air the carpets
… or better yet, get rid of them. Thick carpets and furniture such as old couches are a goldmine for mites and bacteria.
If you want to find out what are the other dangers of polluted air, you can read on HERE.
Limit humidity and moisture
Try not to dry your laundry indoors. Laundry releases moisture, which can lead to household mold that is harmful to health. For the same reasons, it is necessary to ensure that the bathroom is properly ventilated. If you are unable to dry your laundry outside, try opening a window near where you are drying your laundry to remove some of the excess moisture.
Is the danger of drafts just a Balkan myth?
Author: Nenad Jarić Dauenhauer
If you are a user of public transport, you have almost certainly experienced someone closing your window in a tram or bus at 40°C with the 'irrefutable' argument that the draft is dangerous to your health
Perhaps you dared to enter the discussion and tried to explain that a draft is the same as a wind against which you cannot close the doors or windows, or that the heat is certainly much more dangerous, and perhaps you yourself found yourself in doubt: 'Who knows? Maybe it doesn't hurt only the young and healthy? It is possible that one day he will cause problems for me too.'
What is the real truth about drafts? Can we get sick from it or is it just a myth, some traditional legend?
This interesting doubt was opened last year by Cody Brown, a blogger of the website Zablogreb.hr who lives in Croatia and is an American by origin.
In an excellent, witty review, he complained about the phenomenon of fear of drafts, which he claims is an unavoidable and integral part of life in Croatia, but also in most of the Balkans.
'The breeze blowing from one end of the apartment to the other or the cold wind on cloudy days can cause numerous diseases. A draft is responsible for everything from muscle pains, headaches and colds to infections or even inflammation in the brain', points out Brown in the text entitled 'Draft or the great cultural gap between us'. He then lists four important local rules that should be followed in order to prevent dangerous diseases: mandatory drying of hair with a hair dryer, covering the neck, especially of small children, with scarves, caps or hoods, walking in slippers and of course – closing the windows.
The draft, he says, is the reason why he sweats when he rides on public transport or in a car with his mother-in-law, why he is scolded for being a bad father when he takes his daughter out without a hat on her head or does not dress her in an excessive number of layers of clothing, why she has a large extra slipper for guests at home...
Brown says that he and his American friends, who are used to sleeping with open windows and traditionally love the wind, can't be surprised enough and laugh at the fear of drafts, which seems to them like some Balkan superstition, belief in vampires and similar things.
"One of my friends married to a Bulgarian woman put it very well: 'In Bulgaria, a sweater is something a child wears when the mother is cold,' complained the blogger.
But is draft really just a Balkan myth or does it represent a real threat to health?
If you try to find a text on the internet about the consequences of a draft (draft in English), you will be presented almost exclusively with alternative pages of chiropractors, acupuncturists, acupressurists, etc. You will hardly find any serious medical journal that deals with drafts.
Prof. Ph.D. Simeon Grazio, head of the Clinic for Rheumatology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at KBC 'Sisters of Mercy', editor of the journal Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, has an explanation for why this is so.
'There is no scientific evidence that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between drafts and pain in the back, neck, etc.' said prof. Grazio explained: 'Some people may argue the opposite based on personal experience, however, when we talk about evidence-based medicine, the experiential level is the lowest level of evidence. Articles about them may be published in professional journals, as case reports, but this is too small a number of the so-called. evidence that we could talk about a cause-and-effect relationship', said the distinguished Croatian physiatrist, pointing out that this does not mean that he is smart and sweaty to stand directly under the air conditioner.
Could we possibly catch a cold in the draft?
So, if the experts are to be believed, a draft will not cause headaches, neuralgia, inflammation of the brain, etc. However, maybe there is some truth in the fact that a person with a draft can catch a cold and possibly get pneumonia?
Primarius Dr. Rok Čivljak from the Clinic for Infectious Diseases Dr. Fran Mihaljević says that this myth is not true either.
'A draft definitely does not cause infectious diseases. A cold is caused by viruses, it has nothing to do with a draft. This goes against all the principles of our profession. Maybe a draft can lift viruses from the ground and thus contaminate the air, but I have never heard that there are any scientific papers on this or any evidence, one can only speculate on that', Dr. Čivljak was short and clear.
So, the danger of drafts is just a legend after all!
