森林沐浴可以帮助预防癌症，心脏病 Forest bathing can help prevent cancer, heart disease

Forest bathing can help prevent cancer, heart disease

Forest bathing is good for your health.

What is forest bathing? It simply means doing something in the forest. You can be jogging, climbing or hiking. In such an environment, these activities are believed to help with mood, stress and energy.

The Japanese believe that forest bathing helps increase the body’s anticancer ability. The Japanese has been enjoying forest bathing or shinrinyoku in their language for thousands of years.

Scientific studies by the Forest Agency of Japan for the last forty years have linked forest bathing to significantly decreased anxiety, depression and anger.

Recent studies have proved that forest batching boosts the body’s immunity to help prevent cancer. In addition to decreasing anxiety, depression and anger, forest bathing helps ease inflammation, lower blood sugar and reduce hypertension. This means forest bathing may help prevent or slow the cancer development.

Forest bathing boosts natural Killer Cells and helps fight cancer

Many studies conducted in the last 15 years or so found that forest bathing increases the number of natural killer cells (NK cells) and their activity. NK cells are white blood cells naturally present in the human lymphatic system, which are designed to find and destroy cancerous cells.

Specifically, researchers found that forest bathing trips increased and maintained a high NK activity for more than seven days in men after a trip. In women, this beneficial effect lasted up to 30 days. This means that men should go and do something in the forest once in a week while women should do the same once in a month to prime their NK activity and prevent cancer.

In addition to the anticancer effect, forest bathing has also been found to render some other benefits.

Forest bathing improves mood and energy

A 2007 study of 500 men and women published in Public Health revealed that forest bathing significantly reduced hostility and depression. Also, forest bathing increased energy and vigor. A study released in 2016 found people who spend time regularly in the forest tend to be more energetic during the day and sleep better at night. Forest bathing helps regulate dopamine, improves focus, and increases productivity.

Forest bathing lowers stress and anxiety

Forest bathing benefits mental health, and studies based on the Profile of Mood States have confirmed this benefit. It has been known for now that forest bathing reduces cortisol, which is like adrenaline, is high when a person is stressed and experiences anxiety.

Emotional stress is a risk factor for major diseases like cancer and heart disease and other physical and mental disorders. Chronic elevated cortisol levels are linked to cancer. Forest bathing reduces the hormone and stress associated with this hormone.

Forest bathing reduces inflammation

Inflammation is a natural response to some environmental stress which is a normal process. However, chronic inflammation even at a low level is considered harmful. Studies linked chronic inflammation to increased risk of cancer and other chronic diseases.

A 2016 study found levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stress hormones lower in men and women who do forest bathing, compared to controls.

Forest bathing regulates blood sugar

Believe it or not, forest bathing also helps regulate blood sugar. This means that it can help prevent diabetes and diabetes-associated diseases like heart disease and cancer.

High circulating glucose levels which are found in diabetics are considered a risk factor for cancer. Cancer cells feed on glucose and they use this source of energy in a very inefficient way which is why cancer patients feel tired all the time without any other known medical conditions.

Forest batching fights hypertension

A study released in 2017 in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine showed that forest bathing helps reduce both systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. Hypertension is a risk factor for heart disease. So lowering blood pressure means lowering risk of heart disease.

In fact, at least 20 trials came to the same conclusion: forest bathing can reduce blood pressure.

There is no doubt that forest bathing is good for one’s health. The question is, how many people have access to any forest on a weekly or monthly basis?