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Whether you’re eating them, caring for them, or just around them, there are many benefits you’ll encounter from plants.
Naturopathic doctors use plants and natural remedies to treat their patients because they have less side effects and patients are less likely to abuse or get addicted to them. Dr. Kenneth Groves is a naturopathic doctor and says medicinal plants aren’t only used in a targeted medical fashion, but also for general problems like stress.
“Withania helps target that grey area of health,” he says, “it’s when you don’t have a disease and your bloodwork is not showing anything that is putting you in that disease state. But you have all the symptoms that typical medications can’t really target.
Along with cleaning our oxygen, there are several benefits that plants carry from just being around them. Dr. Groves says studies have shown that plants help reduce stress.
“In a study they had people walk through a forest on their way to work and had people walk through the city. What they did was within patients, measure cortisol levels (the stress hormone),” he explains, “And the people who walk through the forest on a regular basis consistently had lower cortisol levels and lower blood pressure.”
Another way plants benefit us is through our food. Lexie Nobbs, Nutrition and Dietetics student at Western says eating a more plant-based diet can be healthier for you, and the planet.
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“When raising meat, the amount of carbon dioxide each animal produces, and the food they need to eat in order to make the equivalent of what a plant would give you energy wise, is very costly for the environment,” she says, “And it’s a lot less LDL cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol. Having an increased saturated fat diet can lead to obesity.”
If you’re not comfortable going completely plant-based, Nobbs suggests dedicating certain meals to be without meat or restricting yourself to only eat meat on weekends.
Whether it’s in a medical form, on your dinner plate, or during your walk to work plants can benefit us whether we notice it or not.
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