It’s a simple proposition: Nature can nurture your immune system. Research shows that spending even a few minutes in nature can:
- Boost your intake of vitamin D, which can help enhance your immune system.
- Increase production of healthy cells that kill virus- or tumor-infected cells.
- Decrease the risk of major health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
- Lower the overall risk of premature death.
In other words, time spent in forests, in parks, in gardens, at beaches, around mountains and in other outdoor settings might work wonders when it comes to fostering immunity. Fortunately, you can enjoy natural immunity benefits in urban, suburban and rural environments.
“Nature protects against all different kinds of diseases, including cardiovascular, respiratory, mental health and musculoskeletal. And researchers believe that nature’s ability to boost immunity plays a central role,” according to the Immuse website, citing data from a study published in 2021 by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Going out on a limb: Exposure to trees can boost your immunity
On its website, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation emphasizes that even just five minutes around trees or in green spaces might improve your health, including your immune system.
“Think of it as a prescription with no negative side effects that’s also free,” the conservation agency says.
The agency points out that visiting an urban, suburban or rural forest — which could simply be a collection of gardens, parks and trees in a city or town, rather than a traditional forest — offers “real, quantifiable health benefits, both mental and physical.”
“While we breathe in the fresh air, we breathe in phytoncides, airborne chemicals that plants give off to protect themselves from insects. Phytoncides have antibacterial and antifungal qualities which help plants fight disease,” the conservation agency says.
When we breathe in these chemicals, our bodies respond by elevating the number and activity of a white blood cells known as natural killer cells, according to the agency. This type of beneficial cell can wipe out unhealthy cells in our bodies.
And you need not fret too much about breathing in cold air when you’re enjoying trees or other elements of nature. According to Harvard Health Publishing, Canadian researchers found that exposure to moderately cold weather “appears to have no detrimental effect on the human immune system.”
How nature acts as a ‘multivitamin’
In a study published by the journal Frontiers in Psychology, environment and behavior researcher Ming Kuo concluded that nature can, indeed, enhance our immune functions.
“Nature doesn’t just have one or two active ingredients. It’s more like a multivitamin that provides us with all sorts of the nutrients we need,” ScienceDaily quoted Kuo as saying in 2015. “That’s how nature can protect us from all … different kinds of diseases … simultaneously.”
Kuo explained that exposure to nature flips the body from “fight or flight” mode to the opposite “rest and digest” mode.
“When the body is in ‘fight or flight’ mode, it shuts down everything that is immediately nonessential, including the immune system,” ScienceDaily reported.
Kuo said that when we feel entirely safe, our body latches onto long-term resources to trigger healthy outcomes, including improvement of our immune system. “When we are in nature in that relaxed state, and our body knows that it’s safe, it invests resources toward the immune system,” she said.
How to boost your immunity through nature
To take advantage of nature’s multivitamin effect:
- Walk or run around a neighborhood park.
- Ride your bike on a trail.
- Relax on a bench on a tree-lined street.
- Stroll along a beach.
- Sip coffee and read a book at an outdoor cafe.
- Take your kids to an outdoor playground.
- Tour a historic neighborhood on foot.
- Visit a national or state forest.
- Go fishing at a river, stream, pond or lake.
- Plan an outdoor picnic.
- Head to the mountains for a hike.
- Observe wildlife at a nature preserve.
- Go to a dog park with your pooch.
- Take a trip to a zoo.
- Arrange an outdoor rock-climbing excursion.
- Wander around your city on a photo-snapping journey.
- Volunteer for a trash pickup day or another community-oriented outdoor activity.
- Lounge on your porch to soak up a sunrise or sunset.
- Plan an outdoor scavenger hunt with friends, relatives or colleagues.
- Go canoeing, kayaking or paddleboarding.
- Take a horseback-riding lesson.
- Explore outdoor wintertime activities like snow skiing, snowboarding and ice skating.
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