8 Surprising Health Benefits of Indoor Plants
Did you know that the unhealthy, invisible toxins festering in your home can be taken out of the picture by household plants?
Plants don’t just sit on your windowsill and look pretty; they can provide some surprising health benefits as well.
If this has surprised you, wait until you’ve read the rest of the list. Here are 8 benefits of indoor plants.
1. Plants Can Reduce Stress
Several studies have shown that having a plant in your home or office help reduce stress and fatigue and also helps increase productivity.
People are known to take less sick days, make fewer mistakes, and just become all around happier when plants are present in the office.
Anthurium, in particular, is a good plant to have in your home if you want to lower your stress levels. Natural herbs are a great relaxer if you drink them in a tea as well.
Not only can plants help with your mental health, but your physical health as well.
2. Natural Healers
The aloe vera plant is known to have many healing benefits. The gel inside of the plant isn’t just great when you have sunburn; you can place it on cuts.
Ancient Egyptians reported that this super plant worked for burns, infections, and parasites. If all of this didn’t convince you to keep one in your home, the vapor that comes from boiling the leaves could reduce asthma symptoms.
Plants can provide your home with clean air which can also help with these symptoms.
3. Provides Clean Air
Plants can remove toxins according to NASA research. This includes substances such as formaldehyde found in rugs, vinal, cigarette smoke, and grocery bags.
Plants do away with benzene and trichloroethylene which are found in human-made fibers, inks, solvents, and paints. Benzene is also commonly found in studies where there is a high concentration of books, and printed paper.
It’s said that the plants perform this service by pulling these harmful chemicals into the soil and converting them into food for the plant.
Boiling plants can create a great natural humidifier for colds and other respiratory diseases.
4. Humidifiers
About ten percent of the moisture in the air that we breath comes from plants. As part of the photosynthetic and respiratory process, plants release moisture vapor into the air this produces humidity.
If you place several different plants together in a room, you can increase the humidity in the room, which will help your body fight respiratory distresses.
Say goodbye to colds, dry skin, sore throats, and dry coughs. All you need to do is get a few plants to reap the impressive benefits of indoor plants.
If you think the vapor from the plants smells great, you clearly haven’t tried them as a natural air freshener before.
5. Natural Scents
Artifical air fresheners can be overwhelming to the senses and don’t do any favors to your health either.
Great smelling plants such as dwarf kaffir lime trees, can spread a fresh smelling scent throughout your entire home.
It’s a natural way to freshen your home, and they actually help with the cooking.
Speaking of cooking them, putting lavender in a tea, or keeping it by your bed can help you get a restful sleep.
6. Restful Sleep
Insomnia is a terrible disease, that can prevent you from getting a full eight hours of sleep every night. Sometimes with daily stressors, our minds just won’t cut off at night.
If you have this issue, you’re in luck because plants can fix this problem. Studies have shown that the vapor from lavender and jasmine plants can help you have a restful sleep.
Keep lavender or jasmine by your bed or under your pillow. The smell can put your mind and body in a state of tranquility and prepare you for sleep. You’ll be surprised about how refreshed you’ll feel the next morning. If this has you interested in growing these plants yourself, view more here for the tools that you’ll need.
When you get a restful sleep, your mental health will be sure to get better.
7. Improve Your Mental Health
When you’re less stressed and get more sleep that in itself will help improve your health, but there are more benefits of indoor plants to your mental health.
Studies have actually shown that hospital patients who have plants in their room, or have the opportunity to look out at a garden recover quicker than those who don’t.
Plants help to increase our positivity toward life and again, make us feel relaxed. Plants can lower the effects of depression and loneliness. It’s a known fact that caring for a living thing can give us a sense of purpose.
You can get a cat or dog for this, but if you need something a little less high maintenance, a plant is a great alternative.
Not only can plants improve your mental health, but your mental focus as well. Keep plants in the classroom to sharpen your student’s focus.
8. Sharpens Your Focus
Slipping a few plants into your child’s room, or the room in which they do homework can help improve their focus.
This might be because plant leaves have the habit of absorbing background noise, making it easier to concentrate.
A study done in England showed that students demonstrated 70 percent more attentiveness when working in a room with plants. In the same study, attendance was also higher for lectures given in these classrooms.
Surprising Health Benefits of Indoor Plants
These are all of the benefits of indoor plants. Plants are natural healers; you can place them in tea or turn them to vapor to relieve stress. You can use them as a humidifier for asthma, or even use the cooling gel of aloe vera for your child’s cuts.
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