Ladies, it might be time to pack up and head into nature—according to a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, surrounding yourself with vegetation and greenery might be the secret to a longer life.
As reported by House Beautiful, a team of researchers from Harvard and Brigham Women’s Hospital analyzed data from 108,630 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study from 2000 to 2008. The study found that women with higher levels of vegetation surrounding their homes had significantly lower mortality rates than women with lower levels. The vegetation levels were determined using satellite imagery over the span of several years and seasons.
Women who lived in areas considered to be the greenest had a 12 percent lower mortality rate than women who lived in the least green areas. The numbers were even more pronounced when it came to specific disease rates; women in the top vegetation group had a 34 percent lower risk of respiratory-related death and 13 percent lower risk of cancer-related death to the bottom vegetation group.
“We were surprised to observe such strong associations between increased exposure to greenness and lower mortality rates,” Peter James said to House Beautiful, research associate in the Harvard T.H. Chan School Department of Epidemiology. “We were even more surprised to find evidence that a large proportion of the benefit from high levels of vegetation seems to be connected with improved mental health.”
