WHY BEING IN THE WOODS BOOST OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM?

When you find yourself lost in the essential green universe, you know you are reaching the right point. Your body and soul is aching for tranquility, for the mesmerizing and warm beauty of the forest that embrace you like the forgotten child. If we put aside all poetical thoughts about the forest meaning for the busy humans , we can also stick to the science that encourage the old bond between Homo sapiens and the world of plants.

The history is full of remarks about what forest ecosystem is giving to us. The ancient people learnt a long time ago that forest offers so many benefits. It is not only about shelter and food but also about resources and spiritual spot. The forest is the friend of us for the ages and only the modern people somehow lost their primal ties with the woods and slowly are getting aware that forest is more than comfort, its life itself.

When we imagine the forest like big habitat and home of millions of species of animals and plants , we can’t be nothing but amazed how this bio system is trying to handle all perfectly, in spite of modern industrial attack and human greed. The trees are being cut and eliminated with no mercy, leaving thousand of innocent animals without base and turning the wild area full of miracles into the empty screaming surfaces .Nevertheless, somehow, our forest is always standing out , so proud and calm, so stable and confident , still giving us the hope we need, the peace we desperately seek for.

Why the green therapy is actually so powerful? The fact is that outdoor activity, any, is helping is empowering our immune system. But, spending free time in the forest is one gift to ourselves that is opening the door of paradise for soul and body.

What’s happening when we are in the forest , allowing ourselves to be merged with the green collage around us ? The science is coming out with the interesting explanation that phytoncides are that what is helping us to enhance our immunity. How is that possible ? When we breathe the fresh air , we breathe in those phytoncides, so called airborne particles that plants radiate off to protects themselves from insects. These chemicals have anti fungal and antibacterial attributes which ensure plants enough energy to fight the certain disease. But, when we, humans, take those particles in, our bodies are responding by increasing the number and activity of white blood cell or natural killer cells ( NK). These warriors are able to recognize and kill tumor and virus- attacked cells within ourselves. Just to illustrate, if we spend 3 days in the forest, this activity of NK cells will be postponed to 30 days of active mechanism of protection.

The progressed and stressed people are able to relieve their stress or blood pressure just by looking at trees that are peacefully enjoying their own existence. Sometimes, the cracks in the woods are followed by the birds crisping and distant sounds of some other animal but above all, when we are in the forest, we are eliminating the anxiety and allowing ourselves to be reconnect with the source of harmony.

Not many humans have a luck to live nearby big forest system. 85% of Americans , for example, live in urban and suburban areas with the limited access to the 100% forest range. There are still escapes for them since there are nice gardens and green surfaces as the way out and approach to the daily need for trees surrounding.

We shouldn’t forget that plants do communicate with each others and also with animals and humans too. The plants do have their own language that might not be typical words or sounds but scents and colors. Some researchers pointed out that there are almost 2,000 scent vocabularies from 900 plant families. These are phytochemicals or terpenes. You can smell it if you consume mint tea, burn pine needles. They do communicate directly with our immune system and helping it with forest air ( alpha – pinene , beta-pinene…) . In medicine, they do have an imposante effect , especially in cancer and malaria therapy.

The problem is that the forests we know are dying due to the investive and scary ash borer: “ The invasion of the emerald ash borer, or EAB, (Agrilus planipennis) since 2002 has provided an unfortunate opportunity to look at the effect of tree-loss on human health. EAB is a non-native, wood-boring beetle that kills all species of ash (Fraxinus) trees within three years after infestation. In some communities, entire streets lined with ash were left barren after the beetle arrived in their neighborhood. A study looked at human deaths related to heart and lung disease in areas affected by EAB infestations. It found that across 15 states, EAB was associated with an additional 6,113 deaths related to lung disease and 15,080 heart-disease-related deaths.”

So, the health of forest is related to the health of humans. Why we do destroy the forests when they give so much to us ? Why we do not work actively to stop the pest that is killing them and to limit the industry? One day , when the last tree is gone, we will stay there , lonely and sick, being surrounded with metal and fear, getting that what we deserved : progress that took our health .

Leave the the trees alone and go to them , just to share happiness.