Hi everyone, it’s Claire on the blog here today talking about why it is important to be outside and how it can positively benefit your health. If you’re like me, sometimes being outdoors isn’t as comfortable as being indoors in the nice air conditioning, and so I have to do a little research to figure out ways to be outside. Before I dive into ways that our family has tried to be outdoors more, let me tell you more about why it’s important to be outside for the sake of your health.
4 BENEFITS OF BEING OUTDOORS
1. The air quality is better (usually!).
Minus these weird months of bad air quality here in Wisconsin, usually the air quality is much better outdoors. Research suggests that air quality indoors can be 10 times more toxic than the air quality outdoors. I know most people think about being outdoors and think about factory smoke, car exhaust, and things like that that pollute the environment, but truth be told, our homes can contain way more pollution due to things like paint fumes, carpet and other material off gassing, poor ventilation in our homes, and other chemicals we might use that pollute the air.
So, being outside really is better air quality – usually. In these months where the air quality just isn’t cutting it, yes, let’s talk about an indoor air filter to help with purifying that air. But in general, being outside is the best option for your air quality.
Also, if you have been struggling with the air quality these past few months, give Pollutox a try. It’s gentle and GREAT for helping our bodies detox the pollutants we’ve been breathing in.
2. Get your Vitamin D naturally.
We see it day in and day out in the clinic – vitamin D deficiency. While conventional ranges are much broader, in functional medicine, we like to see vitamin D levels between 60-80 for optimal health. Vitamin D is not only important for bone health (recommended to take with K2 for bone absorption – here’s a great option), but it’s also a great immune system regulator (of course, this is not medical advice; please consult your doctor before starting a new supplement).
So, how does this connect to being outside? The sun is the best source of vitamin D! You can take it all day long as a supplement like I mentioned above, but if you can get it from the sun, that’s even better. When possible, 10-15 minutes of sun without sunscreen in the sun helps raise your vitamin D levels.
3. Grounding and lowering inflammation in the body
Like we talked about this past Wednesday on our Instagram post, grounding is one of the easiest, yet most beneficial, things we can do for our bodies and inflammation. Did you know that research studies showed that grounding helped heal physical wounds on people’s bodies faster than similar wounds on other people’s bodies in the same study?
Ok, so what is grounding and how does it work? Great question.
A short summary is this: Grounding is when you go barefoot outside. Why do we want to do grounding? Our bodies run on electrical currents (think about your nervous system) and our skin acts like a conductor in our body. When we are physically touching the earth with our skin, the electrons, protons, neutrons, etc., from the earth are able to help lower inflammation as well as fight off free radicals in the body that cause harm. Grounding is a natural way to reduce inflammation in the body caused by disease.
4. Reduce your anxiety
Do you ever have moments where you feel overwhelmed and like you just need a minute to clear your head? Just me?
Well, I’m here to tell you that research shows that by taking a walk outside, your anxiety can be reduced in natural ways. Can it help get rid of your anxiety? Maybe not. But walking outdoors has been shown to help boost overall feeling of wellbeing and lower anxiety. So, why not give it a try and go for a walk each day, especially while we have these beautiful summer days?
4 EASY WAYS TO GET OUTSIDE
Here’s what our family does (well, or tries to do)…
1. Take a quick post-dinner walk
This doesn’t happen every night of course, but when we can, we try to walk around the block for at least 10 minutes. This not only achieves all of the things we mentioned above, but it also helps regulate your blood sugar levels if you’re walking after eating a meal.
2. Eat outside.
Again, not perfect at this, but when we can eat on the front porch, we try to. Or maybe just having a snack outside. We at least attempt to be outside in some form each day, and typically meal time / snack time is a decent time to try and be outside.
3. Exercise outside.
Whether it be walking, running, yoga, or going to the park for some push-ups and pull-ups on the jungle gym, this is a great way to get outside and move your body.
4. Embrace the seasons.
This is a goal for us this coming year. Wisconsin winters are not our favorite (well, at least not mine!). So, when it’s cold outside, we’re still going to try and get outside at some point during the day. For us, it might be a brisk (very brisk) walk after lunch – all bundled up. It’s easy to be outside when it’s summertime and warm, but our goal is to be outside in some form throughout the winter, too. Stay tuned to see how we do!