These days, the one interior design all over the place is keeping indoor plants. Does it clutter your indoors or serve any other beneficial purpose? Let’s learn about the amazing benefits of indoor plants not just for your home but your health too.
Indoor gardening is the talk of the town now. When you log in to Instagram or Pinterest, you’ll come across a feed filled with indoor gardening inspirations. Besides, YouTube is also filled with several plat-based podcasts focusing on indoor gardening.
This practice of collecting and nurturing houseplants bloomed during the pandemic. Lockdown made you realize how lonely you are and how much you need to look for hobbies to keep yourself engaged for better mental health.
Amongst all the hobbies, the one that has attracted many is indoor gardening.
Every morning, you get up and check into your green babies. You water them, fix them, and chop off the dried parts only to make sure they survive and give you company.
Have you ever thought nurturing and caring for indoor plants can benefit your health too?
Now this is something new!
Science has proved that living around green plants can give you good health. Sounds interesting, right?
In this blog, this is what we’re discussing: the benefits of indoor plants for your well-being. Today, you will learn about the advantages of keeping indoor plants and their impact on your health. Further, you’ll also get to know about the top 10 indoor plants that can improve your health.
7 Important Scientific Benefits of Indoor Plants that Support Your Well-Being
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Americans spent $8.5 billion more on gardening items in 2020. This report also pointed out that the trend of growing and nurturing indoor plants is seen more among younger adults these days.
If you look into the different social media platforms, you’ll find a list of plant groups where people share pictures of their green babies and discuss indoor gardening.
The primary reason behind this drive of the younger generation to invite greenery indoors is the immense health benefits of indoor plants.
For a long time now, naturopathic doctors have incorporated indoor plants in their houses. They spend more time amidst plants and consider it to positively impact their overall health.
Dr. Amy Rothenberg, a naturopathic practitioner and the president of the Massachusetts Society of Naturopathic Doctors believes that plants can heal you from within.
So, if you’re willing to learn about the health benefits of indoor plants, you’ve come to the right place.
7 Science-Backed Benefits of Indoor Plants
Many of you prefer living in cultivated green spaces. Not only are these areas soothing for your eyes, but also highly beneficial for your overall health.
Being surrounded by plants calms you and helps you control your stress levels.
Here are 7 more benefits of indoor plants that you must know before you invite them to your home:
1. Indoor plants reduce stress levels
Keeping plants in your home or office area can reduce your stress levels and make you feel more comfortable and energetic, as mentioned in a study by the Journal of Physiological Anthropology.
To prove the immense health benefits of indoor plants, this study gave two specific tasks to its participants – repotting a houseplant and finishing a short task on a computer.
After completing the tasks, the researchers measured the stress levels of all the participants. Surprisingly, people associated with repotting indoor plants had a reduced stress level than those working on the computer. Participants finishing the computer task had heightened blood pressure and heart rate.
So, it is scientifically proven that indoor plants can minimize your psychological and physiological stress levels.
2. Real plants make you more attentive
Many of you prefer decorating your indoors with artificial plastic plants. Sadly, these plastic plants aren’t of any good to your health.
In a study by MDPI, researchers divided a group of students and put them in separate rooms. All these rooms had a real plant, a photograph of a fake plant, and no plant at all.
The results of this research were shocking. In the brain scans of the students, the researchers found that those who lived with real plants in the classroom had better concentration levels. They were able to focus more.
So, if you want to stay focused on your endeavors and concentrate on specific aspects, installing indoor plants can aid your process.
3. Nurturing plants is therapeutic
Today, the kind of hectic lifestyle you lead is sure to trigger various mental health issues unknowingly. Here, indoor gardening can keep these mental health concerns under control.
The researchers of the National Institute for Care and Excellence had undertaken the practice of horticulture to reduce mental health issues like dementia, anxiety, and depression. They noticed that the presence of indoor plants enhances the thoughts of taking care of your health despite all odds.
4. Indoor plants help you recover faster from illness
If you have had surgery recently or you are suffering from a cough and cold lately, befriend your little green babies.
In another research, researchers stated that hospital patients who enjoyed greenery every day had shorter stays and fewer medications in their recovery stage.
So, install indoor plants today to stay healthy.
5. Indoor plants boost your productivity
You must have seen some indoor plants kept in many offices. Are they only for enhancing the interior decoration of an office?
Well, the primary purpose of keeping indoor plants at offices is to boost employee productivity. Plants release your stress levels and let you work at peace. They improve your creativity and help you function better.
So, the indoor plant in your cubicle isn’t just a decorative piece. It can very much be your best friend.
6. Plants change your outlook on life
Most offices give a pleasant view of the city park from the office windows. If yours gives you the same vibe, you’re lucky. If not, surround yourself with some indoor plants. In both cases, the impact is the same.
Research interviewed more than 400 Amazon employees both in the US and India.
It revealed that people who had natural indoor plants in the office had a greater commitment and greater satisfaction to work than those who were devoid of it. The employees said that the plants helped to keep their anxiety and stress under control.
7. Indoor plants improve the air quality indoors
Phytoremediation helps plants improve the air quality indoors. It is the process by which plants remove the contaminants from the air and purify it.
This process began with a study by NASA where scientists wanted to improve the quality of air in their sealed aircraft. They inferred that the soil and roots of the houseplants eliminate airborne volatile compounds.
Top 10 Effective Indoor Plants for Good Health
Now that you’ve got an idea about the benefits of indoor plants, it’s time to focus on a list of effective indoor plants that can improve your health.
While nurturing plants is definitely good for your mental and physical well-being, here are some of the best ones:
1. Spider plant
- Does not need much maintenance
- Little investment helps them thrive better
- Narrow leaves give them their name
- Purifies the surrounding air
- Acts as a natural filter to reduce pollutants
- Removes 95% of toxic formaldehyde
2. Peace lily
- Evokes a sense of calm
- Benefits health over time
- Has air cleaning properties
- Removes carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds
3. Rubber plants
- Easy to take care of and maintain
- Needs to be watered only once a week
- Has air purifying properties
4. Elephant ear plants
- Big, heart-shaped leaves
- Need bright light and regular watering to keep the soil moist
- Bigger leaves acquire extra space
5. Snake plants
- Tall leaves that grow vertically
- Decorative and extremely low-maintenance
- Need water only when the soil is dry
- Removes toxins from the air with time
6. Ferns
- Grow easily with little maintenance
- Looks more decorative when potted on hanging baskets
- Need medium to bright light
- Grows well in moist soil
- Cleans the air by removing toxins and VOCs
7. Pothos
- Indirect sunlight helps them grow profusely
- Little watering is enough
- Reduces indoor ozone levels
- Eliminates risk of respiratory issues
- Removes VOCs from air
8. English ivy
- Lowers formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, and toxins from the air
- Need direct sunlight
- Must be watered when soil dries
9. Succulents and cacti
- Grows well on little to no care
- Needs watering only when the soil is completely dry
- Enhances the humidity levels in the room
- Has medicinal properties
10. Herbs
- Contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants
- Inspire you to cook often
- Needs less maintenance
Conclusion
Taking care of your indoor plants and cherishing their beauty can give you a healing effect. So, the health benefits of indoor plants are no longer restricted to purifying air. Rather, they can contribute to good mental health as well.
Right from stress management to improving your mood, these green babies can give immediate benefits and promote microbiome diversity.
So, if you are still trying to decide whether to install indoor plants, I suggest you go for it.
If you’ve already done it, let me know how it’s going.
