Turns out, adding a little holiday greenery to homes has many benefits, both physical and mental.
Artificial trees don’t offer the same mental health benefits as spending time near natural trees
The twinkling lights, delicate decorations, and the scent of pine – there’s something innately comforting about traditional holiday season décor. This custom began in Germany in the 16th century and spread to other countries over the next three centuries, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The artificial Christmas tree was invented in America, and the plastic ones we know today originated in the 1950s and 1960s.
While they have gained popularity due to their convenience and longevity, artificial trees do not offer the same mental health benefits. Like spending time near natural trees, some studies report.
Research found that taking a “forest bath” reduces people’s cortisol levels
According to a 2018 study published in the journal Behavioral Sciences, exposure to a natural environment reduces psychological stress. “I would hope that bringing some fresh air indoors would affect us positively,” psychologist Sonja Peterson-Lewis, an associate professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, explained in dialogue with CNN.
The research found that taking a “forest bath”, an activity that involves visiting a forest by immersing yourself in it with all five senses. It reduces people’s levels of cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress.
Multiple studies have shown that consciously walking through a forest can have a positive impact on a person’s well-being. An investigation found that taking a “bath in the forest”, an activity that consists of visiting a forest by immersing yourself in it with the five senses. It reduces people’s levels of cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress.
According to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research. We can still get some of the same benefits from bathing in the forest, such as reduced stress from indoor plants.
Having a natural Christmas tree has a number of mental health benefits
To Charlie Hall, Ellison professor and chair in the department of horticultural sciences at Texas A&M University in College Station. “Having a natural Christmas tree has a number of mental health benefits, including a reduction in anxiety and depression.” “People tend to be compassionate in the presence of live plants in the house. And, of course, Christmas trees are a perfect fit, ”said the expert in a statement.
“Placing a real tree inside our homes is like setting up our own therapeutic plant pharmacy: a living machine that continues to pump fragrant and health-promoting chemicals long after they have been cut from the ground,” he explained in an interview with Metro, aromatherapy expert Kim Lahiri.
The fragrance of a Christmas tree is found in the ester families AND hidden from nature’s chemicals. Terpenes are aromatic compounds found in many plants and esters are chemical compounds. These trees mainly emit bornyl acetate and the terpenes alpha and beta-pinene, among others such as limonene, camphene and alpha-phelandrene.
Numerous health benefits have been found
While these compounds give us great fragrance, Christmas trees themselves can use them in remarkable ways to increase their chances of survival. And just as they are beneficial to the tree, they are also extremely beneficial to us, and not just because they smell so good.
“Numerous health benefits have been found associated with the terpenes and esters commonly released by Christmas trees. These chemicals such as alpha-pinene are prevalent throughout the essential oil world and have been traditionally used to treat various ailments for centuries ”, warns the specialist.
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