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I recently started reading reading the book “Forest Bathing” by Dr, Qing Li. It was recommended to me by one of our Burn the Fat Inner Circle members. The book is about nature walking and the science of walking in nature that was developed in Japan. I had the book on my shelf a long time and finally picked it up this week when we launched our Burn the Fat walking challenge. I’m half way through already and really enjoying it, including the beautiful photos, mostly of the Japanese forests.
Before I started reading it, I already believed in the restorative power of nature, and the health benefits of walking in nature. However, I didn’t know anything about the book or “forest bathing.” At first I wondered whether this kind of “forest medicine” might be some esoteric Asian philosophy kind of stuff. I didn’t know whether it might even be a bunch of “new age woo.”
After reading it turns out Dr. Li is a Physician, immunologist and associate professor and while written in simple language for the layperson, the information is based on science. He doesn’t cite that many studies, and I wish he would have gone deeper into the research. I am a research nerd like that. However, the main idea, that nature walking has amazing health benefits, is evidence-based.
Research on the health benefits of walks in nature
Like I usually do, I flipped to the scientific references in the back and started looking up some of the studies he cited on the health benefits of spending time in nature, viewing nature, and walking in nature. From the small handful he provided, I was able to find many more.
The evidence is convincing. I don’t think there’s s any question that time in nature is good for our health, especially walking in nature. I think most people believe this already without needing studies to back it up. Both intuition and experience back it up.
There was one study I found that wasn’t cited in his book (it was published after the book was published), that really grabbed my attention. It was randomized controlled trial about the effect of nature walking on stress.It was published tin the scientific journal, Environment and behavior by an international research group from Luxembourg, Iceland and the UK.
Research reveals the benefits of nature walking on hormones and stress reduction
The benefits of nature walks are probably far reaching. Walking may be one of the best “balms for body and brain” as neuroscientist Shane Omara put it, not just a benefit for the body alone. But this study focused on the effect of walking in nature under real-life stress. Specifically, the researchers measured cortisol response (cortisol is a stress hormone).
They put together a very clever research design, not only to measure the health benefits of walking in nature, but also to compare that to walking on a treadmill. In addition a third variable was comparing the walking in outdoor or indoor environment to viewing nature scenes (on TV).
The main findings were:
- All three interventions lowered cortisol levels (had a restorative effect). Yep, even viewing nature on TV
- Walking in nature resulted in lower cortisol levels than simply viewing nature
- Walking alone (exercise) even on a treadmill is beneficial at reducing stress levels
- Walking in nature mitigates the stress response (lowers cortisol) more than physical exercise alone
In this study, the nature walks (and exercise sessions were 40 minutes). In reading Li’s book, he suggested at least 2 hours immersed in nature once a week and he said 4 hours was better. Im not sure if he had a scientific reference for that or if it was his own prescription.
Even if 2 to 4 hours is better (I’ll take all day given the chance), this study shows beneficial effects on only 40 minutes. In fact, other studies have showed benefits in 30 minutes and even as little as 10 minutes, and research group said the biggest impact happens in the first 5 minutes. There was even a study suggesting that while at work, being able to look out a window to nature or greenery for just minutes gives you benefits for mind and body.
Nature walking vs treadmill walking
Now here is one of the most interesting findings and one of the most clever parts of the study design. The subjects were students and they were followed for a semester right into the stressful finals period. While the results showed that walking in nature reduces stress (cortisol) more than walking in a treadmill indoors, the difference wasn’t that huge. Any kind of walking is great for you and is a great stress reducer.
But what they discovered is that during periods of acute high stress such as final exams, the benefit of walking in nature was the biggest of all. This tells us that any kind of walking (and other types of exercise) is great for our health, including for stress reduction.
If you find yourself in a brief period where your life stress is extraordinarily high, finding the time to get out into nature could be one of the best stress reducers of all. In addition, this study is one of many showing that the benefits are biological – a measurable difference in stress hormones – they are not just mental or mood-boosting benefits.
Maybe you’re fortunate enough to life somewhere that you can get into the woods briefly every day. But even if you can only get away to the woods or natural areas once a week, it’s worth making it a priority if you’d like a sure-fire way to reduce your stress levels and feel a lot better.
Here’s a great way to get yourself out the door and walking more
Of course we endorse resistance training for absolutely everyone. But there’s a reason we also recommend walking (and hiking in the woods) so often in our Burn The Fat Inner Circle community…
…to the point that we sponsor not only body transformation contests, but also walking contests, namely our Burn The Fat million step challenge.
If you want some extra encouragement and motivation to up off the couch or chair and get out on the trails consider entering one of our Million step fitness challenges.
There’s a challenge just kicking off this week of April 11th to April 17th, which means you still have time to join us. It’s fun, you’ll get fit, there’s a competitive part of it, and there’s a social part of it too. You’ll meet a ton of great people from our Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle community.
I’ll have to talk about it in another blog post, but there are studies showing amazing benefits of group walking as well. And while group walking often refers to in person groups, the benefits of online groups are powerful as well. Social connection is another balm for the body and mind.
An invitation to our walking challenge:
Our community is thousands strong, and hundreds have already chosen to jump into our 2022 spring million step challenge.
You’re invited to join us if you haven’t already.
The contest is free to enter for all our subscribers and you can win cool prizes like FitBits or new shoes from Zappos. You can get all the details and enter by clicking the link below
All walking and all exercise is great, yet I hope after reading this, you also find the time to get outdoors, even if it’s only once a week on a Saturday or Sunday.
The benefits are amazing. Walking is ridiculously good for you. Hope to see you in our iron-pumping, high-stepping group soon.
Learn more and sign up free on this page:
w==> www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/public/Spring-2022-million-step-challenge.cfm
Tom Venuto,
Author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle – The Bible Of Fat Loss
Founder, Burn the Fat Inner Circle
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert. He is also a recipe creator specializing in fat-burning, muscle-building cooking. Tom is a former competitive bodybuilder and today works as a full-time fitness coach, writer, blogger, and author. In his spare time, he is an avid outdoor enthusiast and backpacker. His book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is an international bestseller, first as an ebook and now as a hardcover and audiobook. The Body Fat Solution, Tom’s book about emotional eating and long-term weight maintenance, was an Oprah Magazine and Men’s Fitness Magazine pick. Tom is also the founder of Burn The Fat Inner Circle – a fitness support community with over 55,000 members worldwide since 2006. Click here to learn more about Burn the fat Inner Circle
Scientific reference:
Olafsdottir, G et al, Health Benefits of Walking in Nature: A Randomized Controlled Study Under Conditions of Real-Life Stress, Environment and Behavior 1–27, 2018.
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