Growing Your Own Vegetables – Lose Weight And Save Money!
Growing your own vegetables can be an excellent way to help you lose weight, save money, and eat healthier. You do not have to have acres of land, a great deal of experience, or a ton of time to grow you own vegetables. In fact, spending just a few hours a week tending to plants and working with the soil has been shown to lower stress, boost immune system function, and lower blood pressure.
Working with vegetable plants and tending to your garden can provide an excellent workout, without feeling like work. Typical gardening activities, such as raking, weeding, and planting, provide cardiovascular and aerobic exercise. Several studies have shown that gardening can burn up to 300 calories in women and up to 400 calories in men. Many older people benefit a great deal from gardening due to the low impact nature of the stretching and bending, which has also been shown to reduce the effects of osteoporosis. Carrying heavy bags of soil, fertilizers, and large plants mimics the activity of “weightlifting”, which can help to build lean muscle.
In addition to getting some beneficial physical exercise, gardening can also benefit mental health. From enjoying the beauty of the plants, to savoring the wonderful tastes of the vegetables, you will get a great sense of satisfaction and success from gardening. Many researchers have found that activities such as pulling weeds and tending to the needs of individual plants releases stress, and can help boost energy levels. The process of planting seeds, nurturing them, watching the plants grow, and then gaining nutrients from the fruit produced has been clinically shown to promote a more spiritual connection to life.
Of course growing your own vegetables also helps to save you money and provides you with safe, healthy food. Grocery stores often receive shipments of vegetables that are not fully ripened so they will have a longer shelf life and survive their trip. This lowers the nutritional benefits, as well as compromises taste. Since most vegetables are shipped to stores, the cost can be quite high. When you grow your own vegetables you do not have to purchase them, and you can let them mature on the vine or in the soil, which only adds more nutrients. You have control over any types of pest control used, as well as how much is applied. If you have a bumper crop of vegetables during your growing season, try canning or freezing the extra produce. This will further help you to save money, as well as allow you to enjoy your own homegrown goods during the off-season.
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