Twenty minutes among trees measurably lowers your stress hormone
Researchers found the biggest drop in cortisol came from 20 to 30 minutes in a green space. No exercise or phone needed.
"Get some fresh air" sounds like advice from a grandmother. It is also, it turns out, a fairly precise prescription.
Researchers at the University of Michigan asked 36 city dwellers to take a "nature pill" several times a week for eight weeks: time in any place outdoors that felt natural to them, a park, a garden, a tree-lined street, at a time of their choosing. The rules were no exercise, no phone, no social media and no conversations. They measured the stress hormone cortisol in people's saliva before and after.
Cortisol dropped after every nature pill. The biggest benefit per minute came between 20 and 30 minutes. Beyond that, it kept going down, but more slowly.
Other research points the same way. People who spend at least two hours a week in nature are more likely to report good health and wellbeing, according to a large study of nearly 20,000 people in England, whether they took the time in one go or spread across the week.
Your prescription - Aim for 20 to 30 minutes in a green space, three or more times a week. - It doesn't have to be a forest. A neighbourhood park, a society garden or a quiet tree-lined road works. - Leave the phone in your pocket, on silent, and pay attention to what is around you. - Combine it with the morning or evening walk you might already take, for a double benefit. - Take the children too. Time outdoors helps their eyes and their mood.
Where this comes from - Hunter MR, Gillespie BW, Chen SY. Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers. Frontiers in Psychology, 2019. - White MP et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports, 2019.
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