7 Science-Backed Benefits of Indoor Plants

Benefit # 1

Indoor plants may help reduce stress levels.

study Trusted Source published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that plants in your home or office can make you feel more comfortable, soothed, and natural.

In the study, participants were given two different tasks: repotting a houseplant or completing a short computer-based task. After each task, researchers measured the biological factors associated with stress, including heart rate and blood pressure.

They found that the indoor gardening task lowered the stress response in participants. The computer task, on the other hand, caused a spike in heart rate and blood pressure, even though the study participants were young men well-accustomed to computerized work.

Researchers concluded that working with plants could reduce both physiological and psychological stress.

Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4419447/

Benefit #2

How We Can Concentrate on One Thing at a Time by John Powers Brookline | by  John Powers Brookline | Medium

Real plants may sharpen your attention.

Sorry, plastic plants won’t help you pass your exams. In a small study involving 23 participants, researchers put students in a classroom with either a fake plant, a real one, a photograph of a plant, or no plant at all.

Brain scans of the participants showed that the students who studied with real, live plants in the classroom were more attentive and better able to concentrate than students in the other groups.

 

Study: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/5/796/htm

 

 

Benefit # 3

Working with plants can be therapeutic

For people experiencing the symptoms of mental illness, indoor gardening can be helpful.

Researchers Trusted Source have used horticultural therapy to increase feelings of well-being among people with depressionanxietydementia, and other conditions.

Although horticultural therapy has been around for centuries.

Emotional Impact of Flowers Study - About Flowers

 

study: https://safnow.org/aboutflowers/quick-links/health-benefits-research/emotional-impact-of-flowers-study/  

Benefit #4

Plants may help you recover from illness faster.

Being able to look at plants and flowers may speed your recovery from an illness, injury, or surgery. 2002 review of the research revealed that people recuperating from several kinds of surgery needed less pain medication and had shorter hospital stays than people who weren’t looking at greenery during their recovery periods.

Health Benefits of Gardens in Hospitals

6 Amazing Benefits of Indoor Plants for Your Doctor's Office

Benefit #6

 

 

Plants may improve your whole outlook on work.

ResearchersTrusted Source interviewed over 440 Amazon employees in India and the United States. They found that those whose office environment included natural elements like indoor plants felt greater job satisfaction and more commitment to the organization than those who didn’t work around natural elements. Researchers said the natural elements helped to buffer the effects of job stress and anxiety.

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4877070'''

Creating a Welcoming and Productive Work Environment with Plants | PlantVine

Benefit #7

 Plants may improve the quality of indoor air.

Scientific support for phytoremediation — that’s the word for plants scrubbing contaminants from the air — usually begins with a NASA study conducted in the 1980s.

Researchers then were looking for ways to improve the air quality in a sealed spacecraft, and they concluded that the roots and soil of houseplants reduced airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) significantly.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930073077

NASA - Wikipedia

 

29 Best air purifying plants from NASA clean air study

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