May 11, 2010

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For Jen Green, planting a garden seemed like a logical thing to do. While she craved low-cost, organic vegetables ripening outside her door, her main motivation was simple: her children.

Jen, a naturopathic doctor in Integrative Medicine at Beaumont Hospitals, saw the garden as an outdoor classroom. "I wanted to teach my children about where their food comes from and the importance of taking care of the earth," she says. "I also wanted them to have an interest in what they are eating and how it makes them grow."

She's not alone. According to a National Gardening Association survey conducted last year, 43 million American households tended to vegetable gardens, an increase of 7 million households over 2008 figures. While the reason for the growth has a lot to do with the economy, home growers said they garden to spend time with their families, for the physical activity and to ensure better tasting and better quality food.

Work Up a Sweat

A major benefit of gardening comes from the physical work required to work the soil and maintain the plants as they grow. In the same survey, participants said they gardened for nearly five hours per week on plots of land that averaged 96 square feet. Turning compost, tilling a row, planting seeds and pulling weeds help gardeners of all ages burn calories. In fact, the work put into a garden is equivalent to circuit resistance training.

"There's a fair amount of moving and resistance that goes into gardening," says Tom Spring, an exercise physiologist at Beaumont.

And just as soil is prepared for planting, the body should be prepared for exercise from gardening, says Tom. With all of the twisting, turning, bending and reaching, it's important to warm up and stretch, maintain good posture and take breaks.

"For someone who is very active, gardening is a lower activity workout," he says. "But for those who aren't active, there is more risk for injury."

Dig the Nutrition

One of the biggest benefits that home gardens provide is the nutritional power that comes to the table at harvest. Having a garden can boost the consumption of fruits and vegetables, which has been shown to lower the risk of developing most cancers and reduce the incidence or intensity of other diseases, like heart disease and diabetes.

"Generally, you can take your pick of any disease, and a plant-based diet can help you avoid developing
it," says Dr. Green.

Aside from an abundance of vitamins, fruits and vegetables positively affect human health through phytonutrients, chemical compounds that occur in plants. For example, beta-carotene, a phytochemical, is found in yellow and orange fruits and has been shown to have anti-cancer properties.

While phytochemicals have been noted for their importance in reducing the incidence of common diseases, researchers have not been able to determine whether phytochemicals act on their own or use other compounds in the fruits and vegetables to promote healthy effects. And there are other benefits from eating from the garden.

"I'm sure it would make a whole lot easier if we could just take a pill," says Silvia Veri, a registered dietitian with the Beaumont Weight Control Center. "But it would only solve the part about the nutrients. Fruits and vegetables also provide us with water and dietary fiber."

And it is this fiber and water that help to fill up stomachs at mealtime. According to Silvia, a healthful diet limits portions of starches and proteins during meals, leaving plenty of room for low-calorie produce. By consuming larger portions of the fruits and vegetables, people feel full sooner, leading to less overall calorie consumption and less weight. As an added benefit, people who consume more plant fiber and water tend to experience less constipation and have a lower incidence of colon cancer.

Lessons in Health

Silvia finds one of the best parts of having a vegetable garden comes not in the food and the exercise but the lessons learned by the people tending to them, especially if those people are children. In her classes at the
Beaumont Weight Control Center, she often exposes overweight children to fresh fruit and vegetables for the first time.

"There are some children in this area who have never seen a cucumber before, much less tasted one," she says.
"If children are a part of the process of growing, picking or preparing vegetables, they are more likely to try it."

Super Foods Pack a Nutrition Punch

Learn more about some popular fruits and vegetables grown in gardens across Michigan and the health benefits they convey.