New Infographic from The Lawn Institute: Human health benefits of natural grass

The environmental benefits of natural grass are numerous and include everything from cooling the atmosphere to providing oxygen and from minimizing storm water runoff to purifying rainwater. But what is often overlooked, or rarely considered, are the human health benefits that natural grass provides.

A new infographic created by The Lawn Institute touches on a few of the many human health benefits associated with natural grass: Lawns are known to relieve stress, encourage physical activity, help to reduce obesity, boost immunity, enhance productivity, promote healing and actually improve mental functioning.

Nickolas Lavdis, Ph.D., University of Queensland, reports that studies have shown that even the smell of freshly cut grass reduces stress and protects nerve cells from the damage that stress can cause.

John Heinze, Ph.D., Environmental Health Research Foundation, reports that studies have not only demonstrated that viewing green space reduces stress, but it also blocks pain sensation by providing an overwhelmingly pleasant positive distraction.

Heinze goes on to report that findings from several studies have converged indicating that simply viewing certain types of nature and garden scenes, including lawns, significantly ameliorates stress within only five minutes or less.

A limited amount of research has found that viewing nature for longer periods not only helps to calm patients, but can also foster improvement in clinical outcomes — such as reducing pain medication intake and shortening hospital stays.

Infographic: The Lawn Institute