Gardening

Get Addicted to Gardening

In unconnected research, scientists have found that the simple act of picking fruit or vegetables, whether from a garden or in the wild, causes the brain to release the "pleasure chemical" dopamine, which activates the brain's reward centers. Dopamine is also released from seeing, smelling or eating a pleasurable food.

Indeed, dopamine plays a role in all pleasurable experiences and is thought to be responsible for much of the physical component of addictive behaviors, including compulsive shopping. Researchers believe that our brains evolved to reward us for important behaviors such as finding foods, and that our modern environment of abundance has allowed these psychological mechanisms to be co-opted into unhealthy patterns.

"I have often remarked on the great joy I feel when I forage in the garden, especially when I discover and harvest the 'first of the season', the first luscious strawberry to ripen or emergence of the first tender asparagus shoot," commented writer Robyn Francis on permaculture.com. "I have also often wondered why I had a degree of inherent immunity to the retail-therapy urges that afflict some of my friends and acquaintances. Maybe as a long-term gardener I've been getting a constant base-load dopamine high which has reduced the need to seek other ways to appease this primal instinct."

"I suppose the trick is to rewire our brains to crave the dopamine hit from the garden and other more sustainable pursuits and activities," she added

For those interested in garden therapy, it's worth noting a 2008 study that suggested gardening with herbicides may not supply the same benefits. As a matter of fact, it seems even eating non-organic food may place your mood at risk. Researchers found that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular herbicide Roundup, actually lowers your body's levels of both serotonin and dopamine.

Because Roundup and its ingredients build up in the environment and may even be absorbed through the skin, it is also best to avoid non-organic foods, particularly those likely to be engineered for Roundup resistance, such as corn and soy.

By : Haiderzai