Improve Your Mental & Physical Health by Simply Adding Houseplants

Plants are very important. It's not new news to say plants are vital to our survival. Everything: food, building materials, medical efforts, oh and the most important of all, the process of taking carbon dioxide and transforming it into oxygen. It will come as no surprise then, recent studies conclude that household plants have a direct impact on our mental health & wellness.

There are numerous reasons why having indoor plants might improve our mood, and the most obvious is they’re nicer to look at and smell. Wallpaper and carpet don’t really match living things and floral colors. A recent study further supports this notion in its findings that there is a direct correlation between the amount of care required to keep a houseplant healthy and the positive psychological effect it had in the houseplant's caretaker. According to the research, those who share extended periods of time in the presence of plants tend to have better relationships with friends & family and accordingly experience heightened levels of happiness.

Fact: Plants Help People

Additional research found that flowering plants provide higher levels of happiness and therefore, placing flowering houseplants around the apartment home and in the workplace has the potential to significantly reduce stress levels. Science is science. Studies have shown that people who have been around houseplants are almost always more likely to help others, and usually have more advanced social relationships. People who care for houseplants are more likely to care for others, reaching out to their peers and creating strong bonds resulting from their mutual interests.

Plants Help Reduce Stress 

Natural aesthetic beauty is believed to have a soothing effect, and including ornamental houseplants around the home is a great way to lower high levels of stress and anxiety. As a result of the positive energy derived from a home that has plants in it, the likeliness of suffering from stress-caused depression is lessened as well. Collective research supports that by having plants in your home or work place, you improve your mental health by producing peace and open spaces to your brain.

Plants Help You Remember Your To-Do List

Including ornamental plants in the home and office boosts memory retention and concentration. How? The calming influence of natural environments increases a person’s ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Being outside or being under the influence of plants inside can improve memory retention as much as twenty percent, a recent University of Michigan study showed (Sewach).

Convinced yet? Great. Here are two examples of great houseplants to have in your home:

Spider Plant

Spider plants are a very popular indoor botanicals, and your friends are going to love them because umm duh, it's name, spider plant They’re very easy to take care of, and spider plants are very good at absorbing mold or allergens from the air and are great options to use in areas that are prone to dampness: laundry room and bathrooms. Spider plants are fairly low maintenance, too. Offer them with bright, indirect light and your spider plant will love you. Water the houseplant well but do not water it too much to the point of it becoming soggy, which can lead to root rot. In fact, spider plants are okay to dry out some between waterings.

Snake Plant

A study of CO2 conversion in plants by Harvard University observed that the snake plant is one of the greatest oxygen-producing houseplants. For those interested, ficus and pothos are two other plants that made the list. One of the most important snake plant health benefits is snake plant's can make small contribution to remove toxic air pollutants. It can do more than absorb CO too, it can absorb benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene; all of which are cancer-causing pollutants. Snake plants are some of the easiest to care for plants out there as it can withstand weeks of neglect without losing neither shape nor healthy look. They can thrive in environments with minimal light and water. 

See any similarities with our two houseplants? If you have kids, we’re hopefully making it easier to get them excited! Who gets Spider and who gets Snake?