Does nature restore you? – Part 2

In my previous post, I shared the evidence of how nature can restore you.  I appreciate that not everyone in London lives within easy access to a green space, and it turns out that it may not be necessary to visit the green space just look at a green space.

This first occurred to me a few weeks ago, when I was in Manchester.  In the hotel reception they had screens playing a short video clip of a roaring log fire.  A roaring log fire just happens to be another of those things that I find both calms me, reduces my stress levels and restores me.  What I noticed is that I had a positive response to the video clip, even though it was just a film of a log fire rather than an actual log fire.  So this made me think, would just looking at a picture of nature on your PC have the same positive impact as going out in nature.

Li & Sullivan in a randomised controlled experiment demonstrated that views to green landscapes promote attention restoration and help individuals to recover from stress.  In another study, researches in China, have discovered that viewing nature based scenes were restorative and those with more openness but no people were more lived to reduce stress.  So maybe you could just look at a picture instead.

So for those of you where its not practical to spend 5 minutes in nature per day, why not look at a picture of a green landscape (without people) on your mobile phone  or tablet or pc, and see if it boosts your attention levels and restores you.

References

D Li and W C Sullivan, Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue.  Landscape and Urban Planning, vol 148, 2016, pp 149 – 158.

Wang et al Stress recovery and restorative effects of viewing different urban park scenes in Shanghai, China.  Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2016, 15, pp 112- 122

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    1. Innerfield I. The anti-inflammatory effect of parenterally administered proteases. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1957 Aug 30;68(1):167-76; discussion 176-7.
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    3. Taussig SJ The mechanism of the physiological action of bromelain Medical Hypotheses 1980; 6: 99-104
    4. Donaho C, Rylander C Proteolytic enzymes in athletic injuries: a double blind study of a new anti-inflammatory agent Delaware Medical Journal 1962; 34: 168-170.
    5. Cirelli MG Clinical experience with bromelains in proteolytic enzyme therapy of inflammation and edema Medical Times 1964; 92(9): 919-922.
    6. Taussig SJ, Batkin S Bromelain, the enzyme complex of pineapple and its clinical application Journal of Ethnopharmacology 1988; 22: 191-203.
    7. Atal CK, Zutshi U, Rao PG. Scientific evidence on the role of Ayurvedic herbals on bioavailability of drugs. J Ethnopharmacol. 1981 Sep;4(2):229-32.
    8. Velpandian T, Jasuja R, Bhardwaj RK, Jaiswal J, Gupta SK. Piperine in food: interference in the pharmacokinetics of phenytoin. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. 2001 Oct-Dec;26(4):241-7.
    9. Miller et. Al. The effects of protease supplementation on skeletal muscle function and D.O.M.S. following downhill running. Journal of Sports Sciences 22, 365-372;2004.

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