At 177 foot South Falls, the highest waterfall in Silver Falls State Park, water pounds into a large pool with bone-crushing force and majestic beauty

Oregon’s Silver Falls State Park is a study in green. The forest is thick and welcoming. The sound of water shouts at the park’s ten waterfalls and sings along the steams connecting them. You can smell and feel the freshness in the air, and it’s not because of any canned scent. An amazing hiking trail, with breath-taking scenery at every step, loops around the waterfalls.

Can you feel better simply looking at plants? Thousand of studies show that plant-based nutrition is the healthiest way to eat. But what about just spending time in green spaces, which are open, undeveloped stretches of land with tress and other vegetation? Silver Falls State Park is an excellent example of a green space.

Researchers have found that merely being out in nature, even without exercising, boosts energy and can add years to your life. Being in nature counters stress and may reduce anger, frustration, and aggression. Time outdoors can be transformative.

In other words, nature is the antidote to many of the ills we suffer, both physical and mental. What a low-cost, awesome way to boost health, reduce medical costs, and increase the quality of life. No pretty pictures on television or in the movies can substitute for the

Streams thread the waterfalls in Silver Falls State Park together with a ribbon of lush beauty

real thing.

Yet the remnants of the great forests that once blanketed much of the United States are still being destroyed. While the trees in Silver Falls are protected, ugly patches of clear cuts checker the land stretching around it in almost every direction. Protecting the forest is protecting the future for ourselves and our children.

Diet is inseparable from this task. Forests around the world are destroyed to open land for grazing “grass fed beef” or to grow feed for farmed animals. Eating a whole foods, plant-based diet is the best way to save the trees. This eating choice is effective because it drastically reduces the economic incentive to destroy forests. Deforestation is a leading cause of greenhouse gas build-up because trees store so much carbon in their tissues.  So a plant-based diet slows climate change as well.

Making your voice heard is critical. You can join campaigns against clear cutting and organizations that protect our last remaining undeveloped land. While it’s true that wood is a renewable resource,

Clear cuts, a wound on the earth, embody greed and short-sightedness in a common Oregon scene

mature forests take hundreds or even thousands of years to reach ecological perfection. The complexity of such a landscape is unrivaled for scenic magnificence.

You’ll feel so energetic from an animal-free diet that you will have no trouble getting into the green world to hike, kayak, bike, or whatever else you enjoy. You will be eating health through your eyes as you gaze at unbroken stretches of pure beauty.

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Blog posting by Janice Stanger, Ph.D. Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet, the smart person’s nutrition book built on sustainable food choices. Enjoy six kinds of whole foods for permanent, hunger-free weight loss and health.

June can’t arrive soon enough for me. I signed up for an introductory permaculture class held June 2nd and 5th at San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas. Permaculture is an approach to growing food that works with nature. Instead of attacking and attempting to overpower nature – always futile and destructive in the long run – permaculture works in harmony with natural law.

Sunflowers combine the cheerful beauty of flowers with a delicious crop

The result is food for people and habitat for birds and wildlife.

Permaculture seeks to connect people and nature in a seamless web. Horticulture therapy takes advantage of this principle as well, This therapy treats a variety of patients and ailments using gardens and gardening. The lush colors and textures of plants is a welcome respite from a sterile, institutional health care setting.

For example, hospitals may bring patients into the outdoors to tend plants as part of their rehabilitation program. Elderly nursing home residents gain strength planting, weeding, and cutting flowers. Mental health settings can incorporate gardening into group therapy. Even Alzheimers disease patients become less anxious and more focused when engaged with nature.

You don’t need to wait until you are a patient to take advantage of the healing power of gardening. Growing plants is therapeutic for many reasons. First, and most obvious, is the exercise. Gardening may involve walking, lifting, bending, stooping, digging, and other physical tasks. Even tasks that are not strenuous add up when you do them frequently or over a period of time.

Don’t forget the nutritional advantage. If you grow vegetables, fruits, beans, potatoes, whole grains, herbs, nuts, or seeds, you are likely to eat these whole foods. These are the foods you are meant to thrive on, that keep you lean and can even reverse chronic disease. The crops fresh from your garden are the tastiest and most nutritious food you can get. Since you grew it, chances are you will eat and enjoy it.

Indoor environments are usually more polluted with toxic chemicals that the outdoors is. So when you garden, you benefit from the fresh air. Grow your flowers and food organically so you are not poisoned by herbicides, insecticides, and other dangerous pollutants. The daylight boosts mood, and the sunshine teams with your own skin to make essential vitamin D.

Researchers have found the health benefits of green spaces transcend all these practical advantages, though. Simply looking at nature is healing. Gardening is an excellent reason to hang out in a relaxing, green space. Being in nature can overcome stress and fatigue and helps reduce feelings of anger, frustration, and aggression.

Find whatever space you can and grow some of your own tasty whole foods. Even at work, you can suggest a group garden to your

When you grow your own whole foods, you will eat better and exercise more

employer if there is any location for it. Some employers are offering access to a garden as a new employee benefit. All the therapeutic advantages help keep health costs down and morale up. Employees can bring home fresh food for dinner, saving money on groceries they don’t need to buy.

So my permaculture class is beckoning. Please consider joining me if you live in San Diego, or find a class near you. The sun, soil, and the freshest food you can eat are their own reward.

Intrigued? Now you can use our Whole Foods Blog Finder to target informative, fun postings on plant-based nutrition. Quick information at no cost!

Blog by Janice Stanger, Ph.D.  Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet, a nutrition book built on sustainable food choices. Enjoy six kinds of whole foods for permanent, hunger-free weight loss and health.

Can you feel better simply looking at plants? Just about everyone knows that plant-based nutrition is the healthiest way to eat. But what about just spending time in green spaces? Scientists have found that merely being out in nature, even without exercising, boosts energy, makes you feel relaxed, and adds to longevity.

When my older daughter Rebecca was visiting last weekend, we dedicated a day to getting away from the city into gorgeous mountain scenery. We decided to hike at Mt. Palomar State Park. A two-hour drive took us back hundreds of years to the time that trees were everywhere and wild animals shared our everyday lives. We saw two large deer and a woodpecker with a spectacular red head diligently pecking at a five-story pine tree.

A fallen tree about five feet across became our delightful playground as we

Mt. Palomar State Park peaceful meadow

climbed among its branches. A few minutes walk from there, a peaceful open meadow invited us to stay and share its quiet solitude for a timeless century.

Sadly, because of California’s budget crisis, this extraordinary park will be closed for one third of the year: from December 1st through the next April. What a loss for all of us. Many other state parks will also close. Where will people get to rejuvenate in green spaces? How will we maintain our roots in the natural world?

Isn’t this counterproductive, at a time when health care costs are severely straining government budgets at all levels? Parks enhance health, mood, and productivity. How can anyone think we will save money, even in the short-run, by closing them?

If everyone ate a whole foods, plant-based diet, the national health care expenditure would shrink so drastically we could open every park every day with so much money left over! Wouldn’t that be a better choice for all of us? Live free of chronic illness in places that delight the eyes and the soul – simply by making a new choice the next time you are hungry.

Intrigued? Now you can use our Whole Foods Blog Finder to target informative, fun postings on plant-based nutrition. Quick information at no cost!

Blog posting by Janice Stanger, Ph.D. Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet, the smart person’s nutrition book built on sustainable food choices. Enjoy six kinds of whole foods for permanent, hunger-free weight loss and health.