Plants are soothing. In one study, researchers asked people to repot a
houseplant or complete a short computer-based task, and afterwards, they
checked participants’ heart rate and blood pressure. Then the groups
switched tasks. After working with plants, people reported feeling
comfortable and soothed, and their blood pressure dropped. The computer
task, on the other hand, caused them to feel uncomfortable and
“artificial,” and was associated with a spike in blood pressure and
sympathetic nervous system activity. The findings suggest that “indoor
plants can reduce physiological and psychological stress,” the study
authors concluded. “We see a clear connection with the fact that being
around plants improves cortisol levels in our body,” says Melinda Knuth,
an assistant professor of horticultural science at North Carolina State
University. “We hold our stress hormone, cortisol, in our saliva, and we
know this is decreased when we’re around plants.”
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