Practicing your green thumb can be good for your well-being, a new study revealed. Experts from the United Kingdom found that allotment gardening actually helps increase a person's self-esteem, ease depression, and calm anger.

In a collaborative effort, researchers from Essex and Westminster universities interviewed 269 people, in which half of them were gardeners. The respondents who were familiar with gardening were asked about how they feel before and after working in an allotment.

The study, published in Oxford's the Journal of Public Health, found that respondents who spent as little as 30 minutes a week in an allotment experienced significant boost in their mental well-being.

Compared to those who didn't practice allotment gardening, allotment gardeners were found to have fewer problems regarding weight as their body mass index (BMI) were significantly lower. These gardeners also had lower levels of tension, depression, fatigue and anger, researchers noted.

No matter how much time was spent in tending the garden, the results were still not altered.

"Allotment gardening might play an important role in promoting mental well-being in people residing in urban areas," explained Dr. Carly Wood, co-author of the case study.

Wood said that the practice of allotment gardening is beneficial because it could contribute to a healthier and greener economy that is dedicated to the prevention of illnesses. She said that the approach can lead to lower costs and savings to the economy, especially in the aspect of treating conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, mental illness and loneliness.

Wood also explained that law makers and health organizations should take note of the positive effects and benefits that allotment gardening could bring to the public. She added that one of the policies that should take effect is the increase in community allotment plots so that residents could partake in such activities regularly.

Meanwhile, UK Faculty of Public Health President and Professor John Ashton, who was not involved in the study, said that the separate treatment of physical and mental health has been affected by the stigma and shame wrongly associated with mental illness.

He said that there can be no good physical health without a healthy mental well-being, and that their faculty welcomes community allotments and opportunities for residents to use open and safe areas for gardening.

However, the study mentioned that there are long waiting lists for many garden allotments.

Professor Ashton suggested that a strategy should be developed so that even neglected areas could be used for allotment gardening.

Photo: Alex Pepperhill | Flickr