Breathing in the forest air helps reduce anxiety

And if the forest air diminished it state of anxiety considered a risk factor for health? It really seems that taking a deep breath in the woods and walking among the smells of plants is not only good for our lungs, but would also have a calming function. This was revealed by an experimental research published on International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthconducted in 39 Italian sites between mountain, hill And urban parks.

The study revealed the role of monoterpenesi.e. the fragrant components of the essential oils emitted by plants and present in large quantities in forests. They look just like these natural oils characterized by high volatility and to which we associate the typical aroma of each plant to have therapeutic properties about our anxiety. We inhale them while walking. The organization of the research involved hundreds of participants throughout Italy: men and women of various ages who underwent tests in the woods with the researchers, between 2021 and 2022.

Thanks to these findings, the beneficial effect due to both exposure and inhalation of monoterpenes was identified and isolated. Not easy organization since these essential oils emanate from trees and plants sare much more abundant in remote forests than in urban parks, albeit with a considerable degree of variability. To conduct the research, a team of researchers from the Institute for the Bioeconomy of National Research Council of Florence (Cnr-Ibe) and del Italian Alpine Clubtogether with the University of Parma and FlorenceatLocal health unit (Ausl) of Reggio Emiliaand with the support of the Regional reference center for phytotherapy (Cerfit) of Florence.

Let’s take a deep breath

“By combining psychologist-led forest therapy sessions with advanced statistical techniques, we were able to demonstrate that, under certain conditions, the forest air is truly therapeutic: an important milestone for the progressive adoption of green healthcare practices,” he explains Federica Zabini of Cnr-Ibe, Cnr project manager and research supervisor. Not only. “The results show that, beyond a given threshold concentration of monoterpenes anxiety symptoms decreased regardless of all other parametersboth environmental and individual, and since these compounds are emitted by plants, we can now assign a specific therapeutic value to each green site, also conditioned by attendance at different times of the year and day”, he underlines Francesco Meneguzzoresearcher of the Cnr-Ibe and member of the central scientific committee of the Cai.

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“We applied a statistical method used in clinical research and which made it possible to create perfectly matched intervention and control groups: the results now allow us to identify and qualify Forest Therapy stations capable of allowing clinical level services“, he adds David Donelli of the Department of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Parma and the Cardiology Division of the Parma University Hospital. “Since it is now consolidated the connection between states of anxiety and cardiovascular riskthe results obtained assume an important value also in the pathophysiological field, and that will be the subject of further research”.

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The study continues the line of research undertaken in 2019 relating to the distribution of essential oils emitted by plants, which led to numerous scientific publications and the creation of two volumes on Forest Therapy, published by the Cnr, which made it possible to systematize the knowledge acquired to date in this regard to this emerging discipline. A next step will be to map woodlands and forests based on monoterpene concentrations.