Die-hard gardeners insist they find gardening relaxing. Whether they’re digging a hole to transplant a four foot shrub, spending hours stooped like a worker in a rice paddy pulling weeds, or suffering scratches pruning raspberry canes, they revel in their labour. Gardening fails to relax me. If green caterpillars aren’t clinging to the underside of strawberry leaves and chewing lace designs, or slugs aren’t nipping craters in tomatoes, there’s the risk of overnight frost or a flock of birds feasting on my crops. But a study by Dr. Dorothy Matthews, a British scientist, supports what gardeners have been saying. Matthews reported her study of Mycobacterium vaccae, a natural soil microbe, showed the organism to be a natural anti-anxiety drug, but without the side effects. When mice were injected with a heat-killed version of the organism, it stimulated neurons in the brain stem to start producing serotonin.If you are a regular viewer of Dr. Oz’s television show, you will be well acquainted with serotonin and its effects on modulating mood and decreasing anxiety. That would explain why kids left to dig in the sandbox for hours not only come in tired and dirty, but also in a friendlier frame of mind, less inclined to bicker and fight, at least for the first 20 minutes.Moms may not have a scientific explanation for their children getting along better after a vigorous session of mixing mud pies or trenching tunnels with a teaspoon. They only know a sunny day spent in the dirt, whether in the shade of the backyard crab apple tree or flirting with melanoma on a blazing beach, works wonders for both tots and parents.Serotonin also plays a role in learning, Matthews says. I would have credited digging in the dirt with making kids smarter by exercising their creativity.But Matthews explains, “if you’re nervous, if you’re frightened, you just can’t think straight.” We all know that from personal experience. If you have ever lost patience with your kids while helping them with their homework, you don’t need Supernanny to point out that your kids can’t think better while you scream at them, threaten to pound them into next week or wag a finger in their face.In Matthews’ study, mice exposed to the bacteria consistently ran a maze twice as fast as the non-exposed mice and showed fewer anxiety behaviours. There was less freezing, wall-climbing, stopping and grooming, returning to the start or defecation.Matthews says people are exposed to this beneficial bacterium just by being outdoors. Soil under fingernails is not required. That should be good news to the prim types who abhor any hint of grime on their hands, clothes or shoes. The pervasive presence of this organism may explain why we feel more relaxed yet invigorated after any outdoor activity, whether it’s hiking, splitting firewood or fishing.I suspect the effects of this bacterium may be partially responsible for farmers’ unflinching faith year after year, despite destructive weather, government regulations and a host of other detriments that they have no way of influencing. How else to account for farmers’ undying hope?The bacterium’s benefits without any apparent side effects makes it a winner, especially when stacked against a prescription serotonin-uptake drug like Paxil. Paxil’s possible side effects are many and include diarrhea, headache, nausea or vomiting, weight loss or gain. Playing in dirt never caused such reactions.Both Paxil and the bacterium in soil can make you drowsy, unusually tired and cause you to yawn. But those are good feelings, especially if they follow hours outdoors.Chalk up another mark against television watching and computer games, in favour of unstructured play in the sandbox.
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