Urban Living: Significant factor in forecast of 74% global deaths by 2025

According to trend forecasts, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, heart disease, respiratory diseases and diabetes, are projected to account for 74 percent of global deaths by 2025. A trend that is significantly increased by urban living.

Research shows that urbanization constitutes one of the key factors contributing to this trend, as city dwellers often lack access to green spaces, which correlates with higher incidences of NCDs.

Given that by 2050, 1 in 7 people are likely to be living in cities, these trends are alarming.

Recent studies however highlight some promising solutions in increasing urban green spaces. As research consistently demonstrates that individuals residing in greener urban areas experience lower rates of NCDs and improved physical and mental health, irrespective of their socio-economic status, age, or gender, greening urban spaces is a key for healthier living in cities going forward.

Recognizing the importance of this link between greener spaces and health, the international community has committed to expanding urban greenery, as evidenced by the 2022 international treaty signed by 196 countries at the United Nations Conference of Parties for Biodiversity. This global initiative aims to combat the growing threat of NCDs by fostering healthier urban environments, with a target to significantly enhance urban green spaces by 2030.

For people who need scientific evidence for a natural positive link between Nature and human health, there is robust scientific evidence that shows that when we directly interact with nature, biochemical pathways are triggered in our bodies that result in significant beneficial health impacts. Japanese scientists determined the true benefits of nature on human health decades ago when forest bathing—shinrin-yoku became popularized in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, Director of the Japanese Forestry Agency back then. A Japanese Nature therapy that provides evidence of the impact of forests on the human organism. The evidence the scientists found was so compelling that in Japan, instead of medication, patients with certain NCDs are prescribed spending time sitting in forests. Forest bathing is an intentional practice of consciously immersing in Nature and being mindful of each sense.

If you do have a chance to forest bath - it’s an excellent energizer and rejuvenator for your entire system. Tree huggers may know that every tree has a different ecosystem and thus a different level of energy. But all have shown these instant health benefits on heart rate, blood pressure, emotional stability and more. The idea of using gardens to boost health is not new: It dates back to the Holocene Epoch in Earth’s geological history when Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire 550BCE built gardens to improve people’s health.

It makes a lot of sense since human beings are part of Nature and the nature of Nature is reflected in all of our organs. Thus, there is a direct impact of Nature on rejuvenating our wellbeing when surrounded by Nature. You see it already on your cheeks when spending time outside having fun and interacting with Nature.

If you can’t spend time in forests, some health benefits can be achieved in urban green spaces with indoor vegetation. Clinical experiments show that e.g. just a vase of unscented roses on your desk or in your apartment, can already lower your blood pressure and bring about physiological and psychological calming. So can leafy plants in your home or office. None though are real replacements for spending time in Nature, far away from city life. But:

There are things you can do and should do to boost your health and produce a healthier climate surrounding you when indoors as an urbanite. As humans are not really made to live in crowded places in cemented buildings, with closed windows, air-conditioned surroundings, old pipes and moldy vents.

So, in order for urbanites to create a positive impact on your health — body, mind and soul — bringing more greenery into your home is essential.

Scented plants and aromatic wood as are clay walls and clay colors vs regular paint are also health boosters. Clay is a natural fabric that has shown to work extremely well for your lungs for example. And when inhaling scents we don’t just breathe them out again: Instead, some of the molecules that create their distinctive smell, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pass across the lung membrane and into our blood.

Scents bypass the processing of the brain and go directly into your soul. People who walk in pine forests for two hours, for example, have been shown to have significantly high levels of the scent compound pinene in their blood. Once in our blood, these compounds interact with our biochemical pathways in similar ways to prescription drugs. There are many aromatic scents that you can use. But make sure, you use real essential oils or real plant scents - no synthetics as they don’t have that effect. Lavender is popular because it sends us to sleep and makes us calmer; rosemary and peppermint makes us more awake and alert; and limonene can reduce inflammation in your airways.

One of the most important and intriguing recent experiments are those that show that inhaling the scent of cedar, cypress, and juniper (which contain a VOC called cedrol) appear to significantly increase natural killer cells in our blood—these are the cells that attack cancers and viruses.

Aromascents provides a whole field of positive impact on your health that can be integrated in your home surroundings. Sign up to our newsletter to get a guide to aromatics if you’re interested.