4 Surprising Ways Your Home Can Improve Your Health

Our homes should be places that build us up, not tear us down. They should be sanctuaries we use every day to achieve greater wellbeing.

It turns out, though, that many of us live in properties that do nothing to improve our wellbeing. In fact, it is often quite the reverse. We live in environments that actively bring us down.

In this post, we take a look at all the ways you can create a home that improves your health and wellbeing. You shouldn’t ever have to go to a retreat on holiday. Your home should do all that for you.

1. Bring Plants Inside

Research shows that when we bring plants into our homes, our mood improves substantially. All of a sudden, we feel more relaxed and content with our lives.

But what’s driving this? The primary reason is how being around greenery activates the parasympathetic nervous system. It switches off the parts of our bodies that flood us with stress and provides us with feel-good hormones instead.

There are all kinds of plants you can bring inside. But, in general, the bigger, the better. While the odd cactus here and there is okay, what you really want are plants that flourish indoors and provide ample greenery.

If you’re a girly-girl, you might also want to try flowers. Real ones will get expensive quickly because of how fast they die. But these days, you can get very realistic fakes which have the same psychological effect.

2. Live Somewhere Smaller

Living somewhere smaller can also profoundly positively affect your health, but not in the way you think. Buying resale HDB properties, for instance, reduces the complexity of your life. You’re no longer worrying that you’re not working hard enough to pay the bills. Instead, you have considerably more freedom.

Living somewhere smaller makes a big difference in the way you live your life. All of a sudden, you’re able to focus on the things that matter and not worry so much about working long hours for the rent. If your boss puts you on furlough and lower pay, then that’s okay. You still have lots of money left over at the end of the month. And you can do what you like with it.

3. Stock Your Pantry With Healthy Supplies

Regularly using the kitchen is one of the best ways to improve your health and get on the path to wellbeing. Research shows that practically all home cooking is better for you than going to the take-out. It’s lower in salt, fat, and sugar, and it can help you maintain a slim physique.

But if you want to enjoy cooking at home, you need the right ingredients. And that means having a properly-stocked pantry.

Being purposeful about your pantry is essential. You want to create a situation where you have all the ingredients that you need to whip up a meal quickly after a busy day. You don’t want to be in a position where you have to go to the store every time you need something. That’s just the sort of thing that makes you want to order take-out.

4. By Being Clean And Fresh

You’ll often hear people say things like “a little bit of dirt is good for the immune system.” But that’s not really how things work in the real world. While a small amount of grime certainly keeps it active, most immune problems don’t become better with exposure to microbes and particles – they get worse.

Allergies are a good example. When you have an allergy, it happens because your immune system is mistaking something harmless for something dangerous. What’s more, it has to do with the immune system structure, which doesn’t change with repeated exposure to the allergen. If you’re allergic to pollen, you will remain so for the rest of your life.

Cleaning your house and keeping it fresh can, therefore, improve your health. Regularly vacuuming the carpet prevents it from trapping large numbers of allergenic particles and outgassing them over time. You find that you’re sneezing less and having fewer allergic reactions.

Your bed is also a magnet for all kinds of undesirable particles and creatures. Bed bugs, for instance, can create all types of health problems and even lead to rashes. The simple solution is to wrap your mattress so that creatures can’t burrow their way inside. But just vacuuming regularly can also help – as can going to bed freshly showered and dry.