The health benefits of fresh air and connecting with nature are sadly overlooked in the 21st century medical model though they were at the heart of good health and recovery 200 years ago and as far back as the 1st century, early physicians recommended forest air for patients with tuberculosis.
A 1968 study published in the prestigious journal Nature showed that outdoor air was more effective at killing pathogens than indoor air, backing up evidence through the early 20th century when outdoor hospitals were commonplace to fight infection and improve healing to World War I victims and during the Spanish Flu epidemic.
The modern hospital model of artificial lighting and recycled air, goes against all the evidence for good health. Research shows that indoor air can be 5 times more toxic than outdoor air, even in the city. One study even suggested that women working from home had a higher incidence of cancer than women who worked in offices, and that this was due to the toxic environment in our homes due to chemicals in paint, furniture and problems like mould.
Research also shows that outdoor air contains beneficial elements including ozone which is a natural disinfectant, ultra-violet light can also neutralize viruses like influenza and corona viruses and there is also a mysterious factor called the Open-Air-Factor, which was being studied in the 1960s which showed that outdoor air had germicidal properties and reduced the spread of infection. Plants and trees release thousands of different phytochemicals into the air and we breathe those in when we are outside and they benefit our body whenever we are outside.
While being outdoors can give people access to vitamin D from sunlight, our indoor working life, wearing long sleeved clothes, using sunscreen and the fact that people in many countries don’t get sun access from September to March, mean that many people in Western nations are deficient in Vitamin D with the reduction in immunity that brings.
Many people spend up to 90% of their time indoors, especially in the developed nations, and our access to the healing properties of the great outdoors has reduced dramatically in the last 50 years.
All these factors can be dealt with in a few days or weeks at our beautiful clinic in Mauritius. If you feel you need time and space to recover from ill-health, or periods of stress, come to Les Mariannes where our clinic is located in the centre of nature, and fresh air and outdoor treatments are the order of the day. You can spend most of your day outside in our garden, by the swimming pool or inside our shaded public areas with sofas and comfortable chairs. Combine sunshine, fresh air, access to nature and healthy, local grown food with our western and eastern medical treatments to ensure the best opportunity for your recovery.
