FRESH FLOWERS BRINGS HAPPINESS
Health Benefits of Flowers
In his book Eight Weeks to Optimum Health, Dr. Andrew Weil recommends purchasing flowers regularly to reduce stress and bring beauty into your everyday life. Science supports these responses. An article published in Evolutionary Psychology reported the results of three studies done on the positive effects of flowers. In the first study, researchers documented that women smile virtually every time they are given flowers. They also determined that these same women exhibited moods that were more upbeat three days later. In the second study, both men and women were observed after being given a large gerbera daisy, a pen, or nothing in an elevator. Believe it or not, the men and women responded comparably. Most receiving a flower, as opposed to the pen or nothing, smiled genuinely and initiated or engaged in conversation. Finally, a study of men and women aged 55 or over showed an immediate improvement in mood and sociability for those who received one or more bouquets of flowers over a two-week period. Even more impressive, this simple addition was shown to improve cognitive function, including memory. I'm not surprised by these results, and I bet you're not either.
