Galen Bene: Forest Bathing as Preventative Medicine

 Going into it, I believed that there were some benefits from exposure to nature such as reduced stress, improved mood, and creativity development, however I was pretty surprised to find that these benefits are only a small portion of its effects. In the article that I chose for my annotated bibliography, the researcher conducted various experiments on multiple sets of men and women to measure any physical or mental changes. Their approach focused on taking blood samples from these people before, during, and after practicing forest bathing. They found that the levels of various NK cells or natural killer cells increased by around 50% and that the presence of anti-cancer proteins increased between 28-48%. The importance of this is that with higher levels of NK cells and anti-cancer proteins, the body is better equipped to fight bacteria, viruses, and tumors, making forest bathing essentially a potent immune system booster. With this knowledge, the idea of exploring forest-bathing as a way to prevent both physical and mental illness could reshape the way that society functions. For example, if this knowledge were to become normalized and accepted, urban planning could take a massive turn towards building around nature rather than demolishing it, resulting in prioritization of nature within cities. 

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