100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (42 page)

that the general health of residents is directly related to the proximity of their

green space. In Japan, longevity can be predicted by the same measure.

Research published in the journal
Science
compared postsurgical patients

who had a view of trees with those who had a view of a brick wall. The

nature-gazers needed fewer pain meds, suffered fewer minor complications

such as fever, nausea, and constipation, and stayed an average of nearly

three-quarter fewer days at the hospital.

Do your own experiment. The next time you feel tired, have a headache,

or feel like punching a wall, get a big dose of trees, birds, flowers, and grass

in your system and see what happens.