DEAR ENVIRONMENTAL NUTRITIONISTS

Are Super Spaces the New Super Foods?

We have physicians to help us ensure a healthy relationship with our bodies. Psychologists to help us cultivate a healthy relationship with our minds. But who do we have to help us build a healthy relationship with our environments?

We know that spaces can offer a healthy dose of psychological benefits. So, what if there were space specialist doctors? Where instead of prescribing pharmaceuticals, they’d prescribe places.

I learned recently that doctors in British Columbia can prescribe year long passes to Canada's National Parks and this idea of prescribing nature to patients is catching on.

Named one of the top 8 global wellness trends in 2019, park prescription programs are quickly becoming a doctor recommended solution. With benefits ranging from increased life expectancy, better immune functioning, reduced risk of heart disease, depression, and anxiety, doctors are recognizing and taking advantage of the health benefits of being in nature.

The more I learn about the subliminal influences of our spaces and about the mental health benefits of things like park prescription programs and schnozelen rooms, I wonder if there will be an increase in environmental medical interventions — place prescription programs.

Should a holistic approach to medicine involve doctors handing out prescriptions for bouldering passes or referrals to social clubs. What could the future of place prescriptions look like? What new immersive environments will be built for this purpose?

I’ve listened to some podcasts about nutrition recently and one piece of advice I’ve heard come up a few times is that we should strive to consume at least 30 different natural foods per week. (Side note, this seems like a daunting task, but “natural foods” includes all spices, plants, grains, etc. So it’s surprisingly a lot more achievable than it seems.)

That advice got me wondering:

What if there were environmental nutritionists?

Since we know that some places have health benefits, then what might an environmental nutrition plan look like?

Imagine going to an environmental nutritionist (EN).

We’d explain our current lifestyle, our goals, and our ailments. We’d tell them about the rhythm of our energy levels and about how they naturally fluctuate throughout each day.

“My mind seems to be super active in the morning.”

“I start to lose energy after I eat in the afternoon.”

“Social events tend to tire me out.”

“My mood tends to dip before bedtime.”

Our EN would be an expert in all things environmental psychology. As if every environment had it’s own nutritional makeup, they’d be well versed in how specific spaces would be likely to influence us.

Based on our lifestyle analysis, they’d suggest space-related upgrades. Like:

Since our mind is most active before we eat breakfast, that’s when we should do all of our thinking tasks.

And maybe we should think about our social life as part of a healthy sleep hygiene. Since it naturally tires us out, we should aim to engage in social activities in the later parts of our day.

Another use case is if we’re working optimizing our environmental health and we want the environment version of a green smoothie. They’d be able to recommend recipes in the form of a customized dosage of environmental macros: fresh air, light, nature, novelty, etc.

Maybe we’re looking to solve a specific problem, like dealing with grief, or low energy levels, or severe wanderlust, or loneliness. They’d be well-prepared with a myriad of potential environmental prescriptions. Saunas, mineral springs, forest bathing, etc. Or even international healing spots like the hot springs in Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey.

Or the healing forests in Japan.

Perhaps they’d tell us that we need to diversify our environmental nutrition. That the spaces we’ve been spending time in are the equivalent of environmental junk food or binge eating.

What would your environmental nutritionist say about you? What places do you think you should be prescribed?

Something to digest on for a bit.