Scientists from Plymouth University in the United Kingdom recently published a report in the Environment & Behavior Journal that can significantly improve your health!
Researchers learned that visiting an Aquarium with good biodiversity can improve your mood and significantly reduce your heart rate and blood pressure.
Your visit to an aquarium is basically a visit to an awesome big blue gym.
Dr. Matthew White, who conducted the study, explained to the BBC how this health phenomenon works:
“What we were able to do here was – as far as we know in the world’s first controlled experiment: we knew exactly the number of species and the number of [fish] that people were looking at, and they were systematically altered over time – monitor people’s heart rate, blood pressure and various changes in mood over a 10-minute period while they watched the very large tank (500,000 litres),
“As you might expect, people felt a lot more relaxed and significantly happier after watching the tank with more fish – in other words with more biodiversity – and there were significant drops in heart rates and significantly lower blood pressure.
“Most of the physiological changes happened within the first five minutes and then plateaued out, so it happened quite quickly and then stabilised. However, the psychological measures showed that the benefits continued over the entire exposure – people got happier and happier, basically.”
The study reveals aquariums, marine parks and zoos are not only vital to educating millions of people each year about the plight of animals across the globe, but they also have a positive health effect on its visitors.
So make 2017 a year where you keep your promise to live a healthier life by visiting your local aquarium, marine park or zoo.