Benefits of A Three-Day Bamboo Forest Therapy Session on the Psychophysiology and Immune System Responses of Male College Students

Abstract

Forest therapy is a fast-growing treatment approach, as it has the potential to alleviate stressful life events and to improve psychological well-being and physical health. Bamboo forests are widespread in southwestern China. Nevertheless, a knowledge gap on the specific health benefits of bamboo forest (BF) therapy still exists. To explore the psycho-physiologic responses of participants to the effects of BF therapy, 60 male adults aged between 19 and 24, with similar healthy conditions, were selected to participate in this study. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used for the BF sites and the city site (CS) to compare the difference in the psycho-physiologic responses of participants before and after the test. Participants at the BF sites participated in a three-day bamboo forest therapy session, and those at the CS participated in a three-day urban program. Blood pressure, heart rate, and peripheral oxygen saturation were measured as the physical signs, and the profile of mood state (POMS) questionnaire was completed by the participants for the psychological evaluation. Blood was sampled, and natural killer (NK) activity, the number of NK cells, and the levels of corticosterone, granulysin, perforin, and granzyme A/B in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) were measured. All the measurements mentioned above were performed at 08:00 on the first and fourth days within the test. Results indicated that the three-day BF therapy was capable of enhancing positive mood states and also reducing negative mood states in the male participants. The blood pressure and heart rates of the male participants decreased, while the peripheral oxygen saturation increased after the three-day BF therapy session. Furthermore, BF therapy significantly increased NK activity and the number of NK cells and perforin-, granulysin-, and granzyme A/B-expressing cells and significantly decreased the corticosterone level in PBLs in the male participants. The three-day BF therapy session improved the psychological and physiological well-being and enhanced the immune functions of the male college students.

Benefits of a Three-Day Bamboo Forest Therapy Session on the Physiological Responses of University Students

“…is a bamboo park in Dujiangyan City named 'Zhuhai Dongtian', which is covered with P. praecox f. prevernalis bamboo (C. D. Chu et C. S. Chao XXX). Figure 1 shows the locations of the four research study sites in Sichuan Province for our study, and Figure 2 shows photographs of the four sites [32].…”

“…The results showed no significant differences between the CS and bamboo forest sites in the subjects' age, height, or weight. The results are shown in Table 1 [32]. In this study, 120 university students participated in three-day field experiments.…”

“…Bamboo is well-known and the most preferred plant in Chinese landscape design because of its unique beautiful foliage and fast-growing characteristics. A study of bamboo forest therapy [32] showed that the bamboo forest environment is more natural, comfortable, open, and bright with pleasing ambient noise and that it was better for psychological and physical relaxation among male college students than urban sites. Ye Zhang [33] studied the negative oxygen ion concentration of 18 species of ornamental bamboo and showed that in three seasons, diurnal variation in negative oxygen ions was high in the morning, decreased at noon, and gradually increased in the evening.…”

Current Development Status of Forest Therapy in China

“…During reviewing the literatures, all the experimental design of studies had been proven to be a powerful tool of exploring the relationship between nature and human health; however, the methods had some limitations due to different studies fields, experimental conditions, and theories. The sample size of studies is relatively small, which may be the limitation for the data statistics, then causing the results to be overestimated or underestimated [7]. Furthermore, individual differences such as underlying disease, educational background, physical activity and social interaction are also a difficult problem to address.…”

Healing Spaces: Designing Physical Environments to Optimize Health, Wellbeing, and Performance

“…Lyu et al [2] study how bamboo forest therapy impacts immune system responses and psychophysiology of male college students. While bamboo forest therapy is identified as a fast-growing form of stress management, there is a knowledge gap in its specific health benefits, as the authors indicate.…”