Landscaping is so much more than gardening, but gardening is definitely a huge part of it. And a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder says there's a lot to gain from it.

Funded by the American Cancer Society, the first-ever, randomized, controlled trial of community gardening found that those who started gardening ate more fiber and got more physical activity—two known ways to reduce the risk of cancer and chronic diseases. They also saw their levels of stress and anxiety decrease significantly.

Jill Litt, a professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at CU Boulder, has spent much of her career seeking to identify affordable, scalable, and sustainable ways to reduce disease risk, especially among low-income communities.

Gardening seems to be it.

“No matter where you go, people say there’s just something about gardening that makes them feel better,” claims Litt, who is also a researcher with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

Litt recruited 291 non-gardening adults with an average age of 41. More than a third were Hispanic and more than half came from low-income households.

After the last spring frost, half were assigned to the community gardening group and a half to a control group that was asked to wait one year to start gardening.

The gardening group received a free community garden plot, some seeds and seedlings, and an introductory gardening course through the nonprofit Denver Urban Gardens program and a study partner.

Both groups took periodic surveys about their nutritional intake and mental health, underwent body measurements, and wore activity monitors.

By fall, those in the gardening group were eating, on average, 1.4 grams more fiber per day than the control group, an increase of about 7%.

The authors of the study highlight that fiber exerts a profound effect on inflammatory and immune responses, influencing everything from how we metabolize food to how healthy our gut microbiome is to how susceptible we are to diabetes and certain cancers.

While doctors recommend about 25 to 38 grams of fiber per day, the average adult consumes less than 16 grams.

The gardening group also increased their physical activity levels by about 42 minutes per week. Public health agencies recommend at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, a recommendation only a quarter of the U.S. population meets. With just two to three visits to the community garden weekly, participants met 28% of that requirement.

Study participants also saw their stress and anxiety levels decrease, with those who came into the study most stressed and anxious seeing the greatest reduction in mental health issues.

The research also confirmed that even novice gardeners can reap measurable health benefits from the pastime in their first season. As they have more experience and enjoy greater yields, Litt suspects such benefits will increase.

So the next time you're (re)designing your back yard, consider a garden!