The Most Underrated Thing You Can Do to Improve Your Health

What comes to mind when you think about improving your health? Changing your diet? Exercise? Overpriced supplements promising to radically change your life?

What if I told you one of the best things you can do for your health is easy for most people and FREE!

You may be wondering where the catch is, right? Among all the fad diets, Instagram fitness "experts", ads trying to sell you the latest and greatest peptides, the most underrated thing you can do for your health is...walk outside.

I know that was very anticlimactic. However, there are a multitude of health benefits from simply walking but coupled with nature and you really do get that extra boost.

Stress Relief

There is just something about listening to the sounds of nature that calms a noisy mind. Walking outside has been shown to decrease mental distress improving clarity. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax0903#core-R29-1

Science often finds itself confirming what the Bible teaches us. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." (Psalm 19:1) When we declare or proclaim things our words reverberate into the atmosphere. Like a pebble dropped into a still body of water, the effect ripples out far beyond the point of contact.

Nature itself is declaring and proclaiming the glory of God. When we step outside, we find ourselves enveloped in a symphony of celebration whether we realize it or not. This celebratory frequency raises our own frequency calming our chaotic thoughts, even if for a short time, relieving stress, anxiety, and quieting our heightened emotional state. https://scienceinsights.org/what-is-the-frequency-of-nature/#google_vignette

Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Your heart is a muscle, and all muscles need strength training. Cardiovascular exercise, like a brisk walk, gives your heart the training it needs to continue to function at an optimal level. One study showed that 9,000 - 10,000 steps per day can lower one's cardiovascular risk by 21%. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260417085409.htm

Adding nature to your walks also offers cardiovascular advantages. Forest bathing or immersing oneself in nature using all five senses has also shown to lower blood pressure and blood glucose. Therefore, also lowering one’s risk of cardiovascular and cardiometabolic disease. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12395953/#sec21 https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-forest-therapy-can-be-good-for-your-body-and-mind

Sun Exposure

Walking outside gives your body exposure to the sun. This is great for your circadian rhythm (sleep and wake cycle). When you view light first thing in the morning the sun’s rays set cortisol (a stress hormone) helping you feel awake. Cortisol peeks in the afternoon then starts to drop off. Taking a walk around sunset also sends signals to the body to create another hormone, melatonin, which helps the body fall asleep. https://www.hubermanlab.com/topics/light-exposure-and-circadian-rhythm

Another exciting discovery showed improvement in mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP production when the body is exposed to sunlight. In English, this means the mitochondria has a stronger environment from which to create energy helping you feel and function better. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7154450/

Now, you don’t have to walk to get sun exposure, but extra exercise as we have seen above offers a variety of advantages to our overall health. Immersing oneself in nature and getting in 9-10K steps a day can decrease stress, lower cardiovascular risk, help balance blood sugar levels, and increase mitochondria function therefore, increasing energy. So much good news from a simple exercise. This is why I say it’s underrated.

There are so many positive changes that can happen by adding in a little movement. Some people think health must be complicated or exercise has to be hard. There is a time and a place to do hard things, but it is possible to make big changes that are simple and healthy.

Feel free to share your simple changes that made a big difference in the comments below!