A little story about wood and our health
At the moment, the joy of every little change is huge, isn\'t it? At least that\'s how we feel - just break the daily routine, wander a little further instead of the usual walking route, go in search of new favorite dishes, rearrange the furniture or call an old friend who you haven\'t seen for far too long. But one thing always remains the same: you are currently more than usual in your own four walls. Now we have asked ourselves the following question: How can we our well-being at home improve? And is perhaps our favorite raw material, Holz, a solution? We all know that nice feeling of security that you get in with Holz equipped rooms - but can this also be scientifically proven?
During our research we came across many articles, studies and comments. In order to make it easier for you to find your way aroand in the jungle of facts and fairy tales, we have summarized the most important results and sources for you.
Increase in stress resistance: A doctoral thesis from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, dealt with the effect of wood on the body¹ in stressful situations. 119 students were divided into four rooms (wood with plants, wood without plants, no wood no plants, no wood with plants) and had to complete various tasks. In order to measure stress levels, various factors (such as blood pressure) were compared.
The result: The test persons in the wooden rooms performed better in every stressful situation. Regeneration, i.e. recovery after stress, was also faster than that of the other test subjects.
By the way - the plants in the rooms had little or no effect on the test persons in this experiment.
Difference real wood - wood look: We would also like to go into more detail on another study by a scientist from MedUni Graz, Maximilian Moser. During the study, subjects were shown several rooms. These were equipped either with wood or with laminate. They were then asked to rate their well-being using 11 criteria². What is particularly interesting about this study is that it was not glass, concrete or plastic that was compared with wood, but rather products with a wood look and real wood.
The result is overwhelming: Although the test subjects could hardly see any visual differences, the wooden rooms performed better in almost all criteria. The subjects felt both physically and mentally healthier and fitter. Due to the overall better condition of the body, an excellent foundation is laid for long-lasting concentration and thus also for more successful work.
Perhaps one reason wood works so well on our bodies is because of its antimicrobial properties³. In short: wood ensures cleaner air in rooms and simply makes us happier! Incidentally, they have a particularly antimicrobial effect Eiche und Zirbe - our Oak rough panels are therefore with their particularly large attack surface ideal for increased well-being in your home office 😊
Swell:
¹ Wood in the human environ-ment. Restorative properties of wood in the built indoor environment (2010)Fell D., Kozak, R. Faculty of Graduate Studies, The University of British Columbia, Vancouverwww.grad.ubc.ca
² Evaluating Psychological Aspects of Wood and Laminate Products in Indoor Settings with Pictures
³ Wood for health care and therapeutic facilities – second generation of wood properties related to in-creasing of well-being and public health (2016)Kotradyová V., Kaliňáková B., Boleš M.Faculty of Architecture, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava www.fa.stuba.skFaculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava www.fchpt.stuba.sk
