People Who Spend More Time In Nature Tend To Eat Better, And Stress May Be The Key To Why

Stress makes people reach for junk food. That much is well known. What researchers are now finding is that spending more time outside may be one way to help change that pattern, and to improve how people eat overall.

A new study from Drexel University and Wake Forest University found that people who spent more time in nature, whether walking through a park, tending a garden, or passing through green spaces on the way to work, tended to eat better and make more environmentally conscious food choices. Mental health appears to play a key role in that connection. People with lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression showed the strongest links between time outdoors and diet quality, suggesting that nature’s stress-relieving effect may be one pathway toward healthier eating.

Published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, the research adds to ongoing efforts to find more accessible ways to improve American diets. A nature-based approach, researchers suggest, could offer a low-cost tool that works through the brain before it ever reaches the plate.

How Spending Time in Nature May Reduce Stress Eating

To understand the reasoning behind the numbers, researchers interviewed 30 of the 300 survey participants at length. Many said the pull toward unhealthy food felt weaker when they were spending time outdoors. One participant put it plainly: “Food … can be used for stress … and … boredom. So, when I’m out in nature, when I’m occupying myself, when I’m doing something meaningful … I think my mind is less concerned about … easy ways to satisfy myself.”

Researchers say this fits with what is already understood about how nature affects the mind. Being outdoors appears to restore mental clarity and reduce the kind of emotional strain that often pushes people toward comfort food. When stress eases, making a deliberate, healthful choice at mealtime may become easier. When it piles up, that ability can erode.

Among study participants with low levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, the link between outdoor time and diet quality was strong and statistically significant. For those carrying heavier mental health burdens, that connection weakened considerably. It raises a practical challenge: the people who might benefit most from getting outside are often those whose stress levels may make it hardest to translate that time into better eating habits.

It’s also worth noting that health-conscious people may already be drawn to both nature and nutritious food, meaning the relationship could run in more than one direction. The study, being a single snapshot in time rather than a long-term experiment, cannot confirm that nature directly causes better eating. What it can say is that the two reliably go together.

What the Research Found

Researchers surveyed 300 adults across the United States, average age around 41, tracking both how often they spent time in nature and what they ate over the previous month. Diet quality was scored using a standard index based on federal dietary guidelines, and eating habits were also assessed for how well they aligned with a planet-friendly diet, one lower in meat and higher in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Nature time was measured three ways: indirect (having a window view of trees or greenery), incidental (passing through green spaces in the course of daily life), and intentional (deliberate time outdoors, such as hiking or gardening). Only the latter two showed a meaningful connection to diet quality. Sitting near a window with a nature view showed no significant relationship, though the researchers note that how they measured indirect exposure, by time spent in a room rather than time actually spent looking outside, may have limited what they were able to detect.

Most participants weren’t getting much outdoor time to begin with. About 55 percent reported intentional time in nature less than once a week, and roughly 39 percent said they incidentally passed through green spaces that infrequently. Even so, those who did get outside more regularly stood apart in what they ate.

Four recurring themes emerged from the interviews: nature reduces stress and is linked to better eating; people who pursue health tend to seek out both nature and better food simultaneously; a personal sense of connection to the natural world drives an appetite for less processed, more wholesome food; and awareness of how food production affects the environment shapes what ends up in the cart.

The Nature Connection Behind Better Food Choices

Beyond time spent outdoors, how personally connected someone felt to the natural world also mattered. Participants who scored higher on a standard measure of nature connectedness reported better diets, and that bond was linked to healthier food choices even when accounting for how much time they spent outside.

Gardening came up repeatedly as a particularly powerful bridge between nature and the plate. “You appreciate [food] more … when it’s something that came from your own garden and how much better it tastes than what you buy at the store. And I think that’s a big deal,” said one participant. Growing food, it seems, can change not just what people eat but how they think about eating.

For some participants, time in nature also appeared to sharpen awareness of where food comes from and what its production costs the planet, and for some, that awareness seemed to shape their choices over time, nudging them toward local, lower-impact options.

Nature as a Public Health Strategy for Better Diets

Researchers suggest that community gardens, urban green spaces, and workplace or school initiatives that get people outside more regularly could serve as practical tools for improving how populations eat, particularly when paired with nutrition education.

What makes this approach worth exploring is that it targets the mental and emotional conditions that shape food decisions, rather than simply telling people what to eat. For communities where stress is high and healthy food access is already a struggle, a strategy that starts with mental relief and works outward may reach people that traditional nutrition campaigns don’t always reach.

Spending more time in nature may be an overlooked lever in the effort to improve how Americans eat.

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Disclaimer: This article is based on a single cross-sectional study and does not establish that spending time in nature directly causes improvements in diet quality. Findings reflect associations observed in a sample of 300 U.S. adults and may not apply to all populations. Readers should consult a qualified health professional for personalized dietary guidance.

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