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Secret of the Swiss: time in nature adds years to your life

The Swiss, who live an average of 2.3 years longer than Brits, exercise less often, eat fewer fruit and vegetables and spend just as much time stressed, but value their time in nature far more, new research has found.

The survey of 1,000 UK adults and 1,000 Swiss adults looked into the lifestyles of each country and found the most significant difference is that 70% of Swiss people enjoy spending time in nature, compared to just 58% of Brits. This is reflected in the time both people in each country spend outside, with the Swiss spending 25.23 hours and the British spending 23.78. This is compared to 70% of Brits who spend no working time outdoors, and a fifth spend none of their spare time outside either.

The research was conducted by Dr.Dünner, a family owned Swiss herbal health company, and found the Swiss drink the recommended 2.5 litres a day of water 79% of the time, compared to 69% in the UK. Meanwhile people from the UK exercise on average two hours more per week than the Swiss (14.1 hours vs 11.97 hours) and 76% of Brits eat at least five fruit and veg a day some or most of the time, compared to 74% of the Swiss.

When asked about who they perceived to be the healthiest country, UK respondents included themselves in the top three, ranking Japan first and Switzerland second. The Swiss on the other hand, ranked themselves first, Iceland second and Japan third. The top three countries by life expectancy are Japan, Switzerland and Singapore who each can expect to live beyond 83, the UK ranks 20th with an average life expectancy of just over 81.

The main differences in lifestyle reflect how close to nature the Swiss are. Just under three quarters of Swiss people enjoy spending time in nature, compared to less than two thirds of people in the UK. A third of Swiss people regularly hike, compared to just one in ten people in the UK, whilst 38% of Swiss people spend at least some of their working time outside compared to only 30% of Brits. It seems many Brits are living hermit-like lifestyles with 20% not spending any of their spare time outdoors either, whilst 92% of Swiss people get outdoors at least some of the time.

This differing attitude to nature was reflected in the two groups views on health and wellbeing too, with 5% more Swiss people saying they prefer natural approaches (35% versus 30% for the UK).

Robert Bastong, Managing Director of Dr.Dünner said: *“In Switzerland we have the Alps, beautiful lakes and idyllic scenery so it’s unsurprising that we like to spend so much time in nature and appreciate it so much! What was more surprising was how few differences there are between the UK and the Swiss in terms of lifestyle, the only significant difference being in attitudes towards nature and the great outdoors.

“However, the essence of that Swiss attitude to nature is something Dr.Dünner has been putting into practice for 69 years. Our herbal health products are developed in line with the science based principles of phytotherapy, which taps into the health-giving properties of plants and herbs. Many of the plants and herbs in our products are sourced right here in Switzerland, so now we’ve launched our Phytovitality brand in the UK perhaps Brits can take advantage of some of the Swiss secrets to a long life!”*

The Swiss’ longevity is reflected in their expectations of long life. When asked what they believe constitutes a long life, with the Swiss respondents’ average was 81 whilst for the UK it was 78 — both actually below their average life expectancy (83.4 for Switzerland, 81.2 for the UK). One aspect that both the UK and Swiss agreed on was the factors that impact longevity, both countries ranked a healthy diet first, exercise second and avoiding stress third.

Dr.Dünner’s new Phytovitality product range is now available to purchase in health stores and online.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Bastong .