WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT?
Touching wood is not just for bringing good luck — it can also have the same calming effect as stroking an animal
Many of wood's benefits are down to the smell that can still be given off even decades after a tree is cut down
TOUCHING wood is not just for bringing good luck — it can also have a calming effect, experts say.
Stroking a table or kitchen surface can have the same effect on our nerves as petting an animal, they say.
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Professor Baroness Kathy Willis, from the University of Oxford, said: “If you stroke wood it is a bit like stroking a dog.
“It can lower your blood pressure, compared to stroking marble or steel, even if they’re all at the same temperature.
“If you ever go to a home store and you look at people looking at the kitchens, they always stroke the bench
"We subconsciously do it to see how it feels.”
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She said much of it is down to the smell that can still be given off even decades after a tree is cut down.
Untreated planks and panels were said to bring the biggest benefits.
Speaking to the Instant Genius podcast, Prof Willis said: “They’ve shown that wood panelling in offices, school rooms and homes give out this smell.
“That scent carries on for many years after the wood is up there.
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"People who worked on a test in a concrete room versus a test in a pine room had really quite a significant difference in scores.
“They suggested it could be to do with the scent.”
Numerous studies have found forest bathing — hanging out in parks and woodlands — can help banish stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and boost the immune system.
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