Benefits of Peace Lilies in Your Home

With its pure white flowers that resemble sea shells and shiny, lush evergreen leaves, the peace lily brings unequaled aesthetic into your house all year long.

Masking as an ornamental houseplant, the peace lily is always working behind the scenes to offer you the benefits of the great outdoors right inside your home. Many people are not fortunate enough to have an ever-green garden at their proximity, especially now that many work from home. When someone is confined to the same four walls, the need to see some greenery and breathe clean air is ever present.

Humans are inseparable from the ecosystem. We wouldn’t survive a day without it. As such, it’s only fair to long for some green space to call yours right in your house.

NASA found that introducing everyday houseplants into an enclosed environment can enhance our energy levels, refresh us, and help us remain alert. The research uncovered that plants could absorb toxins and harmful airborne bacteria and viruses.

When it comes to the health benefits of owning a houseplant, the gorgeous Peace Lily takes a seat among the greatest. This indoor plant not only brings you feelings of tranquility — due to the white petal that beckons you to surrender your anxiety — but also because it requires super low maintenance.

These benefits are just the tip of the iceberg, as we shall see below:

✔ Reduce stress and anxiety

Just like yoga or taking walks out in nature, study shows that tending to a living plant can evoke positive feelings as you tend to produce oxytocin and feelings of accomplishment as you see them thrive. The reward, of course, diminishes feelings of unworth, mild anxiety, and depression.

Additionally, research printed in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology shows that interaction with indoor plants (seeing, touching, and smelling) significantly reduces physiological and psychological stress. 

✔ Prevents mild irritations

The Peace lily cleans the air in your home and even helps combat dry skin, itchy throat, and eyes caused by various irritants. This is even pronounced in winter, where we spend more time indoors and use artificial heating. 

✔ Encourages feelings of nurture and empathy

For some people, having kids and pets may not be an option at the moment. So what’s the next better way to nurture a living thing? A houseplant. For all its convenience, a peace lily is most ideal. Taking care of a plant gives you a sense of responsibility, purpose, and routine.

✔ Toxin Removal

Despite being a beautiful enchanting flower that brings joy to the heart, the peace Lily has a place in NASA’s list of top ten household air-cleaning plants. This low-maintenance plant plays a crucial role in removal of volatile organic chemicals from the indoor air.

Did you know that on average, the typical American spends close to 90% of their time indoors? Well, indoor spaces in our houses, business buildings, and schools are more polluted than outdoor air.

This is where the lovely Peace Lily steps in, the Air filtering power house has the ability to absorb up to 85% of potentially harmful gases that pollute the air.

The main harmful Chemicals that the Peace Lily plant removes from our environment are;

▪ Xylene –

This is a chemical mostly found in plastics, paints, dyes and adhesives. Xylene is also found in leather products. It irritates the skin, eyes and the respiratory tract. The gas triggers headaches and studies have linked it to increasing the risk of cancer.

▪ Benzene –

found in detergents, furniture wax, polishers, drugs, pesticides and glue, this gas poses many potential risks. It can alter the normal processes of body cells. For instance, reduction of red blood cells production leading to anemia. 

▪ Carbon Monoxide –

There are many sources of this gas in our homes. People and pets respiration, water heaters, stoves and charcoal grills all expose us to potential Carbon monoxide poisoning. This gas binds to haemoglobin causing constant fatigue, drowsiness, irregular breathing, nausea, headache and coughing.

▪ Formaldehyde –

Thisharmful chemical is found in most disinfectants, detergents, plywood and textiles. Prolonged exposure can cause cancer, asthma like symptoms, and skin discomfort such as dermatitis and itching.

▪ Acetone vapors –

We inhale this gas everyday in our household products such as nail polish remover and paint thinners. It is also produced in the human body and excreted through normal metabolic processes such as urinating. Diabetic people produce it in higher amounts.

▪ Ammonia

 indoor sources including humans and animals, tobacco smoke, cleaning detergents and building materials all emit ammonia. Furthermore, ammonia concentration is strongly influenced by indoor temperatures and heating, and poor ventilation. Exposure to this gas triggers burning of the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract. It can lead to  blindness, lung damage or death.

Trichloethylene –

Besides being a known carcinogenic by all routes of exposure, this toxic substance is useful in cleaning products, wood finishes, adhesives, paint and stain removers. This substance is so toxic that it’s banned in many countries. It affects the central nervous system. Symptoms of contact include a feeling of euphoria, facial numbness and weakness, headache and confusion.

▪ Eliminates Mildew and Moulds

 The peace lily likes shade and does well in high humidity spaces which makes it an excellent option for areas prone to mildew and mould. Peace Lily can alleviate symptoms of allergy and asthma triggered by airborne mold.

It gets moisture from the environment into its leaves and can do well without direct sunlight. The function of moisture absorption will ensure your house stays crisp and fresh, preventing the growth of mildew, moulds and other fungi. It is perfect for the bathroom.

Tips for taking care of your Peace lily

Piece lily plant is famed for its ability to thrive with only basic care. Like many flowering house plants, the peace lily must be kept humid. All it takes is regularly misting it or placing you lily on a layer of gravel and watering the gravel.

It does not require direct sunshine. Therefore can survive even in the shadiest house.

Caution

Despite being called a “lily”, the peace lily is not an actual lily from the family Liliaceae. True lilies are extremely toxic to pets, but the peace lily, from the family Spathiphyllum is only mildly poisonous upon ingestion to humans and pets.With all its beautiful white flowers, ensure to keep it out of your pet’s reach.

Conclusion

Don’t underwater the peace lily’s ability to guard your health and bring beauty into your space. Like any good houseplant, the peace lily is only comparable to a great housekeeper. 

Besides adding a little coziness to your space, the peace lily aids in getting a good night’s sleep. You would be lucky to have another item in your house that bears so many benefits, for both health and aesthetics. All on its own. All your peace lily asks for is indirect light and a little water when its leaves start to droop.