The new study also looked at how having access to green or blue spaces at home affected people’s use of drugs. Nature watching indoors didn’t seem to help.

A tree a day can keep the pills away? Maybe, at least according to a recent study that indicates taking a walk in a park, beside a lake, or through a forest may lessen the need for anxiety, asthma, depression, high blood pressure, or sleeplessness medicine.

The study states that being outside three to four times per week was linked to a 36% lower likelihood of taking blood pressure medicine, a 33% lower likelihood of taking a mental health drug, and a 26% lower likelihood of taking an asthma medication.

Some 6,000 randomly selected respondents living in three of the largest cities in Finland were questioned for the study, which was released in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, about how they used green and blue places within a kilometre of their residences.