R Boettcher

[Millie Marconi @MillieMarconnni]

A Japanese immunologist spent 20 years proving that the chemicals trees release into the air walk into your bloodstream, hunt down your stress hormones, and arm your immune system in ways no therapist or pharmaceutical has ever matched, and most of the data has been sitting in Japanese medical journals for two decades waiting to be translated.

His name is Qing Li.

He is a clinical professor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo and the president of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine. The Japanese government has been funding his research since 2004, and the body of work he has produced is the reason forest bathing is now an officially prescribed clinical therapy in Japan and Korea.

The story actually starts in 1982, when the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries coined the term shinrin-yoku to describe the practice of slow, mindful walking in a forest. They did it for a practical reason.

Japan was urbanizing fast, stress-related illness was climbing, and the country had thousands of square kilometers of forest sitting unused. The idea was to give people a reason to walk into the trees... They had no idea what was actually happening to the human body during those walks until Qing Li ran the first proper experiment in 2005.

He took twelve healthy adult men on a three-day, two-night trip to a forest park. They walked for a few hours each day. Nothing strenuous. No prescribed routes or breathing exercises. They simply walked slowly through the trees, breathing the air, looking at the forest.

Li drew blood and urine samples before the trip, on the second day, on the third day, on day seven after returning home, and again on day thirty.

The numbers that came back from the lab were not what anyone expected.

The activity of a specific type of immune cell called the natural killer cell, which is the cell your body uses to hunt down cancer cells and virus-infected cells before they can spread, had jumped by roughly 50 percent during the forest trip. The actual number of natural killer cells circulating in the bloodstream had increased significantly.

Three different anti-cancer proteins that those cells produce, called perforin, granzymes, and granulysin, had all risen sharply. And the effect did not disappear when the men went home. The immune boost was still measurable on day seven and was still partially present on day thirty.

Two hours a day in a forest had upgraded the immune system for a full month.

Li ran the same experiment with women a year later and found nearly identical results. Then he ran it with a control group who took a three-day trip through an urban area with the same amount of walking, the same hotel quality, and the same diet.

The urban group showed no measurable change in natural killer cell activity at all. The forest was doing the work, not the vacation.

The mechanism turned out to be a class of airborne molecules called phytoncides. Trees produce these compounds to defend themselves against insects, bacteria, and fungi. Pine, cedar, oak, and cypress trees release them in particularly large amounts, especially in warmer weather and after rainfall.

When you walk through a forest, you are inhaling those molecules into your lungs and absorbing them through your skin, and once inside your body they appear to directly stimulate the production and activity of the very immune cells Li was measuring in his lab.

Roughly 50 percent of the health benefit of a forest walk, according to Li's data, comes from the chemistry of the air itself. The other half comes from what the forest is doing to your nervous system.

This is where it stops being only about the immune system and starts being about stress.

A separate Japanese research team measured cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, in 84 participants across 35 different forest sites. They drew samples before and after a 30-minute walk in each forest and compared them to control walks in matched urban environments. The cortisol levels of the people who walked in the forest were lower than the cortisol levels of the people who walked in the city by a significant margin. Their heart rates were lower. Their blood pressure was lower.

The activity of their parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part responsible for rest and recovery, had gone up. The activity of their sympathetic nervous system, which is the part that drives fight or flight, had gone down.

Then a researcher at the University of Michigan named MaryCarol Hunter ran the cleanest version of this experiment ever done. She recruited participants from a city and told them to take a nature pill three times a week for eight weeks.

They were free to choose the time, the place, and the duration of the nature experience, as long as it was outside, in daylight, and free of phones, conversations, and aerobic exercise. They sent her saliva samples before and after each session so she could measure cortisol changes accurately and rule out the normal daily drop in stress hormones that happens to everyone.

The result was that participants experienced a 21.3 percent drop in cortisol per hour spent in nature, with the biggest payoff happening between minutes 20 and 30 of the walk.

After that, the cortisol kept dropping, but more slowly. The threshold dose for measurable stress relief was just 20 minutes outside in something that looked and felt like nature.

What none of this means is that nature is a substitute for therapy or for medication when someone genuinely needs them. Therapy treats different things than a walk does, and Li himself has been careful in interviews to call forest bathing a complementary intervention rather than a replacement for clinical care.

But what the research has settled is that the human body has a physiological response to being among trees that operates on the same biological systems modern medicine is trying to reach with drugs and clinical protocols, and that response is fast, measurable, and free.

The strangest part of Li's work is the implication he keeps repeating in interviews. The average person now spends more than 90 percent of their life indoors. Their cortisol stays elevated. Their natural killer cells stay sluggish.

Their parasympathetic nervous system rarely gets a chance to take over. The system that was tuned by millions of years of life under a canopy of trees is being asked to run permanently inside a box made of drywall and screens.

Your body has not forgotten what it is supposed to do in a forest. It is waiting for you to walk into one.

[Juanita Broaddrick @atensnut]

How many looked at their shoes and nails after reading 1 & 2 ?? 😂😂😂

[Jason Bassler @JasonBassler1]

🪚 Someone in Florida just introduced a Sawzall to a Flock camera. It did not go well for the camera.

Remember: July 4th is Deflock America Day! 🇺🇸

Celebrate responsibly — and don't forget we have the power of jury nullification for a reason. Not guilty!

[Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 @TulsiGabbard]

Yesterday was my final day as Director of National Intelligence. I declassified and released never-before-seen documents exposing the truth about Fauci directing millions of US taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, worked with the Intelligence Community to suppress the truth about his actions and hide the virus’ lab-leak origins, and lied to Congress while under oath in 2024. It’s time you know the truth. Go to https://t.co/tVwWp0TxZ4 to see for yourself.

[Julio Rosas @Julio_Rosas11]

BREAKING: Currently in southern Mexico as another migrant caravan is getting ready to leave the Mexican-Guatemalan border.

While the migrants say they are not going to the U.S., some of them told me they want to enter the U.S. once Trump is no longer president.

Stay tuned!

[Trump War Room @TrumpWarRoom]

The European mind is starting to comprehend. 🇺🇸

[Gretchen Smith🇺🇸 @GretchenPSmith]

I am sitting at home alone on a Friday night…again. The silence is deafening, but something is different. I am okay. I am not depressed. I am not desperate. I am not having an adult beverage. I am sitting in the moment. Feeling grateful for the memories I have built. Feeling at peace because I am moving soon. Feeling hopeful that I am going to live, laugh and love again. I have come a long way. The divorce shattered me but I can say for the first time I am ready to move on.

I am going to get up and go to the gym tomorrow, I have a podcast interview to discuss Code Of Vets with @JewelsJonesLive and I am going to continue to organize my things to prepare for my move back to Murfreesboro next month. I am embracing this season of my life because it is almost over🙏🏽❤️what a journey…Life.

[Emanuel Quiñones @EQuinones6310]

The World Cup has turned America into a discovery channel for the rest of the world.

And they are not handling it well.
In the best possible way.

Here is what they are discovering:

Free public restrooms. Europeans pay every time.
Free water at every restaurant. Just appears.
Free refills. Coffee. Sodas. Iced tea. Unlimited.
Free chips and salsa before you even order.
Free warm bread with dinner.
Ice in drinks like civilized people.
Air conditioning everywhere. Not a moral debate. A fact.
Parking lots attached to the actual place you are going.
Drive throughs where the food comes to the car while you sit in it.
Ranch dressing by the gallon.
Tex-Mex that cannot be explained only experienced.
Dental care that actually works.
Buccee’s. There are no words for Buccee’s.

Then they found the grocery stores.

Five of them within one mile.
Each one the size of an aircraft hangar.
Burgers. Steaks. Brisket. Ribs. Pulled pork. Lamb. Veal. Every cut of every animal ever domesticated by human civilization available in one refrigerated aisle at ten in the morning on a Tuesday.

The Germans stood in the meat section for forty five minutes.
In silence.
Processing.

They finally understand why we do not have trains.

We have roads wide enough for the cars we actually drive.
Parking lots the size of small European countries.
Airports in every city worth visiting.

Why would we need trains.

The Germans are taking ranch home by the bottle.
The Dutch found queso and briefly lost the ability to speak.
The Japanese are photographing HEB like it is the Louvre.
The Czechs are weeping in West, Texas.

Welcome to America!
The greatest country on earth.

[Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson]

For WEEKS the media called the Skid Row videos a conspiracy theory. "Unverified." "Debunked."

Then this happened.

Dozens of federal agents flooded Skid Row Thursday morning — some in plainclothes — as residents directed them where to look.

This is tied directly to the LA mayoral race and California primaries, after residents said they were paid as little as $2 to register and sign election paperwork.

There's already a guilty plea. Now a new felony charge: a 64-year-old woman accused of paying people to register — some told to use HER address.

Funny how the "misinformation" keeps turning into federal cases.

We called it out. Time for the feds to follow it to the top.

[Tironianae 🍊🍊 Z. - Ultra Verbum Vincet @Tironianae]

🚨 BOOM! An American tells Nick Shirley exactly why he bought a pig in Texas to oppose the Islamic takeover of his home

“I’m here because this is my home. These people just recently came here and they want to take over.”

“They’ve already built a Muslim only town. Now they want to expand it into a Muslim only city and take over big parts of Texas.”

“I’m not okay with that. They lie to our faces.”

“There’s a reason they change the laws, change the street names, and push you out. It’s because they’re trying to take over. They’re literally commanded to take over.”

Say it louder. Americans are DONE being displaced in their own country.

[Ari Hoffman @thehoffather]

It is really nice to see a crowd in Seattle chanting "USA" rather than burning American flags and marching on behalf of terror organizations

Can we import more normal people?

[Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson]

Trump just unveiled the new Air Force One and it’s 🔥

Actual red, white and blue that reflects our nation’s colors instead of periwinkle blue.

We are so back 🇺🇸

[ThePersistence @ScottPresler]

Attach SAVE America Act to FISA.

Attach SAVE America Act to NDAA.

Attach SAVE America Act to budget reconciliation 3.0.

Attach SAVE America Act to everything until it passes.

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump personally supports retired US Marine James Capers Jr., 88, and awards him the MEDAL OF HONOR

Incredible moment ❤️🇺🇸

[Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson]

I’m fighting for a western civilization where none of them had to die.
We’re not fighting red vs. blue.
We’re fighting good vs. evil.
Darkness vs. light.
We must win.

[Dr. Dawn Michael @DawnsMission]

🚨 SHOCKING: VP JD Vance just called out the Senate’s cowardice on the SAVE America Act.

John Thune says they “don’t have the votes” and wants to bury it by tying it to FISA. Vance’s response:“One of the things that sometimes frustrates me about the legislative process is that people will go into it saying, ‘This isn't possible, therefore we're not even going to try.’ Well, let's actually see. Let's try it. And if it's not possible, then let the people put their name on it.” Force the vote.

Make every Senator go on the record. No more hiding. No more excuses. No more “it’s impossible” before they even try.

The American people deserve to know exactly who is fighting to stop non-citizens from voting… and who is protecting the loopholes. Hold the damn vote, Thune.

[Mike Netter @nettermike]

Your heart should breaking as you read this. Because you all need to realize something about Usha Vance Karoline Leavitt Jennifer Hegseth and Jeanette Rubio These four women right now are each carrying something that most people will never fully understand. Usha Vance pregnant with her fourth child baby boy coming in July and JD chose no formal leave. She is home. Alone. Counting the days. While her husband carries America. Karoline Leavitt who stood at the most powerful podium in America for 39 weeks pregnant never missed a single day. Came back to work four days after having baby Niko. And today holds baby Vivi knowing another briefing is always just around the corner. Jennifer Hegseth who holds seven children together every single time Pete boards that plane. Every deployment. Every trip. Every morning the kids ask where dad is. She answers. Alone. And Jeanette Rubio who has watched her husband cross three continents in one week away from her away from their children for a country that may never fully know her name.

Four women. Four completely different sacrifices. One identical truth. They never asked America to see them. They never posted about what it costs. They never once made it about themselves. They just held everything together. Quietly. Completely. So their husbands could hold America. And today we just need every American to stop for one moment. And say something these four women have waited too long to hear. Thank you. Not for your husbands. For you. For everything you carry that nobody films.

God cover Usha. Cover Karoline. Cover Jennifer. Cover Jeanette. And remind every one of them America sees you. Even on the days it forgets to say it. Make sure to repost this today. Because these women deserve to be seen.

[Farm Girl Carrie 👩‍🌾 @FarmGirlCarrie]

Tillamook County Creamery Association generates over $1.2B a year in sales while remaining owned by roughly 80 to 110 dairy farming families in Oregon.

Founded in 1909, the cooperative has never sold to a private equity firm, with profits returned directly to its farmer-owners.

This stands in stark contrast to the wave of private equity acquisitions sweeping through the food.

I only buy Tillamook cheese and ice cream… great company.

[SONS OF LIBERTY -MAGA MOVEMENT !!! @eagameover]

🚨🚨🚨🚨
🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪

WTF 😳 🤬!!!

How about pass a law that forces auto manufacturers to give us computer free options for people who don’t want to spend $100k on a rolling super computer full of sensors, just make a basic model that works like they did in the 80s .

[Gretchen Smith @codeofvets]

Navy veteran Jerry is living in his van in Waynesville NC. He has a solid plan moving forward but needs stop gap assistance. We can help our brother in arms. $2K

https://t.co/cOwKkx6988
or dm me to use Zelle