Life at Summit Creek comes with countless benefits, and healthy living is just one of them. It’s no secret that trading in crowded city streets, traffic-filled highways and overstimulation for open roads, mountain views and the tranquil sounds of nature sets your being at ease. But beyond the obvious, mountain living can have a great impact on your overall health. How? Well, dwelling at elevation allows you to possibly avoid major health issues. Common problems like obesity and heart disease are greatly minimized or altogether avoided because of the effect that elevation has on the body.

Improved Heart Health

When you live at a higher altitude, you’ll find that the oxygen levels are lower. While this can initially take some adjusting to, eventually it transforms your quality of life and the way the heart functions. Studies have shown that lower oxygen levels can activate certain genes, ultimately changing the way your heart functions, creating new blood vessels as well as creating new ‘highways’ for blood to flow to the heart. All in all, this “change of heart” lowers the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

Lower Obesity Risk

Natural living at a higher altitude does more than expose you to mother nature’s wonders. It helps you maintain a healthier existence by reducing your chance of obesity—exponentially. This theory was put to the test and, in 2013, proved that those living at sea level are four to five times more likely to be at risk of obesity in comparison to those living at higher altitudes. Other studies have shown that weight loss occurs almost immediately when you spend time in the mountains. In fact, mountain states such as Utah are known for having significantly lower obesity overall.

Clean Breathing

The higher you go, the less pollution and dust mites you’ll find. Eliminating these two major irritants greatly reduces the amount of acute respiratory issues such as asthma in people of all ages. Dust mites, the microscopic bugs that live in fabric, bedding and carpet, cannot thrive over 2,550 feet, so at higher altitude, the health risks they pose are greatly reduced. Pollution is similar. Air pollution causes the inside of the lungs to become inflamed, but with clearer air at elevation, some who suffer from asthma find they have more control over the condition as the lungs are less irritated.

No Stress Zone

A common health issue plaguing today’s world is a silent killer—stress. And stress, as many of us know, can do a lot of damage to the body. Relocating to a higher elevation exposes you to many stress-reducing settings, wide open spaces and proven stress-reducers within. Take pine for example. That prevalent scent does more than smell nice; it actually has the power to reduce stress levels and depression. Simply spending some time walking through the mountains is enough to set you at ease.