Yesterday, I had the privilege to share my passion for food and cooking with members of my cooking group. And what better way to represent Nigeria than to cook our Nigerian staple? Fried rice and dodo – fried plantain! I am ecstatic that my Nigerian meal was heartily consumed with no leftovers, except for the backup I cooked beforehand “just in case.” Generally, we Nigerians don’t host a party without backup food. But to get to the point, yesterday was not only about cooking and eating; it was also a time to connect socially and reap all of the health and psychosocial benefits of cooking. Before looking at the 6 mental health benefits of cooking, let’s see how cooking can positively impact your overall health!
Health benefits of cooking
1) Healthier eating
Generally, home-cooked meals are healthier because you have control over what you add to your food as you prepare it. You can also avoid preservatives and additives that are often unhealthy.
2) Fewer calories are consumed
I am sure you have come across many restaurants with huge servings. In most cases, you are less likely to consume as much when you eat a home-cooked meal.
3) Helps maintain a healthy weight
Research shows that you are more likely to have a normal BMI and less body fat if you frequently eat home-cooked meals.
Overall, cooking and eating at home can help you eat better, maintain a healthy weight, and live a healthy lifestyle. Now, let’s look at how cooking benefits our mental health.
6 mental health benefits of cooking
1) You stimulate your brain by being creative.
“Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors—it’s how you combine them that sets you apart.”
– Wolfgang Puck
Your ingredients are a blank canvas waiting for your artistic culinary creation. For example, I hardly ever follow a recipe to the letter. I always come up with ideas to enhance taste, simplify the cooking process, or make the food slightly healthier. Challenging your brain this way stimulates your brain cells and prevents your brain from aging.
2) You create your identity
“A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.”
– Thomas Keller
My sister cooks one of the best Nigerian Jollof rice I have ever tasted. If I land on the moon and get served her Jollof rice, I will know instantly she was somewhere there on the moon with me, cooking. I can say the same for my Nigerian meat pie. All my friends know that I brag about my delicious one-of-a-kind meat pie. Even though I say so myself, no other meat pie tastes like mine! Creating and maintaining an identity, even through food, benefits our mental health and well-being. And cooking and having your “trade-marked” delicacy is one way of becoming more purposeful and fulfilled.
3) You improve your spiritual health
“Cooking demands attention, patience, and above all, a respect for the gifts of the earth. It is a form of worship, a way of giving thanks.”
– Judith B. Jones
Interestingly, cooking can be a spiritual experience. Attention to detail, patience, self-control, resilience, endurance, faith, hope, and gratitude are some virtues you demonstrate while cooking. You hope and have faith that following the recipe and paying attention to the details will produce the desired result. You patiently wait while your food is cooking, practicing self-control and enduring the temptation to finish eating the food before it is fully cooked. And when you are done cooking, you are grateful that your meal turned out well. And if it doesn’t, you resiliently try it again next time.
4) You connect socially
“If you are a chef, no matter how good a chef you are, it’s not good cooking for yourself; the joy is in cooking for others. It’s the same with music.”
– will.i.am
Why do most recipes yield more than one serving? Because you are not supposed to cook and eat alone! So, invite others to enjoy your meal with you. Sharing a home-cooked meal strengthens your bond with family members and friends, causing you to be more socially connected. Ultimately, social connectedness improves your emotional and intellectual health.
5) You become happier and less anxious
“The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star.”
— Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Cooking stimulates your senses to ward off stress and uplift your mood. Many psychiatrists today use cooking therapy to treat mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
6) You become more confident
“Cooking requires confident guesswork and improvisation—experimentation and substitution, dealing with failure and uncertainty in a creative way.”
– Paul Theroux
Cooking may be daunting at first, but nothing compares to the excitement you feel when you finally nail that recipe. That accomplishment carries on to every other area of your life and boosts your confidence to tackle all other challenges.
Final thoughts
I hope you embrace cooking to reap these 6 mental health benefits of cooking. However, must you cook to achieve these 6 mental health benefits of cooking? The answer is “No.”
As a matter of fact, I am cooking less often these days, even though I still enjoy the smile I bring to my husband and kids’ faces when I cook something fancy. However, they also smile when we decide to eat out at a restaurant. Therefore, there is really no reason to feel guilty! Let’s embrace whatever brings on smiles to the faces of our loved ones. Remember, we don’t have to be the superhero of the story!
Also, there are many reasons you can choose not to cook. For example, you may not have the time, motivation, or energy to cook; or you may simply want to go out and have a nice time. Most people agree that cooking can be quite tasking, especially as we get older. So, don’t labor away in the kitchen if you are not up to it. It’s perfectly okay to eat out or order some food.
By the way, I also belong to another social group where our primary purpose is to try different cuisines at different restaurants. So balance is important. Eating out is a social activity with its own mental health benefits, especially when you eat out with friends and family.
Finally, cook when you can, and eat out or order in when you feel like it. After all, when it comes to cooking and eating, there is no fear or guilt, only joy, and balance!
Please feel free to share this article and leave your comments below.
Yours in health and fitness,
Doctor Abi
