The benefits of home-cooked food have been recounted since time immemorial. Experts and nutritionists recommend eating home-cooked food to stay fit and healthy. We often feel that cooking at home is hard work and it’s best to eat out or skip meals altogether. However, did you know that cooking food at home can also have a positive effect on your mental health? A new study by researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia has found a link between cooking and mental health. They reveal that learning to cook as part of a cooking program significantly improves mental health and can even build healthy eating habits.
The study, titled ‘How 7-Week Food Literacy Program Affects Cooking Confidence and Mental Health’ was published in the academic journal ‘Frontiers in Nutrition’. 657 participants were included in the study, who took a 7-week cooking course focused on healthy foods.
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Cooking food at home prompted the participants to make healthier food choices.
“Significant improvements were observed in general health, mental health and subjective vitality as a result of participation in this study,” reads the report. Mental health benefits were reported across genders and in all participants, whether they were obese, overweight or normal weight. These findings could have important implications for addressing the obesity epidemic in Australia, which has huge economic costs and impacts on health.
Although the participants’ diets did not change directly after the study was conducted, they did report an increase in confidence when cooking, which may indicate healthy eating habits. stronger. “Satisfaction, enjoyment, and ability to cook, which are associated with healthier eating behaviors, were all improved for the intervention participants in our study,” the study said. Thus, learning to cook and creating a healthy meal can reduce our need to rely on highly processed foods to meet our dietary requirements.
(Also Read: This Hilarious Tweet Talks About Waiting For The Gifts After Cooking)
So don’t underestimate the power of a simple home-cooked meal! Cooking at home can be better not only for your physical health but also for your mental well-being.
About Aditi AhujaAditi loves talking and meeting like-minded people (especially vegetarians). Bonus points if you get her hilarious movie recommendations or if you recommend a new place to eat.
