The process of cooking at home can be an experience that is both sensory and calming. The repeated motions of cutting and dicing vegetables and the bubbling of a broth, the sound of adding pasta and boiling water, and the smells that fill the air while you move your meal closer to its completion are… satisfying. A favorite music album or podcast and the help of a companion make the experience more enjoyable. However, is cooking able to aid in improving your mental health?

Is Cooking Good for Mental Health?

Sometimes, cooking is utilized to help with therapy. It’s known under a variety of names in professional circles: therapeutic cuisine, therapeutic cooking, and culinary mindfulness. All of them share the same belief that cooking at home is beneficial to your mental well-being.

Cooking at home or at other places is beneficial for your mental health as cooking requires mindfulness, patience, and an outlet for creativity.

Feelings of Accomplishment

If you cook for your family or friends, you’re setting a realistic objective for yourself. This falls within a kind of therapy referred to as “behavioral activation.” It is used to treat anxiety and depression. Behavioral activation has focused on the development of the patient’s involvement with the sources of pleasure, according to the Society of Clinical Psychology.

It also fights procrastination through positive, goal-oriented behavior. When it comes to cooking, making your own food and doing something in the kitchen will increase your self-esteem.

Exercise Your Creativity

Being creative in the kitchen can be beneficial to your mental well-being. A study in 2016 that was published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that those who pursue creative pursuits such as writing, drawing, singing, cooking, etc., are likely to live healthier lives.

Home cooking gives you the chance to try new things in your kitchen and learn how every ingredient plays a part in the final dish.

Patience

As the saying goes, “patience is a virtue.”

Patience doesn’t necessarily mean passiveness or resignation; it’s power. It’s a liberating practice of watching, waiting and knowing when to take action.

The process of cooking at home demands patience in a multitude of steps. This means that you have to chop garlic, onion, and ginger to get the best taste or wait for the cookie to cool prior to you taking your first bite.

Improve Your Relationship with Food

Making an effort to cook in your own home can have a positive effect on how you view food.

Get Organized

Learning the fundamentals of making meals at home for the bulk of the week will help to improve your organizational skills and increase your awareness. Look over the pantry items you have while you’re meal-planning. Try to determine what you could create from it. Getting organized is helpful in being relaxed, which in turn helps improve mental health.