Knowing that your diet impacts physical health should be no surprise. Most people are aware now that certain foods can negatively affect people. Some diets result in ailments in later life.
However, not everyone realizes that diet can also affect mental wellness. There is much more awareness surrounding mental health conditions today and for good reason.
According to WHO, 5% of adults around the world suffer from depression. There are many reasons why people do suffer from physical and mental health symptoms. One of them can be linked to diet.
Preparing food at home may be one way to improve some of these wellness concerns.
How can home cooking affect mental wellness?
It is believed that consuming a high amount of fat, dairy products, red meat, and processed meat, could lead to more chances of an individual suffering from symptoms of depression.
But it isn’t just serious mental health conditions that diet can affect. Your daily eating habits can affect you in many ways.
For instance, coffee can bring out symptoms of anxiety in some people. Skipping meals and letting blood sugar levels drop can result in irritability. Not drinking enough water can impair concentration.
Eating whole foods such as vegetables and fish has been linked to less chance of suffering from depression. But, just making a few changes might improve overall mental wellness.
It is said that using herbs in your diet could help balance your hormones, so you may be able to see changes without making much effort.
How has home cooking changed recently?
During the pandemic, lots of people decided to start baking cakes and cooking at home more. This was done out of necessity during lockdowns, and perhaps out of boredom in other cases.
Nevertheless, there has been a surge in the home cooking world for some time. TV today is full of cooking shows, and cookery competitions. There are blogs online such as cookingschooldropout.com to help people find recipes. And YouTube has many cooking videos.
How does home cooking help you with your general wellness?
If you cook at home, you will be able to control exactly what goes into your food. Many of the ready meals, or take-outs, that people buy, are full of hidden nasties. It is some of these that affect people’s health.
Frozen pizza can be a very convenient and tasty dinner. Yet, it could contain a number of processed ingredients along with high levels of salt and fat.
Choosing to make a pizza at home means that you can add only fresh and healthy ingredients. Eating fresh home-cooked food can mean fewer calories, less fat, and certainly no allergens or nasty ingredients.
Why don’t people cook at home then?
People will often cite the fact they don’t have the time or the money to cook at home. There are other reasons too.
Some people don’t feel that they can cook. Others say it is too difficult to learn recipes. And some are just not interested.
How can you make cooking at home easier and more fun?
Home cooking won’t just mean that you are eating healthily – depending on what you cook that is – it can also be fun.
Having fun hobbies to try this weekend, such as cake baking, will improve your mood, and you can do it with your children too. Keeping active is one way of improving mental wellness, so combining it with cooking is a great idea.
Use the right appliance or gadget
Making a small investment might make home cooking easier and more fun. A slow cooker means you can have food waiting for you when you return. These appliances are ideal for cooking healthy soups and broths.
An air fryer is another way to make cooking at home interesting, and stop you craving takeout food. Air fryers make fried food but in a much healthier way. Fried food is linked to many health issues, so using one of these will improve any fast food fan’s diet.
A blender is a great option, as are steamer baskets. Making smoothies and steaming veg and fish will provide a diet that will make you feel good physically, and mentally.
Look up interesting recipes that are easy to make
Keep it fresh by using those recipe blogs to find new and exciting meals to make. Many of these recipes will explain the calorie and fat content for each dish as well. This makes it easy to keep track of what you are consuming.
Summary
What people consume will ultimately affect their overall health. Fast food occasionally won’t impact health in a bad way, but living on processed food constantly will.
Home cooking means that you have a hobby that you can share. The enjoyment of making and delivering a home-cooked meal can boost your mood on its own. The ingredients that you put in can take your physical and mental wellbeing to another level.
Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
