The Benefits of Cooking on Mental Health.

Four short reasons why you should make the next "take-out", a "take-in"... literally.

There are too many people eating out nowadays, because of our busy lifestyle. What if going back to the basics, like in the 60s, might be the new best idea? Here are four reasons why you should cook and nurture yourself from within, and not just run your following bill through that next restaurant down the street, or a block from your office.

(1) Saves Money

Too many bills from eating out? You don't say. Debits on your bank account add up over the month, and food is the most necessity of these tacts and all too much the most seen source of that big hole in your savings. We can make a solution for that: stay in and cook for yourself, or even make your own lunches. You don't have to jump full board onto the plan. But every now and then making your own meals would save those added on expenditures or even those full out big meal splurges on the weekends. Instead of 1, 700 or 800 pesos for a meal on the weekend, that is half- descent and healthy. Why not 200 or 300 pesos for a small meal you can make for yourself. And the save that you make would not just be for your physical well-being, but also your mental well-being, as well. That satisfaction of doing good for yourself and saving money in the long haul is a certain plus. And we all need that extra money, wouldn't you agree?

(2) Relieves Stress

Not many people who are young want to cook. As young adults hanging out in the city, adjusting from going to a restaurant to staying in cooking may be a decision already reached at with an easy answer. Most people on their day off from work, would want to stay in at home and just relax, or on the other hand, go out with friends at the bar, movies or simply, just a coffee shop. Some would think that cooking would be the last thing on their mind after being on their feet all day or working for 8 hours straight hungover on coffee and all that small talk with clients and drama from coworkers. Ordering “take-out” would be the easy solution. However, people who already mastered the art of therapeutic cooking, understand all-to-easy the benefits after a hell-day in the office. Cooking can actually go the extra mile with your rest instead of your stress, if you just think of it in a much different aspect. And here, we can talk about cooking in a way that doesn't make you run for your mama, but instead set off a "light-bulb" in your head, as per to say, “Why didn't I do this before?”. Let's do that. Shall we?

“Stress”... We heard that word all too often, everyday, since the 6th grade, and all-too-much often, even more, after age 23. Relieving stress can come in many different forms. From exercise, friends, a night-in, some tea and so forth. But what about cooking? According to Nedra Shield, a licensed independent clinical social worker at Northampton Center for Couples Therapy in Massachusetts,

“There's a self-care element in cooking. If you're cooking good for yourself or things that make you feel good, cooking can literally be nourishing to yourself and that's important.”

When you cook for yourself you can uplift your mood and set it in an absolute different direction, than what you've been doing all day. Cooking for yourself, tells you that you are important, and it also can boost your self-esteem and confidence at doing something good for you or even others. On that point, as plainly put, people can actually de-stress themselves by cooking for others too, not just themselves. Julie Ohana, a licensed masters in clinical social work and also culinary art therapist, herself, stated, once,

“There's a tremendous amount of confidence-boosting and self-esteem boosting, performing an act like cooking for others, and that's part of what lends itself to those psychological effects about being able to do something that you feel really good about.”

Cooking for others is nurturing. It makes you closer to the person you are cooking for and it also creates bonds within the breakfast or dinner table once they taste your food. It is an altruistic act. And nurturing others is also nurturing to yourself.

"Cook yourself Happy", to the right, is a book known for bringing out one's well-being and a healthy mindset, through sought after Danish family recipes.

(3) Yoga for the Brain?

Whether, it is cooking for others or cooking for yourself, in the end we can also say cooking creates “mindfulness”. The one word, that actually makes newbies scared to cook or people who aren't fond of cooking, can actually be looked at in a different perspective. Mindfulness is taken in when you have to attend to the cooking at all times and give it your full attention. One thing goes wrong, and the whole recipe or meal is a disaster. Being focused and keeping your mind on something creative can actually be therapeutic and it exercises your mental well-being when you are kept focused...Kind of like when you are in yoga or meditation. It can lead you in a direction where you have time and space to yourself from the long week or days at work. Where you can actually think and process all the jumbled thoughts you have had or have. And it's even better when you are by yourself at that "lofty" apartment of yours.

(4) “It's Healthy!”

"Ewww, gross"... Yes! It's more healthy. But the older we get and even if we are younger, you need a break from all that food you consume at the office or in take-out's from fast-foods or even other restaurants. Because ALL restaurants still can never cook as fresh as what you get directly from the grocery or organic aisle. Our body needs a rest, a pause, or it will have a break-down at times. Just like when you have a nervous break down at the office, yourself, on occasions.

When “YOU” cook, you have food that hasn't been preserved in the freezer for all too long. You have food that you can be placed at the correct temperature. You have the choice to put whatever ingredients you want into that dish and onto that table. And the food is actually “real”, “natural”, and more safe. Not loaded with too many ingredients, on the contrary, and especially, not fried too deep in the take-out kitchen, or dumped in a bucket of salt like from Kentucky.

You can also learn and master the art of eating healthy, once you get in tune with the mind-set of making your own food. You will get to know your desired diet more and what's good for you and what's not. You will be able to cook what you like in the end, and it may even taste better than what is given at the restaurant. And being able to cook “healthy” has obvious direct affect on your mental state of mind too. It affects the natural well-being of your brain, because your physical body is being fed with what it actually, really needs. In terms, it is being fed well.

It may be said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” So, what are you waiting for? Go home, stay in, and cook. De-stress. We all need that.

"Popular TV chef and author, Julia Child, was born in 1912, in Pasadena, California. After attending culinary school in France, she collaborated on the cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", which became a bestseller upon its 1961 publication. Child followed with the launch of The French Chef on the small screen, and she cemented her reputation as an industry icon through additional books and TV appearances, until her death in 2004. She was also the inspiration behind the 2009 film Julie & Julia, which was based on a cooking blog by Julie Powell." --- Biography.com

Sources for Writing:

Amazon.com. Cook Yourself Happy: The Danish Way. <https://www.amazon.com/Cook-Yourself-Happy-Danish-Way/dp/1911127284>. October 11, 2018.

Julie R. Thomson. “The Very Real Psychological Benefits of Cooking For Other People”. HUFFPOST.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/benefits-of-cooking-for- others_us_5967858ae4b0a0c6f1e67a15. April 13, 2018.

"Julia Child- Biography. Journalist, Television Personality, Chef (1912-2004)". BIOGRAPHY.

https://www.biography.com/page/about. April 30, 2018.

Sources for Images:

Google search engine. Web. April 13, 2018. “Cooking Quotes”.

Google search engine. Web. April 13, 2018. “Cook yourself happy”.

Steve Bookbinder. "7 Reasons to Take Your Lunch Break (And 10 Ways to Use it for Learning)". October 16, 2019. IMPACT Blogging. Web. October 22, 2019.

#mentaltherapy #selfcare #naturaldiets #cookingforyoga #lifestyle