Creating Calm In The Kitchen: The Mental Health Benefits Of Cooking

Remember during the COVID-19 pandemic when most of us were homebound, a considerable number of people started attempting to bake the perfect loaf of sourdough? There is something about cooking that creates a feeling of comfort, especially during times of stress. While medical professionals have touted the physical health benefits of cooking homemade meals for years, learning about the mental health benefits of cooking is still in the preliminary stages. However, what evidence we have so far looks promising. 

Finding flow through cooking

Flow is a term coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and it refers to complete cognitive immersion into a task. At this level of creativity, the participant loses awareness of time and self. For many people, cooking offers this type of intense engagement that can lead to joy and fulfillment. 

Cooking is a creative process and, as such, can be meditative. Many recipes don’t require you to follow the directions perfectly and allow for a bit of personalization. Taking some time to let your mind be engrossed in the culinary zone by chopping colorful vegetables into slivers, contemplating spices, and watching the food caramelize in the pan can be helpful in focusing the brain on the present moment. 

Cooking as a social activity

Cooking can also be an excellent way to branch out socially. Cooking classes, meals made with friends, and cooking meetups or clubs are ways crafting meals can be a social activity. Both preparing and eating food have brought people together since human beings have existed. 

Someone experiencing social anxiety may find that a cooking class can be an excellent way to meet new people without a lot of pressure. There is a focus on a project, light social interaction with a common interest, and you can choose your level of verbal participation. 

Cooking in groups can be done for therapeutic reasons as a mental health group; it can be a means of teaching culture through food or as a social club. Even getting together and cooking with a friend or family member can be an excellent way to improve your mood. Any group cooking activity can be beneficial for well-being, as social activity is a positive factor for mental health. We are, after all, social creatures. 

Strengthening the mind-body connection

Among the benefits of cooking is that creating homemade meals can help you eat healthier. There are cooking classes that specifically focus on specific styles of cooking that promote health. After a heart attack or stroke, some rehab programs will offer classes to teach patients to create more heart-healthy meals to make at home. 

There are links between healthy lifestyle factors like exercise and eating a varied and heart-healthy diet and improved mental health outcomes. Likewise, improved mental health has a positive effect on physical health. Cooking your own homemade meals can be effective as a therapeutic intervention and also a way to improve physical health, which can create a positive feedback loop of mental and physical well-being. 

Engaging in kitchen therapy

If you have an affinity for cooking or are open to trying a new activity to improve mental health, why not look into kitchen therapy? Here are some activities involved in kitchen therapy that might bring joy, connection, and inspiration to your life:

• Learning new skills – like how to filet a fish, cook using a wok, or bake homemade sourdough bread – in order to show yourself that you can do new things
• Collaborating with a “co-chef” to improve communication and teamwork skills
• Following the instructions of a recipe to increase your focus and learn where you can make deviations
• Trying unfamiliar ingredients and verbalizing the flavors to strengthen the mind-body connection and diversify what you typically eat on a regular basis
• Discovering how to make a recipe passed down by a loved one – perhaps one who has recently passed – in order to heal and establish positive associations with their memory
• Making more challenging recipes or 2- or 3-course meals in order to bolster your multi-tasking skills

The above list is hardly exhaustive when it comes to what kitchen therapy might entail for you. Just as cooking affords the chef a range of flexibility, so, too, can kitchen therapy be customized based on your needs and goals.

The benefits of online therapy

Research shows that cooking may positively influence psychosocial outcomes and that community-based cooking interventions demonstrated a positive influence on socialization, self-esteem, affect, and quality of life. Occupational therapists often use cooking interventions during rehab to relearn or strengthen cognitive skills, as well as enhance physical endurance and promote greater mental well-being. 

Culinary therapy can also be used in psychosocial programs for mental health issues. In 2022, an Australian research team studied the effects of a seven-week cooking program on a number of factors, including cooking confidence, ability to change eating habits, behavior surrounding food, and overcoming lifestyle barriers. This study found that while the cooking classes did not change eating habits, it did report that participants showed significant improvements in general physical health and mental health. 

Kitchen therapy may be used in conjunction with talk therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to address mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cooking programs can help promote mental well-being while learning how to manage stress and improve self-esteem. 

Online therapy – offered through platforms like BetterHelp – may streamline this process by allowing you to meet with a licensed therapist over video chat and either work with them directly from your own kitchen if they do this type of therapy or as a supplement to your cooking classes. Advantages of participating in online therapy include the ability to attend sessions from any location with a wireless connection and the flexibility to choose appointment times that are compatible with your schedule.

Online therapy has been shown to be just as effective as traditional in-person therapy, and it’s more accessible than it ha’s ever been. In conjunction, a literature review examining cooking interventions used in therapeutic settings found that they have the strong potential to influence psychosocial outcomes and increase motivation, which can act as a catalyst for engaging in self-care, making healthy decisions, and feeling good about oneself.

With an online therapy platform like BetterHelp, all you have to do is fill out a simple questionnaire, and you’ll be matched with a licensed therapist that can meet with you from the comfort of your own home.