The emotional benefits of cooking nowadays

Happiness in a home can be found in many ways. And cooking or collaborating in the preparation of the menus is one of them. Psychologists and humanist therapists talk about the emotional benefits of cooking and consider their domestic space as an ideal environment to put the stress of frantic life at bay, foster positive feelings and much more.

Collaborative, relaxed and happy

Disconnecting and standing up to the rhythm of the big city is one of the main emotional benefits of cooking. And its environment helps to relax when you think of such activity as an entertaining task, probably quite far from our daily work activities. In addition, it is a golden moment to strengthen emotional ties with the rest of the members that live in the house. Teamwork that usually involves preparing meals and dinners daily reinforces the increasingly prevalent collaborative spirit in the daily life of contemporary homes. As a reflection of other areas of today’s society where shared activities are a new way of relating and working.

Among the emotional benefits of cooking, there is also talk about his ability to favor positive moods. Whenever we dare to make certain changes in the usual diet. One of them may consist of strengthening foods with good tryptophan levels in the home diet: an amino acid that helps improve mood, as it is a precursor to serotonin, the so-called happiness hormone. From eggs to dairy and poultry such as chicken and turkey are an appropriate starting point to start this improvement.

Yes to a more conscious diet

Another of the emotional benefits of cooking that psychologists and coaching experts point out is the personal growth that is possible to experience when we hang our aprons ready to make rich and healthy menus. Daring to be creative, to investigate in search of more personalized preparations is a healthy exercise to gain self-esteem, which will improve psychomotor skills and precision when working with the ingredients of the recipes. And linked to all this develop a greater capacity for concentration, patience and frustration before surprises that do not leave us satisfied.

On other occasions the emotional benefits of cooking can be directly associated with learning a new concept at lunchtime that connects with the Buddhist tradition. Begin to practice in our domestic lifestyle a conscious diet, and leave behind the compulsive or mechanical that usually prevails. That is, pay full attention to what we eat and how we eat it. Become aware of the products we eat, what thoughts produce us and what sensations arouse us: touch, smell, sight…. And, of course, to taste.

Practicing the psychological concept Mindful Eating means enjoying and being present in every experience that involves enjoying the recipes made in the home kitchen. Feel it when tasting it, in short, appreciate how much happiness is capable of generating the simple pleasure of eating savoring it in each present moment.