Cooking at Home

The benefits of cooking at home
Whether you live on your own or are a busy parent, finding the time and energy to
prepare home-cooked meals can seem like a daunting task. At the end of a hectic day,
eating out or ordering in might feel like the quickest, easiest option. But convenience
and processed food can take a significant toll on your mood and health.
Convenience food is typically high in chemical additives, hormones, sugar, salt,

unhealthy fat, and calories, all of which can adversely affect your brain and outlook.
It can leave you feeling tired, bloated, and irritable, and exacerbate symptoms of
depression, stress, and anxiety.
Restaurants often serve more food than you should eat. Many restaurants serve
portions that are two to three times larger than the recommended dietary guidelines.
This encourages you to eat more than you would at home, adversely affecting your
waistline, blood pressure, and risk of diabetes.
When you prepare your own meals, you have more control over the ingredients.
By cooking for yourself, you can ensure that you and your family eat fresh,
wholesome meals. This can help you to look and feel healthier, boost your energy,
stabilize your weight and mood, and improve your sleep and resilience to stress.
Cooking at home doesn’t have to be complicated. The cornerstone of a healthy diet

is to eat food that is as close as possible to the way nature made it. That means
replacing processed food with real food whenever possible and eating plenty of
vegetables and healthy sources of protein. It doesn’t mean you have to spend hours in
the kitchen combining hundreds of different ingredients or slavishly following
elaborate recipes. In fact, simple meals are often the tastiest.
Cooking at home can even take less time that eating out. There are plenty of quick,
simple, and wholesome meals you can cook at home in less time than it takes to travel
to a restaurant or wait for a delivery.
Cooking at home is also a great way to spend time with others—and you don’t
have to be an accomplished chef. Whatever your abilities or experience as a cook, you
can learn to prepare quick and healthy meals that can have real benefits for your
mental and physical health.
Benefits of cooking at home
Health benefits
Preparing healthy meals at home can support your immune system and reduce the risk of
illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
It can give you more energy, improve how you sleep at night, and help you better manage
health problems.
In women, cooking healthy food can help reduce symptoms of PMS and menopause, and
boost fertility.
Benefits of cooking at home
If you're on a special diet or trying to lose weight, preparing meals for yourself gives you
more control over ingredients and portion sizes, enabling you to better control your weight
or cope with food allergies.
By practicing safe food handling while you cook at home, you’re less likely to contract a
foodborne illness.
Cooking at home can sharpen your mind, fight cognitive decline, and decrease your risk of
Alzheimer's.
It can stabilize kids' energy and help them grow into healthy, confident adults.
Emotional and social benefits
The simple process of cooking at home can be empowering and improve your mood and
self-esteem.
Taking time out from a busy schedule to cook can also be a great stress reliever.
Preparing even simple meals at home can be creatively fulfilling.
Adopting a diet of healthy, home-cooked meals can increase your resilience to stress,
anxiety, and depression and boost your mood and outlook.
Cooking and eating with family is a great way to bond with your loved ones.
Inviting friends to join you can expand your social circle, which can alleviate stress.
Eating wholesome meals can even add joy to your life. When your body feels healthier, you
feel happier—inside and out.
Studies have also shown that when you regularly prepare home-cooked meals, you’re
also more likely to make healthier choices on those occasions when you do eat out. In
other words, eating healthy food can become a habit.

Cooking at Home

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cooking at Home

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cooking at Home

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The benefits of cooking at home

Convenience food is typically high in chemical additives, hormones, sugar, salt,

Cooking at home doesn’t have to be complicated. The cornerstone of a healthy diet

Benefits of cooking at home

Emotional and social benefits

Preparing even simple meals at home can be creatively fulfilling.

You might also like