National Cooking Day

Today is National Cooking Day! At Private Home Care, we love to cook! We have a passion for nutrition and leading a full, vibrant life. Cooking at home is essential for maintaining a healthy diet. The good news is that cooking is easier than people think. It can drastically improve your health and is more fun and cheaper than eating out. And no matter your ability, anyone can learn to do it.

When cooking at home, you can have an impact on the physical, emotional, and even spiritual well being on yourself as well as your loved ones.

There are so many benefits of cooking at home! For one, it is much, much healthier on average to cook and eat at home than it is to dine out at a restaurant. Studies suggest that people who cook more often, rather than get take-out, have an overall healthier diet. These studies also show that restaurant meals typically contain higher amounts of sodium, saturated fat, total fat, and overall calories than home-cooked meals. Portions for restaurant dishes are also larger than what you should consume, so also in that way you consume more calories when eating out.

The more you cook, the healthier you live. As we know at Private Home Care, the healthier you live, the healthier your brain is! People who frequently cook dinner at home consume fewer calories than those who cook less, according to a study of more than 9,000 people published online Nov. 14, 2014, by Public Health Nutrition.

The findings also suggest that those who frequently cook at home—six to seven nights a week—also consume fewer calories on the occasions when they eat out. Households who cooked at home about three times per week showed a score of about 67 on the Healthy Eating Index. Those who cooked at home about six times per week had a score of about 74.
A study found that adults who cooked dinner at home only once a week consumed 2,300 calories per day on average, which included 84 grams of fat and 135 grams of sugar. In comparison, regular at-home cooks ate 150 fewer calories per day and consumed only 81 grams of fat and 119 grams of sugar.

Cooking is educational and fun! When you’re making a meal from scratch, you get to discover and experiment with different ingredients, seasonings, and cuisines. No two dishes are quite the same when you make them. Using a recipe can start as the foundation, and then you can be creative and make it truly your own. Everyone has a different style, and you can find yours! Nothing is more satisfying than eating a delicious meal that you worked hard to prepare!

It is social! Cooking with friends and family is a great opportunity to reconnect from our hectic lives. Working together with your loved ones to create something tasty is a team effort that makes great memories.

Cooking helps with working memory! Whenever you learn anything, it sharpens your brain and memory. When cooking, you are certainly always learning – whether it be a new recipe, technique, or combination, you are building skills! Smells and tastes are also very closely tied with emotional and long term memory. When you smell the scent of chocolate cake (yum!), it can remind you of your grandmother when she used to bake chocolate cake. Or it can put you in a good mood because that is one of your favorite smells!

Cooking saves money. While you do initially have to buy ingredients and stock your pantry, you can cook at home for much cheaper than dining at a restaurant. After a while, eating out adds up!

More nutritionally dense. When you cook at home, you choose exactly where your food comes from, and you know everything that is in it. At Private Home Care we are big fans of farmers markets because the food is seasonal and more nutritionally dense. By cooking yourself, you can opt to buy organic produce and humanely raised animal products, which is much better for your health as well as the planet’s.

National Cooking Day encourages and inspires each of us to discover something new and enjoyable in the kitchen. It’s a time to learn a new skill by preparing something delicious for loved ones — and ourselves. So put on your aprons and let’s get cooking!