More About Baking Cookies!

On top of making cookies relieving stress, eating cookies also helps boost your mood and beat stress! This is because when we eat sweets, the pleasure/reward part of our brain lights up, making us feel happy. Treating yourself to homemade cookies from start to finish is sure to make your day better. Baking cookies with loved ones is also good for you because it is a wonderful way to connect. Humans are social creatures and meant to interact with each other. In fact, research has proven that those who have regular interactions with others, especially if they are meaningful interactions, enjoy better health, quality of life, and even increased longevity. Baking cookies is wonderful because anyone can participate, no matter their age or ability. Those who may not be able to partake in every step of the way, such as young children or those with certain disabilities, can help decorate or put sprinkles on cookies. And anyone can definitely help with eating them! You create special memories by baking cookies with family and making recipes that have been passed down through generations. By making a family cookie recipe, it can be a way to honor someone who is no longer living and keep them close to us. 

Favorite sweets can also help with memory. This is because memory can be closely tied to our senses, and cookie making uses all of our senses – including the smell of the cookies in the oven, seeing them being made, shaping the dough with your hands, hearing the mixer whizzing, and, last but certainly not least, tasting the cookies! For those with age related memory loss, short term memory may not be available, but they can vividly recall making cookies with their mother as a kid, and be able to recite verbatim favorite recipes. 

One of the best parts about making cookies is sharing them with others! Homemade cookies make a great, heartfelt gift that recipients will be appreciative of. Giving to others is not only a gracious and kind act, but studies show that giving can actually boost your physical and mental health. From volunteering at a soup kitchen to committing to raise money for a specific charity – health benefits associated with giving can include:

• Lower blood pressure.
• Increased self-esteem.
• Less depression.
• Lower stress levels.
• Longer life.
• Greater happiness and satisfaction.

In addition, giving has a ripple effect. One act of giving inspires others, and it makes the world a better place. For instance, if you make cookies and give it to someone, it will make them happy and they are more likely to ‘pay it forward’. A 2017 report from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute noted that people are happier overall when they give to others and that the more they do or give, the happier they tend to be. It’s simply referred to as “the joy of giving.” When you perform acts that make you and others happier, your levels of stress go down. As we know, high levels of stress can have adverse effects on health. Simply put, giving is good for your health! With the holidays around the corner, we are in the ‘giving season’. What better way to celebrate National Bake Cookies Day than to make a batch and give them to a loved one? Private Home Health Care encourages you to embrace cookies and giving today!