Why Cooking More Can Boost Your Mental Health: 5 Emotional Benefits of Preparing and Sharing Foo
Cooking isn’t just about feeding your body—it’s about nourishing your mind. Discover 5 ways spending time in the kitchen can boost your mental health, spark creativity, and help you feel more grounded.
Why You Should Be Cooking More If You're Struggling With Your Mental Health?
“No one tells you the hardest part of being an adult is figuring out what’s for dinner. Every night. Forever.”
If that feels relatable, you’re not alone. These days, cooking often feels like a chore—or worse, something to avoid. Between busy schedules, takeout apps, and a fast-food industry worth over $110 billion, it’s no surprise that more than 35% of American adults eat fast food every day.
But here’s the catch: regularly relying on fast food—loaded with sodium, refined carbs, sugar, and trans fats—can actually make you feel worse, mentally and emotionally.
Cooking at home, on the other hand, has powerful emotional and mental health benefits. Here are five reasons why spending more time in the kitchen might help you feel better inside and out.
1. Cooking Gives You a Sense of Control
Cooking isn’t just about the meal—it’s about the process. When life feels chaotic, preparing food lets you take charge. You turn a handful of mismatched ingredients into something beautiful and nourishing. That simple act of creating order and feeding yourself can feel grounding and empowering.
2. It Engages All Your Senses
Cooking is one of the best ways to practice mindfulness and grounding techniques because it uses all five senses:
Touch: Feel the weight of a knife, the snap of fresh greens, the texture of an avocado skin.
Sight: Watch onions turn golden, pasta float, sauces thicken.
Sound: Hear garlic sizzle, lettuce crunch, sauce simmer.
Smell: Notice herbs toasting, vegetables caramelizing, subtle changes as ingredients cook.
Taste: Sample each element along the way and notice how flavors transform as you cook.
When your mind races, focusing on these sensory details can quiet anxiety and keep you present.
3. It Sparks Your Creativity
You don’t have to be “artistic” to be creative. Cooking is one of the most approachable ways to express yourself. Improvise with what you have—swap capers for diced green olives, mix herbs, or invent a new twist on a favorite recipe. Creativity in the kitchen builds confidence and makes the process fun.
4. Cooking Encourages Healthier Choices
Struggling emotionally often leads to letting other habits slide—sleep, exercise, hygiene. But you still have to eat. Cooking at home helps you nourish yourself with fewer calories, less sodium, sugar, and fat, and more whole foods that support both physical and mental health. Choosing to cook can also kickstart other healthy habits, one small step at a time.
5. It Helps You Connect with Others
When you’re feeling down, it’s easy to isolate yourself. But sharing a meal—whether it’s soup and bread with a neighbor or sandwiches in the park with a friend—can help you feel connected and valued. Food has a way of bringing people together, even when words are hard to find.
Final Thoughts
Cooking at home might feel like one more thing on your plate, but it can actually help ease stress, lift your mood, and reconnect you with yourself and others. In this case, eating your emotions—by making something with care—might just be the best thing you can do for your mental health.
Sarah, aka: The Plant Based Ginger, has been in the plant-based community for 20+ years and has worked in natural skincare as well as the health and wellness sector. Over the years her love of holistic wellness, essential oils, and plant-based cooking has merged to create the PBG website and social brand. She is a Certified Natural Health Practitioner, Homecook, and Coffee Lover.