Let’s face it, everyone wants to live longer But, in our American society, this goal can be hard to come by.
As a population, we’re extremely sedentary and don’t practice good nutrition habits on a daily basis. Just those two things alone can contribute to an early death.
If that describes you, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed. It just means you need to change some things around in your life. And that change may be more simple than you think.
Back in 1999, a group of researchers wanted to determine if there was an association between cooking and long-term survival. They put together a group of participants that included 1,888 men and women over the age of 65.
At the start of the study, they interviewed each subject about things like their diet, cooking habits, and lifestyle. The researchers followed this group for the next 10 years and what they determined was truly fascinating.
In 2008, only 1,193 of the participants were still alive. When looking back at the entire participant pool, the authors of the study found that those who cooked more often lived longer than those who didn’t.
This begs the question, why?
One of the biggest reasons discovered was that those who cooked more had a better diet and did not have as many nutritional deficiencies. So food quality was greater.
This makes perfect sense. When you do your own shopping and food preparation, you typically aren’t loading it up with artery clogging vegetable oils and salt as you find in most restaurant meals. This leads to less overall calories being eaten and less weight gain overtime.
One important thing to note in this study is that those who cooked more often also drank less alcohol, didn’t smoke, walked more, and ate more vegetables. So cooking by itself may not be the magic pill for a longer life, but it precedes good, healthy habits that can compound overtime adding years to your life.
So, the point of this article isn’t to say that you should always cook your own meals and never eat out at a restaurant again.
It’s that cooking is one of the best skills you can possess as a person. And those who cook more, tend to be more focused on their health and what foods they are putting into their bodies. It’s people like this that tend to be healthier in general.
Now, how do you get started cooking if you’ve never cooked before?
Simple, through practice.
I didn’t start cooking on my own until I was in college. I distinctly remember looking up on Youtube how to make scrambled eggs because I had no idea how to do it. Scrambled eggs are like the easiest thing in the world to cook 😉
But overtime, I learned how to do basic things like steam vegetables and brown meat. And as I improved my cooking skills, I would find recipes online that I wanted to make.
These weren’t always a success, mind you, but that’s ok. It’s perfectly fine for a home-cooked meal to be a failure. You learn from the experience, move on, and try it again. Your cooking abilities will improve overtime if you’re consistent.
And if cooking seems like a monumental challenge for you, then start with 1 meal. There’s no need to try to cook every meal at home if you’re new to cooking. Pick 1 meal and work up from there.
No matter who you are, cooking is a worthwhile skill to possess. It can literally add years to your life. So do yourself a favor and cook more often.
References:
1. Chen, R., et al. (2012). Cooking frequency may enhance survival in Taiwanese elderly. Public Health Nutrition, 15(07), 1142-1149.
