Another reason why you should cook from scratch

I don’t need to sell EYB Members on the merits of making meals at home, but new research has provided us with another excellent reason to cook instead of relying on takeaway or pre-packaged foods. A study conducted in Japan found that those who made at least one meal a week from scratch were 30% less likely to develop dementia.

The study analyzed six years of health data of 11,000 older individuals as part of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a longitudinal health survey. Participants were asked about their eating and cooking habits, “including how often they cooked at home and how well they knew their way around a kitchen.” Additional questions determined the skill level of each participant. You might think that those with the highest skill level benefited the most, but the opposite was true: people with less-advanced cooking skills who nevertheless cooked at least one meal at home saw their risk of developing dementia drop by 70%.

As with any study that relies on questionnaires and retroactive analysis of health records, it is difficult to tease out what exactly accounts for the reduction in risk. One theory is that the tasks involved in cooking stimulate the brain. Davide Cappon, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Tufts Medical Center, said that “Cooking from scratch engages planning, attention, sequencing, memory, and problem-solving,” further noting that “In many ways, it functions like everyday cognitive stimulation.”

Another benefit may come from the quality of the food itself. Meals cooked from scratch have few ultra-processed ingredients and are often more nutritionally balanced than fast food or other convenience items. Nutrition is vital to maintaining both cardiovascular and metabolic health, which in turn support brain health. So the next time you struggle to find motivation to cook dinner, remember that you’re doing something good for your noggin.