“An idle mind is the devil’s playground!” So goes another oldie-but-goodie my Grandma passed down to me… So it was really no surprise to find that science has validated that ancient wisdom. Turns out, an idle mind is Alzheimers’ playground!
Evidence has been mounting over the past few years that mental exercise helps protect against dementia. Now, there’s a new study that reveals cooking from scratch is a great way to flex your cognitive muscles…
‘Soft’ evidence abounds
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that keeping your mind active and engaged can keep you ‘sharp’ into your golden years. But until recently, there has been little hard, scientific proof of the old truism.
Large ‘sample’
A new study by Japanese researchers followed a group of 10,978 older adults for 6 years, looking for correlations between cooking at home and dementia risk. They looked particularly at the frequency with which study participants cooked meals from scratch. They also assessed whether the benefits of home cooking differ by cooking skills.
The researchers set their ‘performance’ bar fairly low: ‘High’ frequency of home meal preparation was defined as ‘at last once a week’. ‘Low’ frequency was defined as ‘less than once a week’.
What they found
Those subjects who cooked their own meals from scratch one a week or more were, on average, 30 percent less likely to develop dementia than those who didn’t cook.
And the benefits of cooking at home from scratch were most pronounced among those with less-sophisticated cooking skills.
Many factors in play
“There are likely multiple factors,” says Davide Cappon, a Neuropsychologist at Tufts Medical Center. “Cooking from scratch engages planning, attention, sequencing, memory, and problem-solving.”
And cooking itself is a ‘cognitively complex’ activity: “It requires multitasking, timing, working mem-ory, and adapting in real time,” he explains. “In many ways, it functions like everyday cognitive stim-ulation.”
Links with better physical health
As a sidebar to the study, cooking at home from scratch also offers brain health benefits.
“Home-cooked meals are often less ultra-processed and more nutritionally balanced, which supports cardiovascular and metabolic health – both closely tied to brain health,” Cappon notes.
Other activities offer cognitive ‘exercise’
A number of studies in recent years have shown that participating in other activities can produce multi-dimensional benefits for older adults, including cognitive stimulation.
Membership in clubs, adopting a hobby, and participation in appropriate sports were deemed part-icularly beneficial in warding off dementia.
Just do it!
“Focus on engagement rather than perfection,” Cappon suggests. “Trying new recipes, learning un-familiar techniques, or cooking socially may increase the cognitive and behavioral benefits.”
My take
I agree wholeheartedly. It’s too easy, when you’re older and less physically active, to ‘let your mind go’, too. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Even catching up on the news every morning can help get the mental juices flowing – stoking your cognitive engine for the day to come.
Any kind of social interaction not only helps you exercise your brain, but brings social skills such as conversation into play. Perhaps the best way to do that would be to organize regular pot-luck events involving older folks – who bring dishes they’ve cooked at home, from scratch!
~ Maggie J.