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Cooking Course Can Improve Wellness

Learning to cook is linked to better mental health.

Chef plating food in cooking course

There was a good reason why Julia Child always seemed to be in an upbeat mood. A study in Frontiers in Nutrition found people who participated in a 7-week healthy cooking course using a mobile food kitchen reported better mental health. The participants also felt more empowered to change their diet and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Researchers from Edith Cowan University said participants in the cooking course increased their cooking confidence, making it easier to change eating habits and overcome barriers to healthful eating, compared with a control group. Importantly, the results were split evenly among both genders.

Although cooking meals at home can sometimes feel like a chore, feeling self-assured in your cooking skills can pay off with better nutrition and mental well-being.

See also: Cooking 101 for College Students


Matthew Kadey, MS, RD

Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.

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