Want a Long Life? Cook and Eat at Home
Home Cooking Increases Longevity, Cambridge Study Shows
(from AOL News/ Huffpost Healthy Living)
For those of you who use your stove for shoe storage, nota bene: all that wasted time with an inactive kitchen could be shortening your lifespan. In fact, a new study found that people who cook up to five times a week were 47 percent more likely to still be alive after 10 years.
“It has become clear that cooking is a healthy behavior,” said lead author Professor Mark Wahlqvist in a statement. “It deserves a place in life-long education, public health policy, urban planning and household economics.”
The research team, made up of Taiwanese and Australian researchers, published their work in Public Health Nutrition, a Cambridge University journal after looking at a group of 1,888 men and women over age 65 who lived in Taiwan. At the start of the study, they interviewed each participant about several lifestyle factors, including cooking habits, household circumstances, shopping habits, diet, education, transportation and smoking.
During the initial survey, researchers found that 43 percent of participants never cooked, while 17 percent cooked one to two times per week, 9 percent cooked three to five times in a week and 31 percent cooked five or more times a week.
After 10 years, they followed up to see how many of the participants had died. They then matched lifestyle answers to the 1,193 participants who remained alive. The researchers discovered that frequent cooking was associated with survival. Also associated? Grocery shopping, taking public transportation, not smoking, and being a woman. Frequent cooking — and survival — was more common among women and most profoundly among unmarried women, though also among women with families.
There were limitations to the study: women generally live longer than men and, for cultural reasons, women were more practiced at cooking than men. Additionally, those who remained healthy were more able to perform errands related to cooking, like shopping for food, walking and taking public transportation. The truly ailing wouldn’t be able to cook because of their health — not the other way around.
But even after researchers controlled for these other factors, they found an association between frequent home cooking and longevity. “The pathways to health that food provides are not limited to its nutrients or components, but extend to each step in the food chain, from its production, to purchase, preparation and eating, especially with others,” added Wahlqvist.
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Wow…very interesting.
I really think cooking should be taught in school. Given the dire situation when it comes to obesity in many places (Kuwait is way up there in the list) I think it’s about time educators considered adding this as a compulsory class. Who knows? If they did that, the next study might show that people who learned to cook healthily when in school were also more likely to live longer.
Good points, Alf Laila. When I was in school, there were cooking classes, and I didn’t take them. I had learned to cook at home. Your grandmother probably learned to cook at home, too, back before Kuwait discovered oil. I think some of the younger Kuwaiti women are learning cooking once again, sometimes it skips a generation 🙂 Eating out is just so easy, and to make it taste so good, they use a lot of sugar and a lot of fat, so then we have obesity coupled with diabetes, a lethal combination.
I remember a long time ago, Jordanians and Kuwaitis and Qataris were very thin, lithe people, desert people mostly who walked to get where they needed to go, and cooked most of their meals over a fire. Americans used to be like that, too, people who walked where they needed to go and cooked their meals at home.
It will be interesting to see how the pendulum swings. As more people your age are having children, there is more awareness and interest in pesticide-free foods, local foods, and eating lower on the food chain so you know what is in the food you are eating. I hope it’s a growing trend.
Aaaa the burden of blessing. The ease of getting a meal is killing people. A home cooked meal is a luxury nowadays. Home cooking isn’t just good for your health, its also great for your pocket. I’ve done some research which will help put together a booklet where a person can eat 3 healthy meals a day with three snacks for a whole week for about 10kd or less. All it taste is maybe 1 hour of preparation.
I agree with 1001 Nights, the situation has really gotten out of hand. If not cooking classes, this generation needs to know that the only liquid isn’t cola. Natural sources of vitamins need to be taught as well. People popping vitamin D pills when all they need is to stand in the sun for about 15 mins a day.
Badar, Oh aarrgh, cola! There is some good news – you get a little older and you can give up soda drinks entirely!
I remember reading some articles while I lived in Qatar that women who veil need to find a private spot and get 10 – 20 minutes of sunshine per day for exactly the reason you are saying, vitamin D deficiency – the sunshine vitamin, deficient in a land blessed with abundant sunshine! Most have private courtyards or a balcony, but I think they don’t want to darken their skin, what a pity, when we are all roasting like hot dogs to try to get some color on our faces, LOL.
The other good news about cooking your own food is that fresh REAL food is so tasty! Have you noticed that Chili’s is using these ‘preformed’ foods now? I’m sure there are many others, but I noticed it in the Chili chicken tacos.
Cooking your own food is healthy becuse you will notice the spoiled parts of food and throw it away , while a cook at a resturant may not do that. Cooking your own food is healthy because while you are cooking you will feel satisfied from the aroma of the food and spices which will make you feel less hungry and once the food is done you will definately eat less.
Hahahahahahahha Daggero, I think you are right about throwing out bad food, but really really wrong about being less hungry when we cook. Aroma is a powerful force, many (of us) cooks taste as we cook. I am not at all convinced we eat less. What I do think is that we eat healthier foods . . . more vegetables, less fried stuff, but I could be wrong about that. I’m Pacific Northwest, we don’t fry, we broil and grill . . .