Want To Reduce Your Risk Of Dementia? Do This At Least Once A Week

When was the last time you made a home-cooked meal? If it was in the past week, you're in luck—you may have just reduced your risk of dementia. That's according to a new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, which found that cooking has big brain benefits for older adults. Here's what to know.

Looking at the connection between cooking and dementia risk

As anyone who's ever made a meal can tell you, cooking not only requires physical activity, but it can also be very mentally engaging. With that in mind, researchers wondered if home cooking could have protective benefits against dementia.

To find out, they analyzed existing data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, which included nearly 11,000 participants ages 65 and up.

The brain health of these participants was tracked for six years, and they also recorded how often they cooked meals from scratch. The researchers accounted for confounding variables like education level, income, and retirement, and they even assessed for the participants' level of culinary skill.

Roughly half of the participants cooked at least five times a week and over a quarter did not. Somewhat unsurprisingly, women tended to cook more than men, and experienced cooks tended to cook more than inexperienced cooks.

In the end, nearly 1,200 participants ended up developing dementia—and the risk was significantly lower for those participants doing more cooking at home. Namely, cooking from scratch just once a week cut dementia risk by 23% for men and 27% for women. And for inexperienced cooks? One home-cooked meal a week cut their risk by a whopping 67%.

And if you consider yourself a whiz in the kitchen, you'll be happy to know that culinary competency was associated with a lower risk of dementia in general.

The importance of cooking's role in healthy aging

The study authors note that lifestyle factors related to cooking (i.e. what's being eaten and how it was prepared) vary from culture to culture, which could influence whether their findings would hold true in other countries.

Nevertheless, there's no question that plenty of people around the world eat out at restaurants, order takeout, or even rely on ultra-processed foods that require no cooking. As such, the study authors conclude, "Creating an environment where people can cook meals when they are older may be important for the prevention of dementia."

The takeaway

With the potential to reduce your risk of dementia nearly 70% by making just one meal a week, there's never been a better time to get cooking. Home-cooked meals from scratch are not only better for you, but making them comes with brain-health benefits, too.