Mental Health Awareness Week is here, and this year’s focus is providing the tools to boost our mental health.
Me Whakawhanaunga (connect) is a tool that’s all about talking, listening, and creating meaningful connections with your loved ones. Research shows that feeling a sense of connection can lead to improved mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing (1,2) and what better way to connect than by sharing some delicious kai with friends and whānau?
The Blue Zones are five regions around the world where people have lower rates of chronic diseases and longer life expectancy and they demonstrate the importance of social connection. These cultures have diverse populations but they all commonly have a lifestyle that is centred around community and connection, where cooking, eating, gardening, and exercising together is often part of the daily routine (3).
Connection can look different for everyone. Here are some ways you can use kai to connect with your friends and whānau.
Prepare food together
One of my favourite childhood memories was choosing a recipe and helping my parents cook it for dinner. It was not only a great way to chat about the day and spend some quality time together, it also helped me to develop cooking skills and healthy eating habits. Cooking a meal to share with your loved ones creates a sense of accomplishment and fulfilment, in turn, boosting self-worth – plus, you get to enjoy your delicious creations afterwards!
Eat dinner around the table
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to let the distractions of life get in the way of sitting down for dinner with the family. A recent survey of our customers revealed that 45% of respondents ate dinner on the couch or in the car, as opposed to around the table or kitchen bench. Sharing a meal around the table provides time to chat about the day and connect through meaningful conversation. Regularly eating dinner together can help reduce stress (4), improve emotional health, and support your family to develop a positive relationship with food (5). If weekdays are hard to get everyone around the table, use the weekends to enjoy a meal together. So, this week (and beyond!) aim to get the family cooking together in the kitchen and where you can serve your creations sharing-style.
Meet friends for coffee
Grabbing coffee is one of my favourite ways to catch up with mates! Even better, tie it in with some movement by getting your coffee to go and heading outside for a long walk. Not only does exercise produce endorphins, aka our ‘happy hormones’, sun exposure is thought to trigger the brain’s production of the ‘feel good’ chemical serotonin, which plays a key role in regulating our mood (6).
Plant a garden
With warmer weather on the horizon, what better way to spend time with family outdoors than gardening? You can start small with some easy to grow herbs, tomatoes or leafy greens in pots. It’s not only a great way to get in some movement and sunshine, you also get to experience the sense of accomplishment of growing and cooking with your own food. Use the weekend to head to your local garden shop, pick out your favourite veggies or herbs, and plant them with your family.
References:
- Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review – PubMed (nih.gov)
- Five_ways_to_well-being the evidence.doc (neweconomics.org)
- Blue Zones – PMC (nih.gov)
- New survey: 91% of parents say their family is less stressed when they eat together | American Heart Association
- Family meals and adolescents: what have we learned from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens)? | Public Health Nutrition | Cambridge Core
- The risks and benefits of sun exposure 2016
