In a previous post, we briefly touched on the fact that regularly being in nature is beneficial to your health. In this blog, we’ll explore that idea further. We’re going to delve into why spending more time outdoors is good for you and, specifically, how an outdoor cooking, eating, and entertaining space could help foster a healthier lifestyle for you and your family.
Outdoor kitchens make it easier to prepare and eat healthy meals.
The tools and appliances found in outdoor kitchens often necessitate the use of alternative cooking methods, which can be better for you. For example, grilling meats and vegetables is healthier because it reduces the use of fats, like oils and butter, that you might be more prone to using when cooking on the stovetop. Additionally, having access to alternative cooking methods can stimulate your creativity, motivating you to try new dishes. Adding more variety into your diet, particularly fruits and vegetables, can give your health a boost by providing you with essential vitamins and nutrients. And speaking of fruits and vegetables, cooking and eating in your backyard more regularly may just inspire you to start your own garden and grow them yourself!
Outdoor kitchens encourage more exercise.
Picture this: it’s a perfect summer day. The sun is starting to set, there’s a cool, gentle breeze blowing, and you’re sitting in a comfy chair on your back porch after a satisfying meal that you and your family prepared and enjoyed together in your outdoor kitchen. The birds are singing. The kids are laughing and chasing one another around the yard, and you’re having fun watching them. Suddenly, they call for you to join them. Without a second thought, you jump up and have a blast running around with your kids until the sun goes down and it’s time to go inside.
You may not think that this scenario counts as exercise, but it most certainly does, and you may not have engaged in it if you hadn’t already been outside.
Outdoor kitchens can provide a natural transition between relaxing and exercising. They serve to get you outside in the first place, and then, once you’re there, they push you to fully enjoy the experience. The fun thing about working out in your backyard is that it can take many forms. You can put a more practical spin on your exercise by getting it in while doing chores like mowing the lawn or weeding the garden. You can take it easy, maybe going on a leisurely stroll around your property or doing some light stretching or yoga moves. Or you can go all in, playing tag with your kids, throwing a football, baseball, or frisbee around, kicking a soccer ball back and forth, practicing your golf swing—you get the point! Whatever you’re into, whatever your hobbies are, and whatever your family enjoys doing together outside, outdoor kitchens can act as a catalyst to help you engage in those activities more often.
Outdoor kitchens foster community and connection.
Food brings people together. Life happens over meals prepared together and shared together. This includes both mundane life, as we feed our families day-to-day, and special events, as we host people in our homes and outdoor living spaces. Cooking and eating together provides an opportunity to engage with one another, to talk deeply about the things of life, to spend time enjoying one another’s company, and to grow in our love for one another. We are relational beings, so it makes sense that healthy relationships are good for us. Whether your goal is to connect more intentionally with your family or deepen relationships within your community, Worthy Outdoors can work with you to design and construct an outdoor kitchen that helps facilitate better relationships.
Outdoor kitchens increase exposure to sunlight.
Now wait a second, you might be saying, we are constantly being told about the dangers of the sun and the need to protect ourselves from it. How does spending more time in the sun benefit our health? It may surprise you to learn that it does in multiple ways!
In the journal article “Benefits of Sunlight: A Bright Spot for Human Health,” M. Nathaniel Mead outlines multiple ways being in the sun can have a positive impact on your health. For example, regular exposure to sunlight stimulates your body to make more vitamin D, which is necessary for a variety of essential functions within the body. There is evidence that suggests that maintaining a healthy level of vitamin D can help lower the risk of developing certain diseases and disorders.
Mead goes on to explain that sunlight helps regulate the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for our sleep-wake cycles, as well as serotonin, a chemical that affects our mood and mental state. How does this affect us on a practical level? It means that being outside during the daytime can help us sleep better at night and improve our outlook on life and ability to handle daily stressors.
Many of us work indoors, or at least we tend to spend the majority of our time inside, particularly during the brutal Texas summers. If we are going to maintain healthy levels of these essential substances within our bodies, we need to get creative about how to build outdoor time into our busy, everyday lives. A comfortable, custom-designed outdoor kitchen provides an easy solution to this dilemma by giving you a peaceful and natural environment in which to soak up that sunshine!
Outdoor kitchens lead to more time spent in nature, which has a positive impact on our minds.
In the article “Nurtured by Nature” for the American Psychological Association, Kristin Weir reveals that engaging with nature is beneficial for both our mental health and cognition. Nature has a proven therapeutic effect on negative emotions, including stress, anxiety, depression, and anger. Do you regularly return home at the end of the day exhausted and overwhelmed? Imagine having your own private backyard retreat in which you can cook, enjoy dinner, and then relax with your family! You can already feel that stress melting away, can’t you? Outdoor kitchens allow you to spend more time in the little slice of the outdoors that you call your own, giving you needed doses of nature’s rejuvenating medicine, and providing your tired brain with the refreshment it needs.
Not only does being in nature improve our mental health, but it also improves our cognition. Weir reports that vital mental skills such as memory and attention are sharpened as we spend time outside, resulting in better performance at work or school. Clearly, more time spent in your backyard could have massive benefits for everyone in the family!
Outdoor living is healthy living because it facilitates healthy eating, encourages exercise, fosters deeper relationships with loved ones, exposes us to needed sunlight, and boosts our mental state. Whether you are searching for a peaceful oasis or looking for an outdoor environment that will stimulate and invigorate you, Worthy Outdoors can create an outdoor kitchen that will make it easier for your family to lead a healthy lifestyle.
