Gathering for meals whether to celebrate a birthday or holiday, enjoy family time, or to spend time among friends has been a common practice among groups of people dating back to Neolithic times. Communal meals have practical implications like saving time by cooking large quantities for multiple people at a time. But practicality is not the only benefit of sharing mealtime with others. In the United States, there has been a gradual shift away from group meals and toward solo eating which began around the advent of TV dinners in the 1950s, eliminating time spent on food preparation and cleanup. Fast forward to today, with our packed schedules and little downtime, sitting down for meals has become de-prioritized and as a result many of us often find ourselves eating alone. The physical and mental health benefits of eating with other people are numerous. If you find yourself eating alone often, perhaps by the end of reading this, you will feel able to create a new habit with other people to share a meal together.
Physical Health Benefits
Research has shown that the physical health benefits of eating with other people include:
- Decreased cardiovascular disease risk
- Decreased rates of obesity
- Decreased rates of diabetes
- More nutritious food choices
Mental Health Benefits
There are numerous positive benefits, both objective and subjective, found through research that impact mental health that include:
- Lowered rates of depression
- Increased self esteem
- Increased feelings of trustworthiness of people
- Greater sense of social connection and belonging
- Overall greater life satisfaction and well-being
How To Make the Connection
Below are some ways to incorporate sharing mealtime with others:
- Make a goal of eating with a friend or friends once a month. Food can be potluck style, a different person is the designated cook each time, or everyone brings their own food for themselves.
- Make a goal of sit-down family dinner once per week
- Find a coworker or coworkers who you can eat with at lunch
- Reach out to a neighbor to schedule a meal together
- Schedule a video call with someone during a mealtime
- Know it’s ok to keep it simple! Meals don’t have to be complex to be meaningful and create a space for social connection.
- Start small. If the expectation of eating with others 7 days a week isn’t realistic, aim for a more attainable goal once every 2 weeks.
In a culture that values doing and going all the time, it might seem hard at first to carve out time to eat a meal with others. For some, eating with friends and family might already be an established routine. But for others, it might take practice to feel comfortable reaching out to others and putting a date on a calendar. The people in your life will be grateful you took the time to ask them. Humans are hard-wired for connection, and what better way to nurture connection while benefitting your physical health than to do it at the dinner table.
About the Author
Rachel Paran is a Naturopathic Physician at Heart Spring Health in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. She is a graduate of Sonoran University of Health Sciences in Arizona where she developed a passion for using hands-on therapeutic techniques to address functional imbalances. Dr. Paran has accumulated over 200 hours of training in Applied Kinesiology and muscle testing. She also practices visceral manipulation and craniosacral therapy, educated through the Barral Institute and Upledger Institute, respectively.
