Considering all that’s happened in 2020, it actually doesn’t seem too strange that baking banana bread has become a star hobby as a part of the growing stress baking fad.
It’s a warm hug wrapped in cinnamon, easy to make, and you don’t even need to hunt down the more-elusive-than-ever yeast. But why have we become so obsessed with baking? A lot of it has to do with your brain waves and the blissful escape baking offers.
Baking helps you focus
You’d think a pandemic and quarantine would be a time for slowing down and concentrating on what really matters, like binge-watching Netflix Canada. But, we’re actually multi-tasking more than ever these days, with all the relocating of offices into living rooms and becoming overnight school teachers.
So, channeling your focus on one thing – also known as mindfulness – can be a key reprieve for both brain and body.
Harvard Medical School says mindfulness “teaches people to live each moment as it unfolds. The idea is to focus attention on what is happening in the present and accept it without judgment.” Allow yourself the time to bake without a deadline. Slowly measure each ingredient and notice its texture, colour and smell. You should make baking about the journey, not the destination.
Certain scents decrease stress levels
A recent National Library of Medicine study suggests that the scents of lavender and rosemary can decrease the cortisol levels in your body.
Why is that important? Cortisol is also known as the stress hormone—too much of it has been shown to increase anxiety and depression.
You can bake with a soundtrack
Just as most of us work out to music, music can also provide the rhythm we need to mash bananas, knead dough, or whisk eggs. If your thoughts feel like they’re jumping all over the place, music may be the thing you need.
Research out of Stanford University found that brain waves resonate in time with different rhythms of music—slower beats can put you into a more meditative state while faster beats will amp up (no pun intended) your concentration level. The University of Nevada says the music that may reduce stress the best is Indigenous, Celtic, Indian stringed-instruments, drums and flutes.
Related: Try these 3 kitchen tricks for healthier baking
Baking is like art therapy
That’s right, even if you’re not overly artsy or creative, just participating in a crafty activity can reduce your stress level, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health.
Participants in the study said they found art-making to be “relaxing, enjoyable, helpful for learning about new aspects of self, freeing from constraints… and about flow/losing themselves in the work.”
Generosity makes you happier
Researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland found a link between being generous and an increase in brain activity that accounts for positive feelings, what many would call a “warm glow.”
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