March 24, 2026

expert reaction to observational study of older people preparing home cooked meals and risk of dementia

An observational study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health looks at home cooking and dementia risk.

Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Executive Director of Research and Partnerships, Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“This study suggests a possible link between home cooking and dementia risk, but it cannot show that cooking itself directly influences whether someone develops the condition.

“There are important limitations. The research cannot fully account for other lifestyle factors that could shape the results. For example, people who cook regularly may also have healthier diets, be more physically active, and be in better overall health, all of which are linked to better brain health. It’s also possible the reverse is true: people with early memory and thinking problems might lose the ability or motivation to cook, leading them to cook less often.

“Participants reported their cooking habits only once, which may not reflect longer-term patterns or changes over time.

“While this study doesn’t provide strong evidence that cooking at home reduces dementia risk, there is good evidence that keeping active, eating well, and staying socially connected can help support brain health. Alzheimer’s Research UK, which funds research into lifestyle and dementia risk, has more information on how to reduce your risk of dementia on its Think Brain Health Hub.”

Prof Eef Hogervorst, Professor of Biological Psychology, and Director of Dementia Research, National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Loughborough University, said:

“This Japanese study claimed that making home cooked meals was associated with reduced dementia risk. There was, however, no clear dose response effect: rather cooking at home more than 5 times per week, done by around half of this cohort, reduced risk more than the other categories. If this association was strongly driven by only benefits of home cooked meals, one would have expected benefits to be gradual perhaps. Impaired activities of daily life are a hallmark of dementia. Cooking is a complex activity also involving transport, money handling, organisation and memory skills to do shopping and putting food together etc. As Scandinavian cohorts have shown weight loss to occur a couple of years before dementia diagnosis, this may be because people forget to eat and/or no longer have the skills requires to cook. That said, most takeaway meals are too fatty and salty, so home cooked, using whole foods with lots of fresh vegetables, is good for overall health and should be recommended.”

‘Home cooking, cooking skills and dementia requiring long-term care: a population-based cohort study in Japan’ by Yukako Tani et al. was published in Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health at 22:30 UK time on Tuesday 24 March. 

DOI: 10.1136/jech-2025-225139

Declared interests

Dr Susan Kohlhaas: “Dr Kohlhaas has no declarations of interest.”

Prof Eef Hogervorst: “Eef Hogervorst did consultancy for Proctor and Gamble on nutrition and in the past for NESTEC and Sandoz. She was funded for nutrition and brain research by ARUK, ISPF, British council/Newton trust and ESRC and acted as dementia expert for NICE and ESHRE guidelines.”