Why Eating Together Could Be Good for Your Mental Health

There was a time when the home in Pakistan witnessed meals that did not just satiate hunger but also served as a means of uniting the family. This is because when the food was ready, all family members including the elders, children and other relatives would gather around the dining table to both share information about their day’s events as well as share the meal. However, with time, the dynamics began to change. People became busier and hence, the children started to eat at different times and places due to the influence of electronic devices and long working hours.

What Is Commensality — And Why Does It Matter?

Experts refer to the practice of eating with others as 'commensality'. Professor John Emmanuel de Neve, of economics and behavioural sciences at the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre, believes that sharing food is a fundamental way that people can forge bonds, build trust and connect with each other.

Can Eating Together Lower Depression Risk?

A number of studies have shown that shared meals are associated with mental wellbeing.

Researchers led by Zhenyi Wang at the Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China have found that a large number of elderly women who lived with people tended to have depression.

When adjusted for possible confounding variables such as the participants’ health status, financial status and living arrangements, the association retained statistical significance.

Another study, this time from Japan, found that among the 65- to 74-year-olds, those most likely to develop depressive symptoms were those who lived with their families but often ate alone, as compared to people who often shared meals with others.

Shared Meals Linked to Happiness and Life Satisfaction

The link between food and mood is mirrored in research carried out in more than 150,000 people across the world, where those who regularly shared a meal were likely to report better overall emotional wellbeing and higher levels of satisfaction with life.

The research by Professor Joseph Neve asked people how often they ate lunch or dinner with someone they knew in the past seven days.

Those that shared food more regularly were generally more likely to report better overall emotional wellbeing and higher levels of satisfaction with life.

Eating with others was associated with life satisfaction to a degree comparable with some major economic and social factors, including employment and relative income, said Prof de Neve.

But the researchers add that while regularly sharing food may reduce the risk of depression and loneliness - it does not necessarily explain why.

Good Company May Even Make Food Taste Better

Perhaps the most obvious benefits of communal meals would not necessarily involve emotional wellbeing.

According toUniversity of Oxford biological anthropologist Robin Dunbar, eating can cause endorphins, or happy chemicals, to appear in the system, making us feel happy or satisfied, and helping to strengthen bonds between people.

In a test,University of Pennsylvania researcher Erica Boothby and her colleagues found that people could actually find chocolate more enjoyable when eating it with another person.

In other words, the right company could make an already enjoyable meal even more enjoyable.

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What Does Eating Alone Mean for the Brain?

Research has also sought to establish a connection between the practice of dining alone and the state of one’s brain.

A research team from Japan conducted a study in 2025, and the results demonstrated that people who ate their meals alone had smaller brain volumes in several key regions, including those responsible for memory and cognition.

The study explained that the difference in diet could be a confounding variable, as individuals who ate alone had poorer eating habits, but diet was not fully capable of explaining the disconnect.

The researchers concluded that social eating, chatting and getting emotional support from others helps reduce stress and keeps the brain active.

Although none of the participants exhibited signs of cognitive decline and impairment at the moment, the study noted a possible connection between the observed brain changes and an elevated risk of dementia.

Which Countries Share Meals Most Often?

The frequency of communal eating varies significantly worldwide.

The article states that the number for Japan is less than four meals a week on average, while in the UK and the US it is about seven or eight meals, and in Italy – almost nine.

In Italy, shared meals are an essential part of the social and family lifestyle, and UNESCO has even included Italian cuisine in the list of intangible cultural heritage. This highlights the importance of food in Italian culture, socializing, family life, and holidays.