Local restaurants are great opportunities to enjoy good food, but they’re not your only option for a pleasant meal. Dining alfresco can improve your wellness when you’re not in the mood to cook. It all depends on where you choose to eat.
Learn more about the benefits of alfresco dining to see if it would help you reach your personal wellness goals or have an even better time during your next meal. You might even save extra cash by avoiding a busy restaurant.
What Is Alfresco Dining?
Alfresco dining is a term that incorporates multiple ways to eat outside. Different cultures sit outdoors during various meals, like dining on breakfast while the sun rises or sipping tea in the afternoon breeze. There’s no wrong way to have an alfresco meal. As long as you have something tasty to eat outside, you’re participating in a beloved culinary tradition.
Benefits of Alfresco Dining
There are numerous benefits of alfresco dining, even if it’s your first time trying it. Learn how this dining style can support your comprehensive well-being so you can look forward to your next meal with even more excitement.
1. You’ll Fortify Your Immune System
Getting outdoors isn’t just a nice change of pace. It also makes your immune system stronger. Research shows that nature exposure decreases cellular inflammation, allowing your immune system to function more efficiently. That initial deep breath you take after stepping outside isn’t just your stress slipping away. It’s also your immune system getting stronger.
Try dining alfresco in the early fall to stay healthier during peak flu seasons. You won’t have to worry about sweating in any summer heat or getting sick after visiting your favorite restaurant during its busiest hours. It’s the perfect time to bring a big blanket to your local park and enjoy a picnic while the leaves drift from the treetops around you.
2. You’ll Gain More Space for Socializing
If you frequent restaurants often, you’ve likely sat down in an overcrowded venue more than once. It’s never fun trying to have a conversation with someone while you’re competing with the volume of other diners and the kitchen. Alfresco dining areas help people spread out over an open-air space for a quieter meal.
You may even get to access bigger tables so more of your loved ones can join you. See if any of your local parks or a nearby reservoir has covered picnic tables. You could reserve that space online to accommodate all of your favorite people. Public parks often let groups reserve their dining spaces for free because you’ve already paid for them with your local taxes.
Socializing is an important part of your comprehensive wellness because it prevents feelings of isolation, so it’s something to consider if you want to improve that aspect of your daily life.
3. You Could Try New Foods
You know what to expect when you open a menu from a restaurant you visit frequently. Dining outdoors, like hosting a cookout, gives you the opportunity to try something entirely different. Explore potential new recipes you could share with your loved ones while you gather in your backyard around a grill, outdoor pizza oven or campfire.
If you’re not in the mood to cook, you could always order a to-go meal from a restaurant. Venues often create custom outdoor menus for people dining outside or ordering to-go.
See if your favorite spots offer an exclusive menu with new drink or meal options. You might get a brand-new culinary experience while enjoying your order at your favorite outdoor getaway.
4. You’ll Get a New Environment
Sometimes, a change of pace is nice. You could always eat at your usual booth, but why not experience a meal outside? You’ll get a different experience, which might make your breakfast, lunch or dinner even more relaxing.
Ask your loved ones to join you and experience your town in a different way. It might just scratch the mental itch that’s making you wish you could take a vacation. You might dine together in a downtown gazebo or a public garden with picnic benches. You’ll spend time in a new environment and may leave feeling more refreshed than if you’d chosen an indoor spot to eat.
5. You’ll Enjoy More Vitamin D
Vitamin supplements aren’t the only way to get the minerals your body needs to thrive. You can also sit outside. As you bask in the sunshine, your skin absorbs it and starts making more vitamin D. It’s an all-natural way to improve your vitamin intake without purchasing costly supplements.
Remember, your body doesn’t just need vitamin D to support its daily functions. The natural hormone also helps your body absorb calcium more efficiently, so the dairy in your meal will better support your bones if you try eating outside. It’s another way to care for your body’s overall wellness without significant changes in your daily routine.
6. Your Brain May Work More Efficiently
Researchers found that people who spend their time in poor indoor air quality live with adverse cognitive effects like poorer memory, perception and attention. Air quality deteriorates when people crowd into a room and a kitchen produces smoke nearby.
Dining alfresco can improve your well-being by ensuring your brain thrives in an outdoor area with better-ventilated air quality. Search local social media groups to find where people enjoy taking their food. You might discover a quiet lakeside park or recently renovated arts garden where you’ll support your brain health while dining on your favorite foods.
Utilizing a public space could also cut down on your spending. Bring food from home to a free park and you won’t have to pay extra for restaurant fees or tips.
7. You’ll Feel More Relaxed
Think about how relaxed you typically feel in a crowded restaurant. Everyone’s trying to talk over each other, the kitchen’s making constant noise and there’s likely music playing in the background. In addition to the visual stimulation of servers rushing around the venue, a restaurant can be overwhelming to the senses.
Eating outside creates a much more relaxed environment for any meal. You’ll get to feel the breeze, listen to birds and enjoy pleasant weather. It’s much easier to feel relaxed while dining alfresco than when you’re eating inside. Your comprehensive wellness will feel much more balanced when your meals happen in stress-free spaces.
8. You May Enjoy Better Sleep
Sitting down for an outdoor meal might not seem connected to your sleep routine, but it could be a crucial way to improve your nightly rest. When researchers studied people who spent more time either outside or indoors, the people who never got outside slept for shorter periods and even dealt with chronic insomnia.
Finding time to go outside is challenging if you have a busy schedule. You might not have time to add a long walk to your routine, but you can always find a place to sit outside while you eat. You could enjoy a meal on your back porch, apartment balcony or rooftop community space if you live in a condo building.
Curating a better schedule to support your nightly rest is part of improving your sleep quality through long-term habit changes. Even a small change like dining alfresco could help you get deeper sleep every night.
Try Dining Alfresco for Your Well-Being
You might feel more inclined to try eating outside once you learn the benefits of alfresco dining. Whether you want to sleep better, change your routine or enjoy something new from a different menu, you’ll improve your wellness by trying something new. See if you can find a new place to eat outside in your town while the weather is nice. You’ll have an incredible experience whether you dine by yourself or with loved ones.
Photo by Evangelina Silina on Unsplash
This is a collaborative post supporting our Peace In Peace Out initiative.