The Cooking for Health Optimization and Disease Prevention (CHOP) Trial

Community Teaching Kitchen-based Culinary Education as a 'Food is Medicine' Solution for Improving Health Equity Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Seniors

Poor nutrition-related diseases disproportionately impact seniors and racial/ethnic minorities who are more likely to experience disparities in proper nutrition. Culinary medicine is a new evidence-based educational approach that blends the art of food and cooking with the science of medicine. Recently, culinary medicine is proposed by the 2020-2030 Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research and national 'Food is Medicine (FIM)' Movement as potential solutions for improving healthy eating, creating social and emotional connections, and nutrition-related health equity. Built upon the well-established community teaching kitchen at The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine (GCCM) at Tulane University and nearly 10 years of experience in delivering culinary education of Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), the investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the feasibility and effectiveness of 3-month community teaching kitchen-based culinary education of MedDiet on improving cardiometabolic and mental health among racially and ethnically diverse seniors.

The study is designed as a two-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial (RCT). The interventions in the two groups are described as below:

i) Culinary intervention group (n=48): The interventions include the teaching-kitchen based structured, hands-on culinary education classes.

ii) Usual diet control group (n=48): Participants randomized to the usual diet group will not receive culinary education classes, while they will continue to receive clinical care recommendations from their physician(s).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 55 years or older
• English speaking
• Ability to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medical history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cancer.
• Food allergies including, but not limited to, milk, eggs, shellfish, nuts, wheat or gluten, and soy.
• Special diets including, but not limited to, Mediterranean, veganism, vegetarianism, gluten-free, and the ketogenic diet.
• Current use of medications that could affect blood glucose and lipids levels including, but not limited to, insulins (Humalog, Novolog, insulin detemir, etc.), anti-diabetic medications (metformin, sulfonylureas, meglitinides, etc.), Ozempic. HAART, and beta blockers.
• No children are involved.
• No other vulnerable subjects will be involved.