HOME COOKING: Health Empowerment Strategy in People With Type II Diabetes Mellitus

The culinary intervention was developed integrating four culinary workshops that were given every week, once per week, during one-month intervention. The duration of each culinary workshop was 3,5 h, thus, the program provided a total of 14h of practice in cooking activities. The courses took place in a well-equipped kitchen from the Basque Culinary Center. Each culinary workshop was divided in two differentiated parts in order to work on the specific objectives established for each day. All cooking classes began with a theoretical introductory part that aimed to explain the main take-home messages from the workshop. Subsequently, every class was characterized by a hands-on part that included the demonstration and practical preparation of different elaborations based on the use specific cooking techniques and healthy ingredients. At the end of the session, participants were encouraged to taste the prepared meals, to share their preferences and their view about the cooking experience.

The patients in the nutritional intervention group will receive dietary advice on how to follow a Mediterranean diet. The dietary recommendations will be given at the beginning of the study by nutritionists using comprehensive written material.