A Cooking-Centric Approach to Diabetes Education Through Modifying Ethnic Recipes

Abstract: Dietary behaviors influence the progression of metabolic diseases. This pilot study investigated the effects of culturally-tailored diabetes workshops on the cooking/eating behaviors and metabolic outcomes of diabetes patients in Iran. Popular ethnic recipes were modified to be healthier using seven cooking techniques/ingredient substitutions. This classification of cooking methods into seven categories streamlined and simplified cooking instructions. A group of 38 adults with diabetes were randomly selected to attend a two-part series of 120-minute, cooking-centric workshops in July 2012. The modified recipes were taught using PowerPoint presentations, cooking videos, a pamphlet, and a cookbook. Follow-up data on participants' clinical measurements were collected in July 2014. The short and long-term effects of the intervention on participants' cooking/eating behaviors were evaluated by self-reported questionnaires and clinical measurements, respectively. Within 16 days, there was a 37-53% increase in people using healthy cooking techniques (p <0.001). Fruit and vegetable consumption increased due to incorporation of those ingredients into taught recipes. Additionally, participants' average fasting blood glucose (FBG) decreased (p <0.001). After two years, participants' follow-up data (n=23) on FBG and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) showed improvements when compared to the control group. Results suggest teaching these seven-streamlined cooking techniques to modify local recipes may enable people with diabetes to improve their FBG and HbA1c.