The cooking for health optimization and disease prevention (CHOP) trial for improving cardiometabolic and mental health among older adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Older adults and racial/ethnic minorities are more likely to experience disparities in proper nutrition and thus are disproportionately more likely to have nutrition-related chronic conditions. Culinary medicine is a novel evidence-based educational approach that merges cooking and medicine to improve healthy eating, social-emotional connections, and nutrition-related health equity. The aim of our study is to test the feasibility and efficacy of community teaching kitchen-based culinary education of the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) on improving cardiometabolic and mental health among racially and ethnically diverse older adults. For this 3-month two-arm parallel group randomized controlled trial, we will recruit 96 male and female older adults (50% male and 50% female, 55 years or older) from the New Orleans Metropolitan area. Participants will be randomized to either (1) the culinary intervention group ( n = 48) to receive teaching-kitchen-based structured, hands-on culinary education classes for 3 months; or (2) the standard care group ( n = 48) to receive continued care from their physician, but no culinary education classes. Data will be collected at pre- and post-intervention. The primary outcomes include changes in measures of cardiometabolic health from pre- to post-intervention; secondary outcomes are changes in cognitive function, mental health, and adherence to the MedDiet. Based on “Food is Medicine” (FIM) principles, this study design is novel. We expect culinary interventions to significantly improve cardiometabolic as well as adherence to MedDiet elements among diverse aging populations. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07011459 . Registered on May 30, 2025.