Culinary Medicine Cooking Workshops as Add-On Therapy for Inpatients with Depression and Eating Disorders

Background: Culinary medicine integrates healthy eating with positive food experiences, offering a holistic approach to treating mental health disorders, such as depression and eating disorders, where disruptions in eating habits and mood are common. While traditional psychiatric treatments focus on medication and psychotherapy, culinary workshops provide a novel intervention for inpatient care. This study evaluated the effectiveness of culinary medicine cooking workshops as a supplementary treatment for psychiatric inpatients with depression and eating disorders. Methods: We assessed the feasibility of five cooking workshops led by a professional chef and nutritional therapist in 39 psychiatric inpatients (depression, n = 29; eating disorders, n = 10). Participants completed questionnaires on dietary habits, mood, and workshop feedback before and after the intervention. Results: The workshops were highly accepted, with 90% of participants reporting they would recommend them for recovery. Significant improvements were observed in mood (p < 0.001), sadness (p < 0.001), hopelessness (p = 0.002), and tiredness (p = 0.003) across the overall group. Patients with depression showed improvements in nearly all mood subscales, while those with eating disorders improved in sadness (p = 0.029). Conclusions: Culinary medicine workshops are a promising tool for enhancing mood and reducing hopelessness and tiredness in inpatients with depression. They also promote sustainable lifestyle changes that may benefit long-term physical and mental health. Future studies should explore the long-term impact of these interventions on psychiatric disorders.