Some broccoli, carrot and zucchini UFOs created by the Semproniana cook, Ada Parellada, are the starting signal for the Receptes de Salut project developed by the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB).
Within the framework of the 12 months for mental health program that the center has promoted to improve the emotional well-being of citizens and professionals, several Catalan chefs will be invited to prepare a dish for the mental health patients of the HUB, Attention Primary School and the L’Hospitalet Mental Health Unit and their families.
These preparations will be recorded on video and published on social networks with the aim of raising awareness about mental illnesses and the importance of following a good diet when suffering from them. Also to offer resources to those affected and their families.
With her recipe, a mixture of grated vegetables that are cooked in the pan in pancake shapes and accompanied with a tuna sauce, mayonnaise and cheese spread, Ada Parellada is the first cook to participate in the project. She will be followed by the Alícia Foundation chef, Josep Lozano, with some oven-roasted vegetables with crispy chickpeas. Other chefs will join in the coming weeks.
At the end of the year, all recipes will be gathered in a digital and/or paper publication that will be delivered free of charge to patients admitted to the center during the Christmas holidays and to all workers at Bellvitge Hospital.
Recent studies, such as the work carried out by researchers from the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden, Nutritional psychiatry: Towards improving mental health by what you eat, demonstrate the importance of a healthy diet to improve and maintain health. This is where the initiative comes from, which wants to emphasize how the development of healthy, quality menus can help patients remember forgotten flavors due to the high consumption of ultra-processed foods, especially in the case of people who suffer from binge eating disorders.
In people with eating disorders, the promoters of the project say in a statement, “it is essential to bring them closer to preparing meals as an opportunity to normalize links with food and as a comprehensive daily action, which involves social and cultural relationships that contribute to their recovery.”
Receptes de Salut is part of the 12 mesos x mental health project promoted by the HUB, the Hospitalet de Llobregat-Collblanc Mental Health Unit and Primary Care, which started in January and will last until December. With this initiative, the aim is to improve mental health care from several aspects: from the improvement and creation of new equipment to art therapy and music therapy, continuing with the promotion of physical activity.
