Demi Lovato opens up about cooking's 'healing' impact on eating disorder

Warning: This article contains discussion of eating disorders which some readers may find distressing.

Former Disney darling Demi Lovato, who rose to fame in 2008 playing Mitchie Torres in Camp Rock and its sequel, only started cooking ‘a few years ago’.

Despite claiming she’s ‘not an expert’, the 33-year-old has her anticipated first cookbook, One Plate at a Time: Recipes for Finding Freedom with Food, debuting later this year.

In a previous Instagram post, Lovato said the upcoming publication would be filled with ‘simple, comforting recipes’ which allowed her to reconnect with herself and ‘find both freedom and joy’ in the kitchen after years of disordered eating.

“It has allowed me to see cooking as an act of love and kindness to myself and those in my life, and I hope this book can bring that same feeling into your home too,” she added.

Demi Lovato has opened up about her eating disorder recovery in a new interview (YouTube/Not Gonna Lie podcast)

Speaking about the release on an episode of Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast, the ‘City of Angels’ singer said that learning to cook has been ‘healing’ for her and her eating disorder recovery process.

“When I first got into recovery, food was very, very overwhelming for me, to the point where, when I would go to the grocery store, I would break down in tears because there was just food everywhere,” she explained on the 15 January instalment.

“And that, to me, was the enemy at the time.”

Lovato said that her therapists taught her the ‘importance and the value of cooking and repairing your relationship with food through that way’.

The singer opened up about how 'healing' cooking has been (Instagram/nglwithkylie)

“I found that cooking just kind of helps build my relationship with food in a way that, like — I trust the food and it's fun.”

Despite her experience with disordered eating being the motivation behind One Plate at a Time, the cookbook also serves as an introduction to the kitchen.

“Say you don't have an eating disorder and you're not in recovery and you want recipes that are just easy and tips on how to get started in the kitchen. Like, you could be that person, too,” she told Kelce, 33.

The singer's new cookbook is set to release on March 31 (

One Plate at a Time is set to feature 80 recipes, with particular attention paid to her personal ‘Top 5’ across a range of categories.

The cookbook can be pre-ordered now.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article and would like to speak with someone in confidence, call the BEAT Eating Disorders helpline on 0808 801 0677. Helplines are open 3pm-8pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can try the one-to-one webchat.