Lebanon Smoking Ban... Finally!

Here's a news report from BBC News Article by Matt Nash Lebanon, many argue, has bigger fish to fry. So far this summer, the country has dealt with gunbattles in Beirut, warring Sunni and Alawite neighbourhoods in Tripoli, waves of kidnappings, an increase in bank robberies, untold numbers of tyres burned by angry residents blocking roads, and up to 12-hour rolling blackouts linked to an employee strike at the state-owned electricity company. Yet on Monday, the authorities turned their attention to banning smoking inside restaurants, cafes, pubs and nightclubs. Sitting outside the Rabbit Hole pub in Beirut's Hamra neighbourhood, smoking...

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Alternative Healthcare: Emerging Career in Lebanon

According to the popular blog This is Beirut, alternative healthcare offers a promising career in Lebanon. Here is what it says about it: Alternative Medicine/Natural Health Practitioner – I’m a firm believer in Alternative Medicine and Natural Health Care. Probably because I come from a family of advocates who place Alternative Medicine/Natural Health Care Practioners above Traditional Doctors. I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical about it at first..we’re talking about naturopathy, herbalism, chinese medicine, Ayurveda, meditation, reiki, biofeedback, hypnosis, homeopathy, acupuncture, and nutritional-based therapies here. But after...

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Cigar Smoking in Lebanon

Cigar smoking is still a big thing among the Lebanese male population. Contrary to Europe or the US, where men go smoke their cigars in select bars, Lebanese do smoke their cigars wherever and whenever they feel like it. I remember an eve having dinner at Napoletana, a pizzeria in Hamra where families come enjoy Italian food. A couple sat next to us, and the man pulled a thick cigar that he started smoking. The odor was so aggressive that it spoiled our dinner, so we decided to continue our dinner on the terrace even though it was a bit chilly. I don’t understand how restaurants allow cigar smoking indoors. But this is another subject....

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Yoga in Beirut - Interview with Mona Nasreddeen

How did you discover Yoga? I started to take yoga classes back in 2006, because I had severe lower back pain and stiffness in the neck, and overall stress. I had done sports before (basketball, training at the gym ...). After like a month or so, I knew that yoga was really working. I felt better about myself and felt my blood circulation improved, stiffness was gone and back and neck pain slowly disappeared. With the practice (which started as once per week but evolved to 3 times per week in one year), the positive change which I was experiencing on the physical level spread to all aspects of my life: mentally, psychologically and...

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Yoga in Beirut - Interview with Aaed Ghanem

"Yoga offers an efficient way to shift from the ego to the hear" Aaed Ghanem discovered yoga at the age of 15 in the first Indian book on Yoga translated to Arabic (Yoga Prolongs your life by Sri Yogindra). “I got pulled towards that book. I picked it up from the shelf and started reading and practicing every thing that was described in it.” Aaed was hooked. From then on he worked on deepening his understanding of the yoga philosophy and his practice of asana (postures). In 2006, he studied Thai Yoga and Thai Massage. He went to Madurai, in Southern India where he took his first yoga certification from the Sivananda yoga vedanta center,...

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Is Stress Contagious?

Stress in others appears to affect our own emotions. And it doesn’t just happen with direct interaction like when a family member shares his worries with us, or our stressed out boss pressures us to get things done. It can happen by just seeing someone manifesting signs of stress. It often takes place under the radar of our consciousness. You have a glimpse of a colleague who is frowning his eyebrows, you hear him sigh, and you start feeling some of his distress. Why is that? Seeing and feeling Our nervous system has the ability to pick up in others very subtle clues: facial expression, body movements, breathing patterns, etc. It happens...

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Oat Meal with Flax Seek, a Great Breakfast! (Video, Eng)

‘Healthy Foods’ with Layane Makarem Layane Makarem opened with her friend Sabine the first certified organic store in Lebanon. Located in Achrafieh, Beirut, A New Earth opened its doors in 2009 offering a wide selection of organic and healthy foods. In this video, Layane tells us about the great benefits of eating Oat for breakfast. Sprinkle your oat with crushed flax seed (2 spoons give you your omega3 needs), add some dry fruits or honey, hot water (or rice milk) and you got yourself a super breakfast high in fibers, rich in proteins, essential fatty acids, and anti-oxidants. You can contact Layane by email and join her Facebook page.  Enjoyed the video? Give us your feedbac...

Cold or Heat? Which Therapy Do I Use, and When?

 I often hear this question. Most people know that applying heat or cold can be beneficial but they are not sure when to use what. In this post I will try to answer this question. Let’s start with cold therapies. Hot or cold?  One simple thing to remember:  Touch the area of pain or injury.  If it is warmer than the rest of  your body don’t put heat on it. Use cold. Using cold Cold therapy is commonly used during the first 48 hours of an injury (presence of inflammation). The application of cold can take many forms: cold packs, cold cloth, crushed ice compress, and ice baths. When cold therapy (also...

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Green Tea & Obesity in Lebanese University Students

Among university students at the Lebanese American University, 37% of males are overweight while 13,6% of females are overweight1.  In 1996, figures were 23,4% of boys and 19,7% of girls2. This evolution (increase in boys while a reduction in girls) may be explained by the societal pressure on girls to be thin, while it is not perceived to be as important for boys. Knowing the many health problems associated with being overweight, it is essential for BOTH boys and girls to be attentive to their body. In addition to exercising and a healthy diet, drinking green tea seems to help regaining a proper weight. A study3 conducted...

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Vitamin C for Smokers

A daily supplement of vitamin C helps limit the oxidative stress inflicted by smoking. In the US one person in five is a smoker, in Europe it is one in three, while Lebanon figure is one in two. Due to the toxins contained in cigarettes, the oxidative stress (causes cancers but also premature skin aging and hair thinning) levels on smokers are significantly higher than in non-smokers. In smokers, healthy antioxidants such as vitamin C and E, are quickly depleted. A study published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine (Vol. 40) reveals that taking 500mg of vitamin C twice per day helped maintain healthy levels of this vitamin and...

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Introduction to Organic Food

Aude Richard Owner and Manager of Biodelices in Embrun, France In Lebanon, the number of people buying organic food is steadily growing. However, many Lebanese are still not familiar with what is organic food. I remember an interview I did in the mid-2000s in France. At the time, organic food stores were starting to blossom throughout the country. The comments and advises I got from Aude Richard, who has been running an organic food store in the French Alps since 2002, could apply to today’s situation in Lebanon. Aude and her life partner opened ‘un magasin bio’ in the early 2000 in the city of Embrun in the Alps. Audes notes that from...

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Yoga in Beirut : Prenatal Yoga

Prenatal Yoga Yoga, which offers many benefits on the physical and mental level, is a great choice for pregnant women. If you haven’t practice it before, the pregnancy period is a perfect time to start practicing. Duna, a sivananda yoga instructor, has been trained to teach pregnant women. Here is the introduction to her work: “Each session is designed to help you connect with your changing body while preparing you for labor and birth. Incorporating safe postures, meditation and breathe-work in a flowing sequence, prenatal yoga focuses on simultaneously strengthening and relaxing your body and mind. Set in a peaceful environment, these...

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