Lebanon ranked 32nd out of 163 countries in Bloomberg’s 2017 Global Health Index and the healthiest nation in the Arab World with a health score of 79.55. Just to give you a quick overview of the report, each country in the index is “graded based on variables such as life expectancy, causes of death and health risks ranging from high blood pressure and tobacco use to malnutrition and the availability of clean water”. Italy ranked first worldwide, and Qatar ranked second in the Arab world followed by Bahrain & the UAE.

It may come as a surprise for many to see Lebanon so highly ranked given its high tobacco consumption levels, but quoting renowned Lebanese food blogger Bethany Kehdy in her AlAraby interview: “Nutritional variety and our traditional cuisine and eating habits are key to Lebanon’s healthy lifestyle”.

We’re always eating fresh food depending on the season and our diet is a very rich one. Also we tend to have light dinners or at least most of our parents do and we eat a lot of fruits as desserts. I personally have Labneh with olives, cucumbers and tomatoes (and sometimes a Zaatar man2oushe or crackers) for dinner almost 3-4 times a week and I never get bored of it. I’m sure that we would even rank even higher globally if the authorities enforce a proper smoking ban law.