6 June 2018

Monique Bassila Zaarour prepared with the media an Iftar that is as nutritious as delicious!

June 06, 2018  -  Marking the holy month of Ramadan, Yaduna Foundation and the Women Heart Health Center (WHHC) organized a live healthy cooking session followed by an Iftar gathering. Held at Yaduna, a host of Lebanese media joined the award-winning nutritionist Monique Bassila Zaarour to learn how to prepare an easy, fast and healthy Iftar.

This initiative came in line with Yaduna’s continuous efforts to educate the public and especially women on the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle to prevent heart diseases through embracing simple, healthful concepts which every busy woman can practice in her own kitchen. Media also had the chance to discover the secrets of leading a nutritious and balanced diet through meals planning, smarter shopping, understanding nutrition information, and exploring easy and fast cooking tips so they can make healthier choices, and cook delicious, affordable meals during Ramadan and throughout the year.

“We understand that people tend to have unhealthy eating habits during Ramadan when they break their fast. This is why, we felt we have a role to play in encouraging adequate nutrition and continued healthy approaches,” said Mrs. Wafaa Sleiman, President of Yaduna . “It’s crucial for women to follow preventive measures to take good care of their heart and overall health as adopting a healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent cardiovascular and heart diseases. In fact, improving women’s heart health can improve the health of families and the broader community,” added Mrs. Sleiman.

During her interactive and engaging session, Monique Bassila Zaarour, showcased the importance of leading a healthy diet and being physically active to reduce the risk of heart diseases, and promote overall health. The session also included a live cooking workshop to prepare delicious and healthy recipes for the Iftar media gathering.

On behalf of Yaduna Foundation and WHHC, Mrs. Sleiman thanked the media for their participation in the live cooking session and for being partners in spreading out the messages for which the center was formed.

Since its establishment in July 2013, Yaduna Foundation and WHHC aim at improving women’s cardiovascular health, promoting early detection, and reducing burden of disease through prevention, screening, primary treatment and advocacy. To eradicate heart diseases among women, the Center encourages women over 45 years for an annual checkup. Till date, more than 4,400 screening were conducted from which 47% were diagnosed with high risk factors for heart diseases, 12% out of them had calcification of the coronary arteries which implicated strict prevention recommendation and further coronary artery disease workup.

It is worth mentioning that the cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death among women in the world. In fact, 56% of deaths among women are due to cardiovascular diseases while 64% of them did not appear to have any symptoms. Preventive examinations are crucial for women above the age of 45 and can be done at the Women’s Heart Health Centre in collaboration with eminent cardiologists from the AUBMC & USJ-FM regardless of their social background as the Center is run by Yaduna, a not-for-profit foundation.