In 1996, Christine Sfeir decided to introduce Dunkin’ Donuts to Beirut. It wasn’t an easy sell. Not only had her home country of Lebanon been through a civil war less than a decade earlier, but the foods she was trying to push—doughnuts and American-style coffee—were alien concepts. Fast-food franchises themselves were uncommon.

Now the 42-year-old Ms. Sfeir has what may be an even tougher mission: to bring her own Mediterranean-food franchise to the U.S. Preparing American palates for shawarma and authentic Mediterranean hummus has meant huge investments in promotion and market research. “I’m passionate about Lebanese cuisine, and I want to take it all over the world,” says Ms. Sfeir. It has “been very challenging, but we are determined to make it happen.”

An eating regimen that incorporates foods that are part of the Mediterranean diet just got even more confirmation that it may be good for your health.

In a study published Sunday in the European Heart Journal, researchers found that people with heart disease who ate more food associated with the Mediterranean diet — things like olive oil, fish, whole grains, and nuts — had fewer major heart problems than those who ate fewer of those foods.

To reach that conclusion, the researchers asked 15,000 people what they ate every day, and based on their responses ranked them as either more in line with a Mediterranean diet or a western one. The Mediterranean diet is modeled off of foods commonly eaten in countries on the Mediterranean Sea. It's typically high in fruits and vegetables, fish, and whole grains like whole wheat and brown rice. In contrast, a western diet is characterized as higher in refined grains, sugar, and deep fried foods.

by Adrian Hartrick - Huffington Post

As Armenians across the world commemorated the 101st anniversary of the 1915 Genocide, we visited Bourj Hammoud in Beirut, where Armenians fleeing the horrors in Anatolia built new lives.

It is Sunday, April 24, 2016, and Beirut’s chaotic Dora roundabout is at its frenetic best. Lebanese taxi drivers shout destination names, while Ethiopian women in white scarves make their way to church. Diverse groups of women from Ghana, Togo and the Philippines pick through clothing racks at discount fashion shops while a group of Kurdish men sip coffee on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan restaurant continues its lunch service unabated, serving up hot rotis and fish curry to its clientele of South Asian migrant workers.