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Pregnancy is the new fountain of youth

Find your inner warrior, and the fountain of youth with pregnancy?  Women from the western world put off pregnancy (even green ones!) for as long as possible, making way for career, adventures, or finding that somewhat “elusive” true love. In the meantime, these same women postpone the effects of ageing by becoming gym rats, getting […]

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Middle-Eastern Spice Remedies: Roses to Sumak

Miriam’s series on medicinal Middle Eastern spices is reaching the end of the alphabet! Middle Eastern cuisine sometimes regards roses as a spice or flavoring. (above) R is for…Rose Buds. The Tunisian version of Baharat spice blend has crushed, dried roses in it. The  complex Iranian Advieh spice mixture also contains rose buds. You find dried […]

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Egypt’s Hashish Crisis Stokes Bitterness

Drugs can cause environmental devastation. Some smokers say it connects them to life, and nature. On the streets of Cairo, a hash shortage is generating some conspiracy theories. Photo via torbenh It may be an attempt to maintain stability while the ailing president was abroad, or a pre-election clampdown on crime. But whatever the conspirators […]

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Moroccan Stuffed Artichoke Hearts

Do you love artichokes? We do. Here’s a healthy recipe perfect for the Middle East. It’s springtime, and the markets of the Middle East display piles of these artichoke thistles with the succulent hearts. The hot climates of North Africa and the Middle East produce a fantastic variety of vegetables that are easy to stuff […]

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Sage Advice on Natural Deodorants (7 Tips)

When it comes to a safe deodorant what are your options? Karin picks Weleda’s “Sage” deodorant as a good choice. But you have options. Read on. People like us who are concerned with the environment, apply the same basic common sense to our bodies, right? That’s why many environmentalists and even just every day folk […]

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Meat Free Mondays at Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University students join Paul McCartney’s and Yoko Ono’s international effort to raise awareness about the impact of meat on our health and environment. [Photo credit: Erez Katsav] A couple of weeks ago, Tel Aviv University students joined others at Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, and many other universities worldwide in a campaign – Meat Free […]

An Ungreen Invention: The Automated Street Meat-Cutting Robot

[youtube width=”560″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H65o8uSmKz8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]A totally redundant and ungreen invention automates Middle East meat cutting. We were fooled by Grist yesterday and the news that McDonald’s meals won’t compost for 1,000 years, but this meat-cutting robot, a donor-robo looks like no joke. Designed by Turkish engineers, your Middle East street meat will never be the same, boast […]

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How Green Is Your Garlic?

Imported garlic looks beautiful, but locally grown is  healthier. Contaminated garlic from China  was a scandal in the late 1990s and up till 2009. Fueled by anger over tainted pet food, toothpaste, and medicines from China, health-conscious consumers were outraged at the huge quantities of cheap Chinese garlic that were being “dumped” – sold for […]

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RECIPE: Butternut Squash Stuffed With Quinoa

Hungry? Run on down to your local shuk and get yourself a butternut squash. Butternut squash is still in season. Try stuffing it with quinoa, the seed that the pre-Columbian Native Americans called “mother of the grains.” With its nutty taste and high nutritional protein levels (not to mention amino acids and minerals), quinoa’s a […]

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Stop Smoking, Stupid!

A new study finds that smokers tend to have lower IQs.  If you live in the Middle East, like I do, you’ll notice one of the most irritating habits you can’t escape is smoking. Cigarettes, pot, hookah pipe. Either you fight it or join them – something I did after being a virgin non-smoker for […]