Are Fatty Acids to blame for the high rate of diseases in Lebanon?
- maryopfer
- Feb 4, 2024
- 3 min read
There has been a high prevalence of diet-related non-communicable diseases in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, including Lebanon. One reason for this is that Eastern Mediterranean countries are having very fast transitions when it comes to food patterns and their development. Having a Lebanese cultural background, I always thought that the diet culture was always the healthiest and not many diseases came about because of the ingredients that were involved.. These studies say differently. There has been data on fatty acid profiles and ratios of Lebanese composite dishes, Arabic sweets, and market foods. Fatty acids are basically the building blocks of the fat in our bodies and in the food we eat. When we digest food, our bodies break down the fat into fatty acids, which can be absorbed into the bloodstream. The essential fatty acids, like omega-3 fatty acids, have many nutritional benefits including cellular functions. Saturated fatty acids and trans fats are the ones we do not want to be absorbed in our bloodstream. When that happens, there can be a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other diseases.
One study took 30 different traditional Lebanese dishes and chemically analyzed them for total, unsaturated and saturated fatty acids. The results actually surprised me. About 75% of these dishes were poor in unsaturated fatty acids 1. Some of these dishes included foods from the food groups of meats, fish, cereals, legumes, vegetables and fat. Some other dishes included Arabic sweets composed of things like nuts, seeds, fats, cereals, dairy and sugars.
The fatty acid analysis is presented in a few different charts.
The results of the fatty acids profile, daily value’s (DV) and ratios of the Lebanese composite dishes, Arabic sweets and market products are presented in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3. Looking at the charts, you can see that the total amount of fatty acids in these dishes exceed the recommended daily value. The Arabic sweet dishes contained a very high amount of fatty acids that exceeded the DV by 20%.
Table 1 shows: Fatty acid ratios and total fatty acid mean values in 100 g of edible portions of traditional dishes and the percentage of their daily contribution in a 2000 Kcal-diet.
Many traditional dishes had more saturated fatty acids than unsaturated fatty acids.
Table 2 shows: Fatty acid ratios and total fatty acid mean values in 100 g of edible portions of Arabic sweets and the percentage of their daily contribution in a 2000 kcal-diet.
Many arabic sweets contained almost as much fat as we should have in most of our full day.
Table 3 shows: Fatty acid ratios and total fatty acid content in 100 g of edible portions of market food products and the percentage of their daily contribution in a 2000 Kcal-diet.
Many market food products actually contained more polyunsaturated fatty acids than the other dishes, because of the oils that were used.
After these studies, it can be concluded that the majority of the consumed traditional dishes in Lebanon have some attributes that impact the coronary health of the Lebanese population. By choosing a healthier group of ingredients and controlling the quality of the Mediterranean/Lebanese diet, we can control the amount of fatty acids in the diet, especially the saturated fatty acids. We can then decrease the prevalence of the non-communicable diseases associated with saturated fatty acids.
Food insecurity has also been an issue in Mediterranean countries, including Lebanon. In August of 2020, about 55% of the Lebanese population were living in poverty. There have been economic issues, increased unemployment, increasing inflation rates and they all have worsened due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of this, many of these individuals and families have been eating out of the house and eating foods very high in fats and saturated fatty acids. Therefore, there is an increased rate of diseases due to all of these economic problems as well
There is a big need for multicultural education, as well as awareness, on fatty acids and how it can impact our health. Nutrition education is so vital and important. It can provide the power to change behaviors, attitudes and nutritional consumptions2. Mediterranean countries, including Lebanon, could benefit greatly from nutrition education and how they can interchange ingredients in order to decrease the risk of diseases because of consumption of saturated fatty acids.
1. Hoteit, Maha, Edwina Zoghbi, Alissar Rady, Iman Shankiti, and Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh. 2021. "Fatty Acids Quality in Middle Eastern Traditional Dishes, Arabic Sweets and Market Foods Frequently Consumed in Lebanon" Nutrients 13, no. 7: 2462. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072462
2. Hoteit M, Zoghbi E, Al Iskandarani M et al. Nutritional value of the Middle Eastern diet: analysis of total sugar, salt, and iron in Lebanese traditional dishes [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]. F1000Research 2020, 9:1254 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.26278.1)
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