Living in the UAE makes you reflect on how much the environment shapes the way we live. Here, we are surrounded by spices, cultures, and food traditions that remind us that nourishment is not just about calories, but about health, balance, and intention.
We are encouraged by the state to move our bodies, to train, to walk, cycle, and be outdoors. Free spaces, facilities, and open areas are a natural part of daily life, not a luxury.
We have access to medicine, of course, but we are also given something equally powerful: choice.
The choice to cook at home, to buy fresh food from local markets, to support growing ecological farming, or—if we want—to eat fast food. The difference is that here, fresh and healthy options are visible, accessible, and increasingly local. Farming in the UAE is growing fast, innovative, and sustainable, proving that even in challenging environments, food security and quality can thrive.
Europe built strong systems to treat illness, but it may have moved more slowly when it came to prevention. Over time, reliance on healthcare replaced responsibility for daily habits. Bureaucracy slowed innovation. Comfort became normal, while movement became optional. Fresh food turned industrial, and ancient food wisdom was reduced to convenience.
The UAE represents a different mindset—one focused on prevention rather than correction, on action rather than delay, and on vitality rather than comfort alone. It reminds us that health is not something we outsource to medicine, but something we practice every day.
In that sense, we are lucky to live here. Not because perfection exists, but because possibility does—and because we are invited, daily, to choose better.