BY MOUJ HIJAZI
Unhealthy eating in Oman is a growing issue. A quarter of all hospital deaths in Oman are caused by heart disease and circulatory problems, according to the Ministry of Health.
Lifestyle choices, fatty foods and lack of exercise have all contributed to the increasing number of residents reported by doctors coming in to see them with heart issues.
Unhealthy eating habits are established in our culture and traditional food. So, what can be done to make this problem easier to solve?
With only a handful of restaurants centred around for healthy food in the whole city of Muscat, the Healthy Kitchen has opened doors for people to lead healthier lifestyles and consume fewer fats, without the need to sacrifice delicious meals.
Its menu consists of wraps, burgers, steaks, sandwiches, pasta and much more, made only with organic ingredients.
Mohammed Al Zadjali, Omani personal trainer and owner of the Healthy Kitchen, described where the inspiration for the restaurant came from:
“We’ve created this restaurant to help people who have problems with obesity [and related diseases], and we want to help the citizens of Oman to become healthier, and so the inspiration came from a passion that I have for bodybuilding,”
“I visited some countries and took some ideas about healthy food and diet, and came back and implemented them.”
“I’ve created something in Oman which is related to the concept of health, yet at the same time, it is healthy food. Most of the restaurants when you go to them and eat healthy food you get bored, after a week or so,” said Mohammed.
“It is healthy food but it tastes like normal food; this is what differentiates my concept from any other concept, and it’s quite unique.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has in a way helped the Healthy Kitchen grow as healthy food intake has been thriving, with more people giving thought to eat healthy to reduce illness and obesity.
However, just like any other business, the restaurant has also suffered and been hit with a decrease in revenue.
“It affected a lot of people critically, and there’s nothing we can actually do to adapt to it but we have to sustain and stabilise ourselves, try and survive for the time being and we will see what we can do later on with time,” said Mohammed.
“But we have to stay patient because this situation critically hit everybody, not just restaurants or business – it’s worldwide.”
In terms of future plans, Mohammed explained that they are put on hold for the time being due to the crisis.
“We would like to expand for sure, to smaller branches, but as you spoke about the COVID-19 situation, it’s not something to be taken lightly, so we are trying to sustain ourselves and that’s the plan for now.”
The Healthy Kitchen also provides catering services as well as a monthly subscription plan.
“We do catering for birthday parties, institutions, ministries and more. This is something we do on a regular basis and it’s quite good business as well from this section.”
For more information, you can visit their website at http://healthy-kitchen.net, direct message them on Instagram, or contact them at +968 9466 5555 or info@healthy-kitchen.net.
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