Diet During Ramadan Fasting

Ramadan; a.k.a Ramazan is the most holy period of Islam. Every person who is over the age of 12 years is expected to abstain from any sensual pleasures, whether smoking, drinking or gambling.  They also observe fasting from the first light of dawn until sunset.

It gets a little confusing to manage good health along with the fasting, but it is not impossible. Here is how your diet during Ramadan fasting / ramzan should be.

Diet during Ramadan Fasting / Ramzan: –

Here are a few tips for you to follow for diet during Ramadan fasting / ramzan

What to eat –

–          Diet during Ramadan fasting / ramzan should be well balanced, consisting of all the food groups before dawn (sehri or suhur). This will help in avoiding, fatigue, restlessness, and vomiting sensations due to hunger at bay.

–          To avoid feeling hungry during the long hours of fast, one must include a lot of complex carbohydrates along with good fibre. These nutrients digest slowly and hence will lead to slower release of sugar in the blood stream throughout the day, making you feel less hungry. The health benefits fibre and complex carbs have on health add on to the reasons of consuming them.

–          Diet during Ramadan fasting should consist of Food items that provide complex carbs.  Brown rice, oats, whole wheat flour, Barley, millet, semolina, beans, unpolished rice, and lentils provide plenty of complex carbs.

–          Diet during Ramadan fasting should consist of good quality protein. It is observed that during long fasting, if protein is overlooked, one may face problems like dry and rough skin and hair, hair fall. Eating Eggs, chicken, lamb, chicken, sea food, lentils and dairy will do the trick.

–          Eat a lot of green salads, vegetables and fruits. This will help you get all the needed fibre and vitamins.

–          Keeping the body hydrate is another big challenge during this fast.  Fruit juices, buttermilk and water should be consumed after sunset and before dawn; this will help the body to maintain its fluid balance,

 

What to avoid

–          Avoid excess intake of simple sugars. Sugars lead to immediate hike in the blood sugar level and a steep drop after a while, which may lead to intolerable hunger pangs.

–          Avoiding excess masala and spices are indeed helpful. These spices increase the acid production in the stomach and may lead to acidity and burning sensation during the fasting period.

–          Avoid too much Caffeine. If you are addicted to your cup of tea / coffee / or any other caffeinated drinks, you must start your effort of getting off the addiction a few days prior to Ramadan. Sudden aversion to caffeine due to the fast may lead to severe headaches, irritability and mood swings.

–          Alcohol and smoking is anyway to be avoided during this holy period, but in any case it’s better to refrain from these habits as they may lead to severe health issues with no food intake throughout the day.

–          Avoid strenuous exercises during the fasting hours, it may lead to dehydration and black outs owing to no food and water intake.

Exercise during Ramadan: –

A gym workout or any other intense exercise can be a little tiring during Ramadan.  But light exercises along with balanced diet would help in weight management during Ramadan. Take a 45 minutes’ walk after breaking your fast and before dinner for best weight loss results during Ramadan.

Healthy diet regime is the one where all the meals are distributed equally during the day and consist of all the important nutrients that are needed to support a healthy life. Diet during Ramadan fasting  may be a challenge to the elderly and those with diabetes and other ailments as the meals are concentrated and not evenly distributed through the day.

To read more on diet during Ramadan fasting, you can read this article of mine from times of India –  Diet during Ramadan fasting

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