How to have a Healthy Ramadan Fasting Time

How to have a Healthy Ramadan Fasting Time

Ramadan is an important time of year for so many people around the world. A time of prayer, a time of focus on the divine, a time of charity and generosity. But it is also a time of fasting, from dawn till dusk. Specifically, given that in 2019 Ramadan falls in the early summer. Means there will be a lengthy portion of the day characterized by a difficult and distracting hunger if participants are not careful.

Healthy Ramadan Fasting

It is very important that in-between organizing the daily feasts, attending special prayer sessions, and making sure every donation from zealous Zakat to fruitful Fitrana is all arranged, to keep on top of how best to stay healthy and happy during this special time in the Islamic calendar. When Ramadan was instituted the fasting element of it was never intended as a punishment, but rather a tool to keep people focused. To do the best in staying focused, consider the following tips

Tip One – Don’t Miss Suhoor!

It might seem astonishingly obvious when you are entering a season of daylight fasting that it is a very bad idea to miss out on one of the only two times when you are permitted to eat food. However given that this is a very early morning affair, especially during the summertime, many Muslims think to themselves that, on balance, the extra sleep is worth the missing out on the meal, and instead choose to load up on as much food as they can in the evening at Iftar. This is a mistake and can result in a lot of extra dehydration and difficulty in the next day, and the overeating at Iftar could ultimately result in weight gain.

Tip Two – Shun hunger instincts at Iftar!

The force of hunger from a long day’s fast can cause you to want to desperately eat as much as you possibly can at the time of the breaking of the fast at Iftar. However, this is a trap that your body could be tricking you into which you need to carefully avoid. Resist the temptation to eat junk food, high in fat, sugar, and generally all the sorts of food that you might often really crave. This is because you will find yourself filling up faster, in such a way that you won’t actually have as much food, and since this kind of food takes a lot more water to digest you could find yourself feeling very dehydrated the next day.

Tip Three – Hydrate Aggressively!

During the downtime between sunset and sunrise, the single most important component of your diet is water. It is, after all, what over sixty percent of your body is constructed from, and if you are not drinking any during the daytime, it becomes extra important that after the sun has gone down you drink as much as is possible.

Water is also the fuel by which your body digests food, so it will be extra important to drink more at Iftar feast times, to make sure your body has the power to fully consume every single last calorie from what eat. Where possible, integrate hydration into the meals. Not only should you drink water to accompany the meals, but eat more water-rich foods, such as soups and water-filled vegetables like cucumber and peppers.

Tip Four – Complex Carbohydrates are your friend!

Foods like brown rice, whole grain pasta, bread, potatoes, and burghul should be essential components of your Iftar feasting time. This is because the more complex a carbohydrate is, the slower and more stable the energy release into your system as your body digests it. Make sure to include them alongside a plentiful supply of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Healthy Ramadan Fasting

Tip Five – Mark the Date with Dates!

The most potent and painful problem with fasting is often a low blood sugar level. Headaches, lethargy, irritability and other similar problems are usually the results of lower than average blood sugar levels. The key solution to this is a treat that has been enjoyed through the Muslim world for 1,400 years. Dates. Rich in natural sugar and easily digested, Dates make an excellent opening morsel for your Iftar. Dates are the ideal fruit to break your fast with.

Tip Six – Pursue the Purest Proteins

Beef, milk, yogurt, eggs, cheese, fish and poultry. All these contain very high levels of highly digestible lean protein. All very important for health in general, but in a time of fasting absolutely essential. Water might be a big part of our bodies fuel. But protein is the structure that holds together the gantries and crosswalks of your muscles and veins.

For many people, eating less during the day is a healthy choice. For Muslims, this is a divine duty, and thus it comes with challenges and difficulties. But these do not need to be a risk to your health. With careful precautions and precise planning, Ramadan can be a perfectly healthy time of year, and healthy worshipers are happy worshipers!