In the first days of Ramadan, some people face health problems as a result of changing their diet and long periods of abstinence from food, such as headaches, high or low blood pressure, as well as disorders in the digestive system, but preparing the body for fasting - at least 3 weeks in advance - contributes greatly to avoiding these problems. problems and enjoy a safe and comfortable fast.
Al-Jazeera Net met with a clinical nutritionist, Manal Bani Odeh, who provided tips to prepare the body for fasting the month of Ramadan:
Consult your doctor
Fasting people who suffer from chronic diseases, especially such as type 1 diabetes, must see their physician and undergo tests to ensure that they are able to fast, or receive medical instructions according to their health condition that enables them to fast in a way that does not conflict with the disease they suffer from.
Get rid of your bad habits
In order to avoid exhaustion, moodiness and high nervousness during the month of Ramadan, the fasting person should first get rid of the wrong eating habits, especially from the addiction to caffeine, stimulants and sweets. Consuming them in huge quantities throughout the year and then cutting them suddenly for long hours in Ramadan causes headaches, nervousness and severe constipation.
For example, if the fasting person drinks 8 cups of coffee a day before Ramadan, he must begin to reduce the number gradually, and the same applies to smoking of all kinds. He who can stop smoking for 14 consecutive hours can quit or reduce it, in addition to starting to reduce the amount of sugar and being careful. To eat a healthy breakfast, a date replaces a piece of candy with a cup of morning coffee.
Manal Bani Odeh: If the fasting person drinks 8 cups of coffee a day before Ramadan, he must begin to gradually reduce the number (Al-Jazeera)
Plan your meals
Some take advantage of the opportunity of fasting in Ramadan to implement special nutritional programs for fattening or slimming, for example, or to maintain a healthy nutritional level, and those and others must plan their food menus and meals that they will eat in Ramadan, and accordingly they buy the necessary healthy ingredients that are dominated by vegetables and fruits, so that they do not realize Time later, and then they are forced to violate their program or resort to unhealthy choices.
Regulate your sleep
Sleep is very important for a healthy life in Ramadan. Disruption of the biological clock during the holy month, sleep during the day, and vigilance at night are causes that lead to lethargy, fatigue, and a change in mood. Therefore, the fasting person must start in advance by organizing his sleep and sleeping early, or at least reducing the hours of staying up late, and making sure to wake up at dawn, and reduce The length of the nap or without it, so that during Ramadan he will be strong in i'tikaf, and he will wake up at the pre-dawn meal, and not waste his day sleeping.
Fast beforehand
One of the most important tips to prepare the body for Ramadan is to get the body accustomed to fasting, and to take advantage of Mondays and Thursdays and the white days in the Hijri month.
Raise the quality of your food
You may not be addicted to coffee or cigarettes, but you will suffer from a drop in blood pressure or severe fatigue at the beginning of Ramadan, and this is due to the scarce reserves of food in your body. Muscle and fat stores.
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the body to be strong enough to fast, and to follow a balanced diet, with a focus on protein in eggs and milk, for example, and potassium in bananas and dried fruits, to achieve longer satiety and a stronger body during Ramadan.
Specialist Manal Bani Odeh concludes her advice by noting the importance of balance.
Do not neglect or exaggerate.
And she tells Al-Jazeera Net that she witnessed in the emergency rooms in the first days of the month of Ramadan, large numbers of auditors, most of whom came immediately after Iftar, due to disorders in the digestive system such as intestinal confusion and irritable bowel syndrome, all as a result of wasteful food and the wrong arrangement of meals in the first half hour after the call to prayer. Morocco.