Between diets and overweight: Holy month of Ramadan!
By: Nabila Saidoune
During the month of Ramadan, all Muslims throughout the world refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till dusk. Fasting is beneficial for health when it’s performed correctly and in accordance with basic dietary instructions.
However, not many are convinced by that fact, and people succumb to the temptation of breaking the fast (iftar) by excessively consuming all kinds of foods.
Then the unavoidable result is, lurking kilograms… But that’s not it, because other risks threaten one’s health. Didn’t our Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) clearly recommend not eating too much, by eating “with one third of your stomach”?
The advantages of Ramadan are numerous and undisputed, be it on the spiritual, physical or social levels, as long as the fasting person does not go astray from the point of this blessed month. Ramadan means piety, devotion, and friendliness that is drawn, among others, from family gatherings.
Fasting (Sawm) is supposed to purify the body, clean the intestines, regenerate the stomach, rid the body of waste products and relieve it from overweight. In case of excess, breaking the fast results in perverse effects. After depriving themselves of food all day, people rush to food like if they are famished, and stuff themselves with sweets without even realizing that, especially when shared with the family. The holy month is thus far from being correct, dietary speaking!
Salvation lies undoubtedly in this sense of reconciliation with God, which is perceived with particular intensity in this holy month during which the Qur’an was revealed to the prophet. It’s a sort of a guide for people, for whom all acts should result in an increased assistance to members of the community and society, and in a brotherhood which should be manifested even more compared to the rest of the year.
Fasting people, nowadays, are increasingly going astray from the very essence of what Ramadan means, limiting this holy month to dishes that are displayed each evening on the ftour’s table. They, thus, make happy those unscrupulous traders who benefit from the weaknesses of most people and develop a “Ramadan Business”. Nothing is more logical than finding a balance in any behavior because it is useless to purify one’s body by fasting, while corrupting one’s mind with illegal practices…
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Your Comments
commentsAnonymous About over 2 years ago
That is the best solution for overweight.
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Anonymous About over 2 years ago
Peace be upon you. How are you doing? Can we get to know each other? I am Ashoyar from Libya. I wish you many happy returns of the blessed month of Ramadan. Bye.
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Anonymous About over 2 years ago
Peace be upon you. Ramadan is a month of worship and drawing closer to God, and not a time for over-eating and drinking. The prophet (pbuh) forbade excessive eating.
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Anonymous About over 2 years ago
Fasting is beneficial for health??? Not like this…. One day a week, for a total of (24 hours), drinking herbal tea… yes, that might be beneficial… but 30 days of half fasting and eating, smoking, drinking alcohol, etc, at night… this damages one’s health, all doctors agree on that, even Muslim ones… Nothing dietetic in all this… nothing… it’s only a great shock to the body that completely changes its habits in 24 hours… That’s dangerous….. Happy Ramadan…. Sorry for my French.. I hope that you will understand what I am trying to say….
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Anonymous About over 2 years ago
If only we, the Moroccan public realises what a tremendously wasted opportunity Ramadan has become. If we only concentrate on the physical aspect, you find an almost entire nation starving itself during the daylight, only to become gluttonous come the dark. And when you hear of people congratulating themselves on how many bowls of this and the other, they have gone through in one sitting, while referencing their mini “Farmacy” in the fridge where all their antacid, indigestion…… medication is kept. No wonder “Farmacies” are such a lucrative business, nor would you have to walk far to find yet another “Farmacy”.
Ramadan could be a time where most people relieve themselves of their chronic ailments if only they observe this time properly, thus making huge saving financially in term of less food and not needing to poison their bodies with all the medication they take.Ramadan should be about breaking the fast with a small portion of lightly cooked vegetable broth. Making sure, the vegetable used are either organically grown or thoroughly washed. However you need to know that most pesticides are not water soluble so need to add other ingredient, like vinegar for washing. The emphasis should be on eating the minimum possible, while completely avoiding or minimising all sugary products (that send blood sugar level fluctuating wildly) and doing without animal products.
Happy Ramadan
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Anonymous About over 2 years ago
I have been reading Zawaya’s articles since its launch, but there’s one thing I cannot understand: why don’t journalists stick to the topics they are supposed to discuss?
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