Fasting has its advantages from the point of view of health and hygiene. Islam wants a Muslim to be healthy, clean, alert, agile and energetic. "Fast to be healthy," had said the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). And physicians today acknowledge the many benefits of fasting that ensure health and the soundness of one's body and mind. Some of these positive points have a direct influence on psychology and physique of the fasting individual.

Fasting has been found to be an effective treatment for psychological and emotional disorders. It helps a person to firm up his will, cultivate and refine his taste and manners, strengthen his conviction of doing good, avoid controversy, petulance and rashness, which all contribute towards a sane and healthy personality. Besides nurturing resistance and ability to face hardships and endurance, fasting reflects on outward physical appearance by cutting out gluttony and getting rid of excess fat. The benefits of fasting on health do not stop there but are instrumental in alleviating a number of physical diseases, including those of the digestive systems, such as chronic stomachache, inflammation of the colon, liver diseases, indigestion, and conditions such as obesity, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, asthma, diphtheria and many other maladies.

A Swiss physician Dr. Barsilus noted that: The advantages of hunger as a remedy exceed those ingesting medicine several times.


Read more HERE (http://www.ezsoftech.com/ramadan/ramadan13.asp)



Related topic: The Health Benefits of Fasting (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f02/web1/wcarroll.html)
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With the arrival of the holy month, arrives good health upon all Muslims, kindly read the above mentioned links & share more beneficial links about fasting & health


Also share your experience

How bad is it to exercise while fasting? Will the dehydration affect you a lot? Or will your body be able to take it if it's just before Iftar time?

The perfect examples of exercises are swimming & yoga, or anything similar

What sort of exercise are you planning to do Dr N? I hope not something strenuous

Actually it is kinda tough..

I was planning on doing a cycling class on the first day of Ramadhan, an hour before Iftar. I was going to take it easy, and it's only going to be for one day.

Cycling & brisk walking can also be added to the list of sports that can be performed while fasting

All depends on you & the way you perform them :)

Let me put it this way..

On normal days, I usually need two small bottles of water to survive this class because you do sweat A LOT and work really hard. But I thought if I took it easy and didn't push myself too hard, then I wouldn't get into dehydration.

What do you think?

as personal experience,
i used to play football and basketball 1-2 hours before Iftar... at beginning you may experience some tight headache after Iftar but then u will be used to it and the headache won't come. Thus i believe you can go for cycling but don't push urself to exhaustion since u need to go back home driving.

this may be a stupid question, but i heard that you gain more weight when you fast because you skip meals and only eat one healthy meal.. or something like that..

So if I take it easy, as in I don't push myself too hard like I would do on a normal class, then I shouldn't worry about dehydration right? I can always slow down and cycle slowly if i get light headed.

another question here 4 our dr hitman.... was planning on starting 2 work out again @ the start of ramadan as a kick off 4 a new routine... would basically start with 3 10 minute cardio vascular sessions with muscle toning (not building) in between.... if i do tht will i be losing more muscle thn actually toning/gaining bcuz of my body's natural reflex 2 hunger?

Miss G,

I can probably answer that question, and Hitman can help me out if I miss out on anything.

First, you need to remember, in order for you to work out and actually see a difference, be it losing weight or toning up, you gotta eat.

Second, during Ramadan, what you should try to do is to space out your meals, and ensuring that you do get enough proteins in your diet because you need them a lot if you are going to exercise. But remember, eat smart, eat healthy.

If you don't eat, your body goes into starvation mode and it's just going to be harder to lose the fat because the body then hangs on to them much tighter.

When you start to work out, you need the cardio to burn the fat, and the cardio along with the weight lifting to tone up and build your 'good' muscles, which are those that are capable of helping you move around with less limitations and give you the protection that you need later on in life.

thx so much :) i have no problem with eating well or any of tht stuff, im pretty healthy & all... i just wanna get as fit as i once was & personally ramadan is a convenient time 2 start.... just wanted 2 know if i would be doing more bad thn good

u mentioned something about "good" muscles... is tht 2 say there r "bad" muscles? (Sorry, i know this is going off topic but im just curious)

Well people who don't work out do have muscles right? But the muscle mass that inactive people develop if of low quality, meaning that it is capable of less powerful and fewer continuous contractions than healther muscle tissue.

If seem under a microscope, you can tell the difference beteween the muscles of a person who is physically active and of that of a person who is not.

Alot of ppl believe that their needs for protein increase, when they start going to the gym. When in fact only those who are planning, to be athletes need extra.

Great replies Dr N :yes:

So during Ramadan, what is your diet mainly composed of?

Are you one of those who end up gaining weight after Ramadan is over?

i dont know y .. but i eat a lot lesser in ramdan coz i dont feeel like eating not coz i dont want to eat.. but in the end i always wind up gaining weight! i jump the rope n do sit ups all the same as b4 the holy month... but the only thing that changes is that i dont have dinner on regular days.. but in this month i onlt eat 1 meal at futoor..

so what's going on?

nosa, there is this simple equation:

Weight change = (Calories in) - (Calories out)

Many might eat once in Ramadan, but that one meal is very high in calories & probably the minimal physical activity contributes eventually in gaining weight

ahha .. well yeah .. i guess that's what happining.. i eat more friend things .. that's y ! but i cnt help it ! fried stuff r delesious !

Dr N - someone in my family used to exercise a bit heavily during ramadhan, and although he seemed completely healthy at first and was losing fat and gaining muscle, he weakened his immune system a lot which caused him to catch a virus or something which affected his liver badly and ended up in the hospital for nearly two months! I'm not sure that would happen to everyone of course, but it's something to keep in mind so as not to try something too strenuous :)

Fatamooo,

I did do the class while fasting, and you know what, eventhough I was a bit thirsty before starting (my intstructor ordered me to shut up the whole time to keep my energy lol) but I did the class, and I was fine! I wasn't dizzy or anything, and I worked hard.

It was only once anyway, my classes stopped, but now what I do is have something light for iftar then work out afterwards.