Many people seem to lose weight during Ramadan bu tI seem to gain weight even though I do not eat a big iftar. Why is that and what can I do?
Answer
The question can't be answered without more information. Weight gain has a lot of factors involved, not just your iftar meal. Sleep pattern, what foods you break your fast with, what you eat for suhur , how many meals you eat, how much you drink are all factors.
Some factors that may cause people to gain weight during Ramadan are consumption of bread, sweets, caffeine, juice, lack of sleep, decreased excercise, winter weather (people gain weight in winter), only eating 2 meals (iftar and suhur), eating a small suhur (which would cause your metabolism to drop during the month)and stress from the lifestyle change of fasting. Alot of people gain weight when stressed.
You can look at the reasons and think of how they can change the factors. Reduce foods that cause weight gain, get enough sleep, and eat a high protein adequate suhur and continue excercising (moderately).
Name
Khaled
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Profession
businessman
Question
What is the best htiing to eat in the morning during suhur in order to stay enegergized during the day? Is it better to eat a lot or a little.
Answer
How much you eat depends on you. You eat what is adequate for yourself. Do not under eat. Make sure you feel full after suhur. The best things to eat during suhur are whole foods. Processed foods like bread, rice, cereal or sugar, will cause your body to get hungry much quicker. Processed foods and sugar make you hungry. Whole foods and high protein foods like eggs, halal sausage, plain yoghurt, whole wheat pita, fenugreek tea, apples, vegetables etc. will keep you full because they take a while to process.
Completely stay away from juices at suhur unless you have made them homemade in your juicer and avoid adding sugar. It is better to eat the whole fruit.
Name
Ahlam
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Profession
mother
Question
My children play sports during the day adn fast but the problem is that they cannot even drink when they are playing their sports. I sthis dangerous? Is there any way they can continue to play their sports and fast at the same time?
Answer
The dangers of sports lie mostly in education. You must be educated as to how to recognize danger signs and signs of dehydration.
This summer there were some deaths caused by dehydration and these people were not fasting. If they had listened to their bodies and stopped practicing or drank some water they would not have died or gotten ill.
Tell children it is ok to live a normal life but to stop playing when their body tells them.
However, if a child has any illnesses at all (i.e. asthma) they should consult with a doctor as sports may not be a wise decision under the conditions of fasting.
The time of year will also be a factor. Winter is a bit safer than summer.
Also, they would be wise to avoid any extreme training. Regular practices or a small game are fine but an intense competition or heavy training may be risky.
They need to know that tehy have permission to listen to their bodies. Their health comes first and they shoudl either stop fasting or stop practicing and they should not be ashamed to take care of themselves and their bodies.
Name
Mohammad
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Profession
Question
Are the health risks of fasting during the siummer greater than fasting during the winter?
Answer
In some ways the risks are greater during the summer because the days are longer and the risk of dehydration is higher.
However, there are hidden risks in winter fasting. One is that people tend to decrease their excercise and the other is that people may eat more because of the longer hours between iftar and suhur.
People who deal with obsetity, high cholesterol or diabetes or others may experience difficulty with these factors.
Also, during winter, there is a higher rate of depression and the increased stress of a lifestyle change for fasting may add to the stress. So people need to be on the lookout for signs of depression or stress so that they can deal with them adequately.
