Health benefits of Ramadan fasting

Health advantages and disadvantages of Ramadan fasting In general, fasting is considered healthy during Ramadan and can have a positive effect on the body, said the Association of Islamic Cultural Centers (VKIZ). However, the fasting should pay particular attention to the signals of their body, as depending on the physical constitution circulatory problems and a drop in blood pressure can occur, warns the German Nutrition Society (DGE).

From a medical point of view, according to the VKIZ dialogue commissioner Erol Pürlü numerous positive effects of the fast are proven. Thus, Lent detoxifies the body and can also promote endurance, patience and self-control, explained Pürlü. Unlike Ramadan's general understanding of fasting, Muslims do not completely abstain from eating, but use the evening hours after sunset and the time before dawn to provide the body with essential nutrients. Nevertheless, caution should be exercised and people who are already weak should stop Lent at the first sign of physical impairment and, if necessary, make up for it later, according to the statement of the VKIZ Dialogue Commissioner.

Weakened individuals should stop fasting
When deliberately fasting, "the body should not lack anything", emphasized the dialogue commissioner Pürlü. As a rule, however, the organism gets used to the new rhythm of food intake very quickly. During Ramadan (the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar), devout Muslims are encouraged to stop eating and drinking from dawn to dusk. In 2011, Ramadan falls on the period from 1 to 29 August of the Gregorian calendar, which is used worldwide today. Every day, devout Muslims abstain from eating and drinking around 15 hours a day. Here are fatigue symptoms from the afternoon one of the most frequent impairments of fasting, reports the Dialogue Commissioner Pürlü. Although the fasting rule of Ramadan applies in principle for all devout Muslims from puberty, but anyway weakened persons should if possible in the summer months to take a break and catch up on Lent later, explained Pürlü. Pre-adolescent children would also be encouraged to fast as many days as possible, but as soon as "fasting is likely to affect one's own health or that of the child, fasting must be stopped and later caught up," the Dialogue Commissioner emphasized. Similar exemptions in Islam also apply to the sick, travelers, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, as well as the elderly who have a health problem.

Threatening side effects of Lent
Although fasting during Ramadan, unlike under the general understanding of the term "fasting", is not meant to be a permanent food deprivation, the German Nutrition Society warns of possible health impairments due to significantly reduced food and fluid intake. Depending on the physical condition, side effects such as "drop in blood pressure, drowsiness, fatigue, headache and dizziness" may occur, said the DGE expert, Isabelle Keller. Also, especially during fasting in the summer months, a drop in blood sugar levels (hypo) and dehydration. However, a general lack of vitamins and minerals is not to be feared, added the expert. Anyone who, in the dark during the evening and in the morning, pays attention to supplying the body with the "nutrients within the framework of a balanced diet with appropriate food choices" can significantly reduce the risk of impaired health through fasting, Keller added.

Excessive fasting causes health problems
The generally practiced as a kind of diet, general fasting, which is basically waived over a period of time to food intake, in the opinion of the experts generally far more critical than the change in food intake in Ramadan. Exaggerated fasting, for example, increases the risk of gout disease, warned the German Rheumatologists Association in early June in a press release. The often accompanying used so-called diuretics (diuretics), which should accelerate the flushing of water from the human body to allow for faster weight loss, are in the opinion of the Association of German rheumatologists to assess the risk of gout particularly critical. The experts therefore strongly advise against uncontrolled fasting with the use of diuretics and instead recommend reducing excess weight slowly (at most two to three kilos per month). (Fp)

Image: Torsten Born