During Ramadan, it is common for nutrition to go slightly out of the window due to larger meals less frequently, but it is important to remember that especially in times like these, we need to watch out for a healthy diet and lifestyle and nurture our bodies with essential nutrients during the time we have from sunset to dawn.

Evidence suggests that fasting has positive effects on your health, including strengthening the digestive system and improving its efficiency, as well as helping adjust fat and sugar levels in the blood, decreasing blood pressure and cholesterol, and improving heart health. So it is important to stop unhealthy eating habits that negatively affect these benefits.

Healthy diet and lifestyle tips to follow during Ramadan

Opt for whole grains

Choose whole grains, such as whole wheat, oats, and beans which provide the body with complex carbohydrates and fiber that eventually provide us with enough energy to last us the whole fasting hours.

Lean proteins for the win

As for lean meats, prepare them grilled or baked! The main health benefit here is protein. While baking tends to give the meat a more delicate texture and taste, grilling produces a bolder flavor and allows fat to drip off the meat, reducing the meat’s overall calorie count. However, baking can be just as healthy as long as you don’t add oil, butter, and other fats. Avoid fried foods at all costs!

Limit fats and sugars

It’s normal to want to reward yourself after a long fast, but try to limit your intake of fatty and sugary foods and especially sugary beverages. Remember that you only have a limited amount of time per day to eat and drink in order to provide your body with all of the necessary nutrients and fluids it requires to stay healthy, so the quality of your diet during Ramadan is particularly critical.

As for exercise…

As for exercise, it is understandable that we have less energy during the day and consequently going to the gym or keeping up with workouts can be difficult. But 80% of our health is diet and 20% is exercise, so to achieve 100% health, even 30 minutes of exercise a day can make a great difference as per several studies. To maximize those 30 minutes, workouts should consist of both resistance training and cardiovascular training.

Portion sizes matter

To avoid weight changes during Ramadan, it is advised to watch portion sizes when breaking your fast. When you fast for a long period of the day, your stomach can become smaller and therefore hold less food. When we shock our bodies with large amounts of food during iftar, it would simply go back to their original size (or even larger), and we have not taken advantage of one of the month’s main purposes – reducing portion sizes.

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Suhoor is a must

Don’t skip suhoor, a balanced suhoor will leave you feeling energized and limit feelings of hunger and thirst during the following day. Chew thoroughly and slow, your brain needs time to process that you’ve finally had something to eat and needs another time to realise that you’ve had enough to eat. Use smaller plates for dessert and/ or other “unhealthy foods”, this trend has been proven to avoid overeating, since using a smaller plate may help you eat less by making portions look larger.

Water, water, and more water

“Avoid dehydration!” “Keep yourself hydrated”, and “Drink sufficient water”, we cannot stress enough on these phrases! Water and fluids have an important role to play in maintaining our body temperature, preventing infection, delivering nutrients to the cells, and helping organs function appropriately. Dehydration occurs when your body is basically losing more water than it is absorbing, and the weather here in the UAE directly or indirectly can hugely disrupt water stores.

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For those who wish to lose weight during Ramadan, drinking water before every meal is proven to cause 44% more weight loss over a 12-week period compared to those who did not. Water comes first. No drink can compensate for it, as water contains no calories. So, drinking 1-2 glasses of water every hour between iftar and suhoor is the general advice and dehydration cannot be solved by drinking anything OTHER than water!