Good afternoon, Cards! Today we will be discussing the holiest month of the Muslim calendar, Ramadan, and effective strategies to eat well and maintain healthy habits during this holiday.
Ramadan endures from the evening of April 23rd to the evening of May 23rd and it is known as a religious practice of Muslims that requires fasting from Sun rise to Sun down allowing them to become closer to God. This one month of extended intermittent fasting can be very difficult to accommodate one's schedule around due to the only allowed times to eat being at night.
Mohamed Rezk (RD) provides various strategies that can better help individuals accommodate their nutritional requirements around Ramadan:
to maintain energy during the fast: eat something light and small upon breaking the fast, before prayer, so you do not over-indulge at Iftar
before bed: focus on fast digesting proteins - egg whites, skinless chicken breast, or Whey Protein
before bed: casein protein sources may be a good option to provide slow digesting protein - Greek yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, kefir, casein supplement
Suhur: prepare before bed so you can sleep as long as possible
Suhur: provide long lasting energy by balancing complex carbs, fiber, low digesting protein, and healthy fats
*complex carbs and fiber: sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, steel cut oats, other whole grains
*low digesting protein: egg whites, skinless chicken breast, or Whey Protein
*healthy fats: avocado, nuts/seeds, extra virgin olive oil/avocado oil
Since the eating time is so limited during Ramadan, it is important to eliminate nutrient poor foods, such as fried foods, junk foods, sugary desserts, and highly processed foods, and focus on nutrient dense foods. This will aid in not only ensuring you eat nutrient dense foods and not displacing them with calorically dense, but it will also aid in the purpose of Ramadan to bring Muslims closer to God by cleansing their lifestyle from bad eating habits.
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