Fasting Takeaways: Do's and Don'ts

These days are days of fasting. Be it Length or Ramadan, there is always a special feeling about fasting. These are periods when one experiences a sense of spiritual uplifting. For some, it's a period of getting their bodies in shape - being healthy again.These days are days of fasting.

Today, I want to share with you some of the few benefits and best practices one could do to remain healthy after your fasting period.

According to the Cambridge Oxford Dictionary, Fasting is described as not eating food for a period of time. So during this period, your body utilizes the glucose stored to keep you going. Most fastings last for at most 12 hours. Yeah, there are other forms of "Intermittent fasting" which many people do to lose weight and be healthy. These include 16/8, 18/6 etc.

So having fasted for these long hours, your glucose stores must have depleted. You develop that sense of hunger and in worst case scenarios, you might experience somewhat dizziness. The latter is because glucose is running low in the brain.

Here are things to not do when you break your fast.

1. Do not Over Eat 🚫
   With that hunger you felt, you don't want to consume a lot of food at one go. It's not good food you. Your body won't be able to digest all of that at one go. When you eat food, your parasympathetic nervous system activates the "Rest and Digest" mode. You would become overloaded and relatively lazy to move about. It's not a good idea.

1. Avoid fats and Oils 🚫
   We are all tempted to eat fried fish or chicken with sauce rich in oil. This accumulates in your gut. And knowing that the body utilizes glucose for it's cells, it would have to break these fats down, convert them to glucose before the cells could use it. It's a hefty process for a relaxed gut. So, there is tendency for the fat to accumulate in the gut, and transferred to other tissues such as those under the skin - to form subcutaneous fat - which my friend you would not like.

2. Reduce Sugar 🚫
   A common practice in our setting is that people's taste buds for sugar are active when they have not eaten for a while. We add so much sugar to our tea and other beverages all in the name of replenishing the body's stores. My friend, you can't replenish all that's been lost in one go. You do not want to come out of your fasting period with Diabetes. Utilize as minimal sugar as possible.

Best Practices.

1. Eat healthy
   Although this is a broad term, I will try and simplify. What is meant by eating healthy is eating more of leafy vegetables, some protein, and some sugar containing foods like bread, cereal, or rice. It has to be good. If you feel the need to use oil, use healthy oils like olive oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil. I see a lot of people trying to be fancy with butter as a form of oil. Butter contains saturated fats. Those are the bad fats. It's worth noting that it's quite important to eat before beginning your fasts. You are preparing your body for a journey of hours. Be fair to your body. If you can't eat in the early hours of the morning, take a cereal and drink water at least 2 hours before going to bed.

Bread contains sugar - it's a carbohydrate.

1. Drink Enough water
   Water is a key ingredient in cellular metabolism. Your cells need water to function. It's been hot these days. So one is expected to be dehydrated. You need to drink adequately before and after breaking your fast.

1. Exercise
   I cannot stress this enough. My friend, you have to try and engage in one form of exercise or the other. Fasting is a form of training the body. But it could be supplemented with brisk walks, running or going to the gym. You just have to choose the best type and time for yourself to do those things, and in the right proportion.

So what happens post fasting?
Well, your body had already gotten used to long periods without food and/or water. So it will take time before it adjusts. The body is a perfect machine. You can still continue on the healthy eating habits and exercises you had started during your fasting period.

I hope this was helpful.

Let's have a chat in the comment section.

Cheers 🥂

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