Clinical Health Benefits of Ramadan

More than one billion Muslims globally practice a strict ritual of moral abstinence and fasting during the?month of Ramadan. The tradition of fasting dates back more than 1,300 years and started with the last prophet of Islam Hazrat Mohammad PBUH of Islam. Roza is one of the 5th pillars of Islam.1st one is believe in one God then Roza, Nemaz, Haj and Zakat. There are lots of donations during Ramadan apart from Zakat means 2.5% of annual earning. If you miss one Roza then you have to feed two people. Apart from this every individual has to feed two persons.

Clinical Significance of fasting starts with ease for all vital organs for more than 12-14 hours every day for 30 days.

Protection from obesity and chronic diseases: Fasting throughout Ramadan may assist in preventing obesity and other chronic diseases such as diabetes. Ramadan fasting requires abstaining from the consumption of food and water between sunrise and sunset. Hence, it enhances the levels of proteins providing insulin resistance. It also offers protection against the hazards of a fat and sugar-rich diet.

Lowering cholesterol: As Ramadan Fasting stimulates the lipid profile, it lowers blood cholesterol. Consequently, it prevents heart attacks, strokes, and other disorders. Also, if one maintains a healthy diet after Ramadan, individuals will retain the newly reduced cholesterol level.

Improved digestive system: Observing Ramadan and fasting positively impacts one lifestyle and digestive system. A human body naturally detoxifies after a month of flushing out of the toxins in the body. Further, it balances the heat generation and acidity levels in the human stomach.

Prevents cancer: Many research has been released in the last few years suggesting that Ramadan Fasting can lower health risk factors. It can also reverse the symptoms of severe health illnesses such as cancer. According to the research, this could be attributed to reduced glucose synthesis in the blood, balanced nutritional intake, and increased generation of tumor-killing cells.

Assists in Alzheimer: There are few therapeutic choices for those who develop Alzheimer’s, which causes ever-worsening cognitive and behavioral issues. Fasting is a therapy option that is rapidly gaining traction outside of the domain of pharmaceuticals and treatments. Ramadan Fasting, commonly promoted as a weight-loss approach, has been demonstrated in research to significantly relieve Alzheimer’s symptoms and decline in slow cognitive development in rats.

Moreover, it reduces body weight, waist circumference, body mass index, body fat, blood glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and anxiety levels. Furthermore, Ramadan fasting decreases the inflammation, pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1b, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor a and cancer promotion. Among healthy adults, there are no adverse effects of Ramadan fasting on the brain, heart, lung, liver, kidney, haematologic, endocrine profile and cognitive functions.

Reference: doi: 10.1177/19322968211059217. Epub 2021 Nov 22, doi: 10.1007/s00228-022-03281-7. Epub 2022 Feb 18, doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.767405. eCollection 2021, doi: 10.3389/fnut.2020.570235. eCollection 2020.