Fasting not detrimental to health, experts say
Fasting not detrimental to health, experts say
By Dian Utami Soekanto
BOGOR (JP): "Not eating or drinking a whole day? Your children will dehydrate," an Australian school principal commented to an Indonesian mother who told him that her two children, both under the age of 10, would be fasting during the holy month of Ramadhan.
"They will fast until maghrib (dusk), you don't have to treat them differently," Retno, the mother, said. "And they're not going to dehydrate or anything. Millions of Moslem children fast every year and they are perfectly healthy."
The school principal, however, insisted on barring the children from physical education, despite the children's protests.
Retno was glad to return home and observe the fasting month where no one would question her.
"Here, even children five years old fast, if only for several hours. They are still healthy," she asserted.
Health and nutrition experts have proven that fasting is not detrimental to your health. It may even improve it, as long as you follow some basic rules. Paying attention to nutritional intake when breaking the fast is the most important rule.
There are two kinds of fasts. The first is prolonged fasting, like Mahatma Gandhi's 40 day protest of British rule. Moslems are forbidden to conduct a prolonged fast. The Ramadhan fast is partial fasting, beginning at dawn and ending at dusk.
Fasting gives the digestive system a breather and helps your body dispel waste and toxics. It also lessens the job that body enzymes have to do.
Obesity
When you fast, your body ceases to have its usual source of energy -- food. However, your body adapts to this state of deprivation by using the glycogen that it has stored. Next, it will burn fat and body protein to fuel daily activities.
No wonder many overweight people see Ramadhan as an opportunity to shed one or two kilograms.
Fasting is an effective way to manage your weight by controlling calorie intake. It helps reduce the risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and respiratory problems; all the dangers brought about by that excess poundage.
However, don't expect to begin Ramadhan overweight and end the month dozens of kilograms lighter. You still need consume enough calories to fuel your activities and ibadah (religious rituals).
Women should consume at least 1,200 calories per day, while men need about 1,600 calories. Female and male teenagers need 1,400 and 1,800 calories a day, respectively.
If you want to count your calorie intake, consider that a plate of boiled rice contains 201 calories, while a slice of white bread has 63 calories.
A pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories. Therefore, if you reduce your energy consumption by 500 calorie a day, within a week you will be able to shed one pound from your body weight.
A study conducted by Hardinsyah from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) found that during Ramadhan, people lose an average of two to five percent of body weight, which is still in the healthy range of weight reduction.
You still need to select your food carefully. The same study found that fat consumption actually increases during the fasting month because many people indulge in tasty, fatty foods when breaking the fast.
Therefore, if you really want to lose weight, stay away from fried foods and coconut milk. Another thing is don't let go after Ramadhan is over. You can gain back the excess weight very rapidly.
Nutritional balance
Apart from the concern of calories, you need to select food with enough nutrients. In fact, because you have to reduce food consumption, you need to improve the quality of the food you consume.
Protein will help allay hunger pangs because this nutrient takes longer to digest. Animal protein found in eggs, milk, meat, fish and oysters is a good source and is high in amino acids.
Ideally, 30 percent of your protein intake should come from animal protein. Adults should consume between 50 to 60 mg of protein a day.
Other nutrients such as carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals should also be consumed proportionately. So, make sure your family gets enough of these nutrients during the fasting month.
As soon as the time to break the fast arrives, drink something sweet to help restore blood glucose levels and gives you instant energy. But don't overdo it; a glass of milk would be fine.
Take special care if you are diabetic, as high amounts of sugar intake may stimulate the production of insulin in your body and deplete your blood sugar level; you will feel poorly afterwards.
Facts
The IPB study also found that 31 days of controlled fasting doesn't cause a significant change in blood hemoglobin levels, blood pressure and heart beats. Fasting does not adversely affect your health condition.
It also found that the blood sugar level drops within the normal range and does not cause hypoglycemia.
There's no fixed pattern in the cholesterol level changes, however, because that is influenced by what kind of food you eat.
Pregnant women may also fast, as long as they are healthy to begin with; fasting did not affect the nutritional status of the babies of the women in the study.
Nursing women -- with babies under one year old -- must be more careful because their babies' nutritional intake may be affected if they fast.
Dian Utami Soekanto is a final-year student in the School of Agriculture, Bogor Institute of Agriculture.