Healthy Eating during Ramadan

Sabrina Bitar, MS, clinical dietitian and center manager at Diet Watchers^TM in Saudi Arabia, guest blogs about tips for maintaining a healthy diet during Ramadan.

Ramadan is the holiest month of the year for Muslims, but the restrictions on eating can be tricky for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy diet. With careful planning, thoughtful food choices and self-control, you can stay on track with your weight loss goals during the month of Ramadan.

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn till dusk. Although the tradition goes against typical dietary recommendations for small, frequent healthy meals throughout the day, there are ways to sustain your healthy diet during Ramadan.

To maintain a healthy diet during the month of Ramadan, it is important to provide your body sufficient healthy nutrients during the non-fasting hours. That means having your first meal (Sahur) before the fast starts at dawn, an evening break-the-fast snack after dusk (Iftar) and dinner as the last meal of the day.

This guide can help you stay on track with your weight loss goals during Ramadan:

Pre-dawn Meal (Sahur):

The pre-dawn meal or Sahur is essential to jumpstarting your day, so make sure to eat a wholesome, balanced and moderate-sized meal.

A healthy morning meal gives you energy by the providing the nutrients you need to get through the fasting hours. It also reduces unpleasant signs of hunger throughout the rest of the day, including hunger pangs, headaches and sleepiness.

Stick to high-fiber foods and complex carbohydrates, such as grains. It takes longer to digest and absorb these foods, so they help you stay full throughout the day.

A healthy morning meal can include:

• Whole wheat bread with cheese or labneh
• High-fiber cereal with low-fat milk
• Fresh or dried fruit, including bananas and dates
• Unsalted nuts

Breaking the fast meal (Iftar):

Iftar presents the biggest obstacle to maintaining a healthy diet. The best way to approach breaking the fast is to treat Iftar as a light snack to hold you over until dinner instead of as a reward for fasting. That mindset can help you avoid indulging in the rich traditional desserts that are loaded with fat and sugar.

A healthy break-the-fast meal can include:

• Three dates
• Cup of water or low-calorie juice
• Bowl of vegetable soup

Dates and water are traditional Iftar foods and they also have nutritional properties to replenish the body after a long fast. Dates help regulate blood sugar and provide a much needed boost of energy. If dates are not available, you can substitute them with any other fruit. Water rehydrates your body and helps reduce hunger.
 
Dinner:
During Ramadan, dinner is the best chance to get most of your important daily nutrients, so make sure to have a balanced meal that covers all of the major food groups. Plan to eat dinner after the evening prayer or Maghrib to allow sufficient time to digest your food from Iftar.

A healthy dinner can include:

• Soup and salad
• Grilled chicken, fish or lean meat
• Grain such as brown rice, whole wheat bread or whole wheat pasta
• Low-fat yogurt
• Fruit – fruit is a much healthier substitute for the high-fat, syrup-sweetened treats that are common during Ramadan. You can also have fruit as a snack before bed.

Make sure to pace your consumption throughout dinner. It takes 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that it is full, which means you have to allow adequate time for your stomach to send those signals. Try slowing down your eating by taking smaller bites, chewing well and savoring the taste of each bite to avoid overeating.

Most importantly, remember that resisting the temptation to overindulge not only helps achieve your weight loss goals, but also focuses attention on empathizing with the poor and needy, the centerpiece of Ramadan.

- Sabrina Bitar, MS