Tips for a healthy Ramadan

Ramadan mubarak to everyone who is celebrating this holy month.

As of the 1st August, muslims worldwide are observing a complete fast from food and drink during the daylight hours, for 30 days.

Ramadan has a tendency to affect a person in several ways not only as they are not eating but it affects their sleeping pattern and exercise regime.

So… some useful tips to help you get through this month

1. Eat nutritious food and avoid over indulging and eating complex carbohydrates and fats when breaking the fast

2. Eat evening meals slowly to facilitate digestion. This will also prevent a person from over indulging

3. If you are person who regularly exercises, it is probably not a good idea to stop exercising all together during Ramadan but consider modifying your normal routine so exercise should be less intense and in shorter bouts. However if your someone who never normally exercises, I would strongly suggest you seek professional advice before partaking in exercise

4. Good times to exercise during Ramadan would be at least 2 hour after a light evening meal or before breakfast in the morning

5. Ensure you drink plenty of water after sunset to replenish your water levels and remain hydrated

6. Avoid caffeine drinks such as coke, coffee or tea as these are diuretics and will encourage water loss. In addition a sudden reduction of caffeine can lead to headaches and irritability and therefore should be minimized gradually

7. Avoid excessively spicy and sweet meals to reduce potential for later discomfort

8. Prioritize your day so that activities requiring more brain power or energy are done earlier (closer to breakfast in the am) as this will enable you to utilize the glucose stores better

9. Aim to go to bed early and get a good night sleep. Lack of sleep will make a person feel low in energy

On behalf of core concepts, we hope and wish you all a safe, healthy and blessed month