Protein, fiber, naps and more fasting tips to avoid getting hangry during Ramadan
Published in Religious News
Yaz Kubba, a fitness trainer and founder of YazFit, drinks about a gallon and a half of water a day.
She started that about 10 years ago, and the first year, when it came time to fast for Ramadan — when Muslims don't eat or, often more challenging, drink while the sun is up — she had to adapt.
"So I tried to squeeze in a gallon of water between sunset and sunrise," she said.
And it worked. She went to work, exercised after and realized she still felt hydrated. "That was definitely a game-changer," she said.
In the years since, she's done the StairMaster for an hour, while she was fasting. She's run up to six miles. "After, my mouth was literally still so watery," she said.
That doesn't mean that Ramadan fasting is easy. Kubba normally eats six to eight meals a day, so she jokes that she gets hangry even when she's not fasting.
"But that's the whole point of Ramadan, to take your mind off of that and connect with the spiritual experience," she said.
Here's a collection of advice from experts on diet, nutrition and wellness about how to be healthy as you observe Ramadan. Though the suggestions are specific to the holy month, much of the guidance is helpful for anyone who's fasting or just wanting to kickstart a healthier diet.
Fasting can be beneficial
Fasting kicks our system into a healing phase, said Ussma Ghani, a registered dietitian and holistic nutritionist at Nutriacs.
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