The easiest ways to achieve healthy nutrition in Ramadan

The easiest ways to achieve healthy nutrition in Ramadan

Healthy nutrition in Ramadan is one of the most important reasons that directly affects every fasting person, as the type and quantity of food affects the fasting person’s body in terms of feeling active or lethargic, as well as in terms of concentration or absent-mindedness and distraction, in addition to its effect on the extent of weight gain or loss.

Many students in different educational stages do not pay attention to the nature of the foods they eat during breakfast time. This is due to their lack of knowledge of the healthy systems that they should follow in the holy month after breakfast, as they have a positive effect on the activity of the mind and body, and thus on academic achievement.

Nutrition experts and specialists prepare many nutritional programs that suit all people during the month of Ramadan, taking into account the differences in bodies according to their different needs and the health conditions of each person.

It is also necessary to take into consideration the necessity of adapting the healthy nutrition programs developed to the circumstances surrounding the person, as fasting in the summer is different from fasting in the winter, and foods also differ from one country to another. Therefore, healthy nutrition systems are developed in Ramadan according to the body’s needs for basic elements without specifying or detailing such as specifying the quantities (protein - carbohydrates - fats) that the body needs, without mentioning the type of protein or carbohydrates from the foods.

Therefore, the school.com website provides you with the easiest diets that a student can apply during the days of fasting, which will help him benefit from his time before and after breakfast in his studies and daily achievement.

healthy diet

There are more than one healthy diet that can be followed during the month of Ramadan, but we will present the easiest of these diets, with a specification of the most important common rules on which all healthy diets are based, which are easy for the student to apply without difficulty or fatigue, and which will help him lose weight in a healthy way, and then reduce his blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

As is known, the main meals for the fasting person are breakfast and suhoor. The fasting person can eat whatever he wants at breakfast time, but he must stay away from unhealthy foods. The diet that we will present depends on dividing the breakfast meal into three meals, as follows:

- First meal: It aims to prepare the body and the organs that are dormant throughout the day for food by introducing healthy elements such as vitamins, but in small quantities without surprising the stomach with foods that are difficult to digest, such as: eating dates, an apple, or a plate of various vegetables.

- Second meal: It is the meal that contains protein that nourishes the muscles, and the body needs to pump more blood to digest it, such as: chicken, beef, turkey, pigeon meat, lentils, chickpeas, and soybeans.

- Third meal: It is the meal that contains carbohydrates that give the body full energy for movement, and are digested faster than protein, such as: rice, pasta, and oats.

As for the time between breakfast and suhoor, if the student feels hungry, he can eat foods that contain vitamins as well as healthy oils and fats, such as: fruits of all kinds, and nuts such as almonds, cashews, pistachios, and peanuts.

Read also: The most important foods that help strengthen memory and mental focus in Ramadan

Healthy diet prohibitions

Many students also make mistakes that affect their day, such as feeling sleepy throughout the day, feeling very thirsty, and lack of concentration. These mistakes include:

- Neglecting to drink fluids during breakfast time, which leads to the fasting person feeling thirsty and having a dry mouth.

- Malnutrition, which leads to lack of concentration, absent-mindedness, and distraction throughout the fasting period.

- Drinking stimulants, such as coffee and tea, which cause insomnia and an inability to sleep despite fatigue and stress.

- Eating high-fat foods, which cause lethargy for the fasting person, because digesting them requires a large amount of blood flow to the stomach.

Breakfast

Many students complain of feeling exhausted and tired after eating breakfast. This is scientifically explained by the fact that the blood in the body goes directly to the stomach to digest the food eaten, which takes about two hours.

The digestion time in the stomach varies depending on the type of food. Proteins such as meat and legumes take longer to digest compared to carbohydrates such as rice, pasta and fats, which take less time to digest in the stomach.

Therefore, the student needs to follow a set of guidelines while eating breakfast, in order to avoid all the negative effects resulting from not setting a system that suits the body’s needs. These guidelines can be summarized in a set of points that the student can apply during his day in Ramadan, which are:

- Prepare a healthy meal that contains all the nutrients and vitamins the body needs, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Prepare a plate full of vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, and cucumbers, which contain many vitamins that the body needs, in addition to containing fibers that help you feel full without fatigue or suffering in the digestion process.

- Eat whole grains that provide the body with the energy it needs.

- Eat a balanced amount of protein according to what the body needs, which is 80 grams for normal people who do not exert extra effort during the fasting day.

- Avoid foods fried in hydrogenated oils that harm the body more than they benefit it, such as: French fries, and fried chicken breasts as well.

- Avoid eating sugars such as sweets and syrups in some cakes, which in turn leads to low blood pressure and a feeling of lethargy and laziness.

Suhoor meal

It is the second main meal during the time allotted for the fasting person to eat, which many students neglect due to sleep or feeling full, as a result of not organizing the breakfast meal, and sometimes due to excessive multiplicity of meals that contain fatty foods.

It is preferable for the suhoor meal to be an hour before dawn, so that the body can digest it, and also so that the fasting person can perform the prayer, remembrance, and reading the Qur’an after the time of dawn, which takes time during which the food is digested well.

Nutritionists stress the need to prepare the Suhoor meal in a balanced manner, so that it contains the important nutrients for the body, without overeating some foods that cause problems for the fasting person during the day while fasting, such as:

- Eating foods that contain a lot of processed sugars, such as kunafa, basbousa, and baklava, which contain a large amount of liquid sugar, such as sherbet, which causes the fasting person to feel thirsty all the time.

- Eating foods that contain a lot of salt, such as: fish, olives, pickles, salted cheese, and stored cheese such as mush, which increases the desire of the fasting person to drink water throughout the day, and replacing salt with other available spices and seasonings such as cumin, black pepper, and coriander.

- Eating unhealthy high-fat foods, such as fried foods like potatoes, eggplant, and chicken, which cause a kind of discomfort in the esophagus and trachea area while awake and increases with sleep.

- Eating fast-food meals, most of which contain unhealthy fats, which cause intestinal problems for many people.

The most important foods that must be available in the Suhoor meal

Therefore, the Suhoor meal should include all the body’s needs of vitamins, amino acids, and nutrients, which are contained in many foods, such as: vegetables, and fruits rich in water that helps reduce the feeling of thirst for the fasting person, such as apples, guava, bananas, and avocado.

Suhoor should also include foods that contain carbohydrates, which increase the body’s energy during fasting, such as: bread and oats, in addition to the necessity of adding healthy, light protein that maintains and increases muscle size as it is the basic element in body movement, such as: eggs, low-salt cheeses, skim milk, and sesame.

Leafy vegetables are also very important in suhoor meals because they contain nutritional benefits for the fasting person, such as vitamins, such as lettuce, cabbage, watercress, and parsley.

Thus, the student can set a healthy diet for breakfast and suhoor, which enables him to spend his day in Ramadan in a healthy way, in addition to following the correct health systems and instructions by eating the appropriate healthy food, drinking water, and keeping the body in a state of permanent balance throughout the day, which benefits him during the time of studying and learning.