By Adiza Bawa
Ramadan is a time, Muslims are required to abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. With this comes two significant mealtimes wherein Muslims initiate and break the fast. These are referred to as Suhoor and Iftar, and it’s important that they consist of healthy ingredients that will sustain the body throughout the day. Since your body will be reliant on the nutrients that you consume in each of these mealtimes, it’s imperative that you get it right.
Suhoor is the meal that is consumed before dawn in order to equip the body to fast throughout the day. Despite this, it also has an abundance of religious significance, as an essential factor of Suhoor is making the intention to fast.
A registered Nurse, RD Hikmatu Abdulai has advised Muslims not to start their fast by taking in a lot of deep-fried foods. According to her, the amount of fats in it may not be too good for the body. She also advised not to fast with Carbonated drinks because it has a high sugar level and it lacks fibre.
Speaking on the GTV Breakfast show, on April 20, 2022, the Registered Nurse said if fasting lasts for a long time, the body goes into starvation mode.
She added that for the Ramadan period, it’s probably between 12 to 16 hours depending on the country one is. After 12 hours, the body will definitely run into starvation mode. At that point, the body now depends on the stored fat and stored nutrients because no external nutrients are coming in.
HEALTHY EATING BEFORE THE BREAK OF FAST
KOOSE AND KOKO
RD Hikmatu Abdulai said koose is not ideal to start a fast. She said the amount of fats in there may not be too good, especially with someone with issues of cholesterol.
“You want to be minimal when it comes to fried foods and foods that are high in fats. Ideally, we recommend that you take in foods that are high in fibre.”
She added that koose has some amount of fibre because of the beans in it.
“It’s deep fried, the oil in there, if over time you’re taking it, it builds up and it might turn into something you wouldn’t want to happen to you.
With the koko, she said it is fine to start the fast depending on how it is prepared.
“You want to prepare it in such a way that all the fibre content is retained.”
She said, “,you don’t sieve and throw the fibre out. So if you’re preparing maybe Hausa koko and you’re going to make sure the fibre remains in it.”
The Registered Nurse noted that if it’s sieved, it’s almost like taking a sugar solution.
“You take it in alright but then your energy will rundown really quickly. You may start feeling hungry in no time. So if you want to take porridge to start your fast, you might want to go in for high fibre options like oat, wheat or Tom brown or the corn porridge then you make sure you still have your fibre in there”.
TOAST
RD Hikmatu Abdulai said toast is good when accompanied with some vegetables. She said that will boost the fibre.
“Especially if the bread is whole wheat bread or whole meal bread, then that will be perfect for you.
FRUITS
She said fruits are allowed before and after breaking of fast. She said, during fast, one loses a lot of water, “so if you want to go in for fruits, I’ll recommend that you go for fruits that have high water. Watermelon, Pineapple and citrus fruits. But, then I must caution that these fruits contain sugar, so you don’t want to over indulge.
CARBONATED OR CAFFEINATED DRINKS
Caffeine consumption encourages the body to lose fluids, which contributes to the danger of dehydration. In an ideal world, Muslims wouldn’t consume caffeinated beverages at all during Ramadan; however, some individuals may be reliant on caffeine. Depending on the individual’s usual intake, one to three cups of coffee a day is deemed a moderate amount. Therefore, as long as plenty of water is consumed to account for the loss of fluids, caffeinated beverages may still be consumed during the month of Ramadan.
RD Hikmatu Abdulai said it’s not ideal to start with caffeinated and carbonated drinks because most of them are very high in sugar and lack fiber. She added that it’s non-nutritive.
“So you take in and it gives you energy but then after your energy runs down and you’re not able to cope and the excess sugar, overtime will be turned into fats and instead of losing weight at the end of the fast, you’ll become bigger and that will predispose you to other illnesses like diabetes and all these lifestyle diseases”.
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