4:09pm Thursday 12th August 2010
Ramadhan is considered a time for self control and inner development. This includes constraint with dietary habits and breaking your fast.
Maintaining balance over the holy month can lead to increased wellbeing and maximised energy levels.
Treating the non-fasting hours of the day as the time to meet your body’s nutrition needs will help the fasting hours go more smoothly. It is not the time to eat what you want. Over indulging and having 'feasts' can lead to decreased energy levels and lethargy throughout the day.
The iftaar is often the time where families come together and share prepared food. The dietary choices made at this time are often high sugar or high fat foods such as samosas, pakoras,fried dumplings, mithai, and greasy pastries This is the reason why many people actually gain weight during this auspicious time.
A little forward planning and an understanding of what the body actually needs in terms of nutrition will go a long way to achieving a healthy, happy Ramadhan. Here are 10 tips to help to maximise your mealtimes in order to enhance energy levels over the coming weeks; Choose foods that are higher in fibre.
Having foods higher in fibre such as wholemeal chapatti flour, wholemeal rice, fruits and vegetables, lentils and pulses will not only prevent constipation but will help you keep fuller for longer. This is extremely important as it will help provide a steady release of energy during the fasting hours.
Complex Carbohydrates.
Choose complex carbohydrates at each meal. Complex carbohydrates can be found in grains such as wheat, barley, oats, millet and semolina. Other sources are lentils, pulses, beans and basmati rice.
Choosing foods from this group will provide slow energy release, fibre and a feeling of fullness as they are digested slowly in the gut.
Try to cook these carbohydrates using less fat and healthier cooking methods such as baking, boiling, grilling and steaming. Frying puris, poppadums and parathas can lead to excessive calorie and fat intake.
Choose snacks wisely.
Having fried samosas, pakoras and dumplings is associated with the breaking of the fast but serves little dietary purpose besides ingesting lots of extra calories.
If you really must have these foods try to bake samosas in the oven or go for chickpeas with raita which offers nutrition. Try boiling dumplings instead of frying and you will save time as well as calories.
Don’t keep large amounts of mithai at home!.
If its there it will get eaten. Mithai such as burfi, jalebi, gulab jamun, balushahi and rassomalai are often eaten at the iftar and are a source of saturated fat and sugar. It is not essential to have these every day so limit to occasional consumption and have fruit as dessert on a daily basis to top up on vitamins, increase fibre and fluid intake.
Have dates with semi-skimmed milk.
Dates are a good source of energy but are also high in calories especially when sugar coated, covered in syrup or stuffed with nuts. Some dates can be extremely large and are more than what is considered a portion.
Stick to one or two plain medium dates. Having them with semi skimmed milk will help keep you full in addition to providing fluid and vital nutrition such as protein and calcium.
Eat foods that take longer to digest.
At breakfast time (Suhoor) try to eat foods that will give you slow energy release such as porridge with a few nuts and fruit, high fibre cereal with semi-skimmed milk, beans or eggs on toast or a healthy Asian breakfast of dhal with wholemeal chapatti. Refrain from having high fat leftovers such as samosas, mitai, halva or oily curries and biryanis. Re-frying these snacks will only lead to increased calorie intake.
Try to reduce your consumption of caffeine.
Drinks such as tea and coffee and cola are diuretics which encourage your body to lose water.
Stick to two meals during non-fasting hours.
Trying to 'make up' for the food not eaten during the day will lead to overeating and can contribute to weight gain. Treat each meal as an opportunity to top up on the nutrients the body needs to help you through the fasting hours.
Avoid eating fast food on a regular basis.
Socialising whilst eating can often lead to overconsumption and indulgence when not needed. Pressure from family members and friends can make it difficult to say no. Planning meals at home can save money and extra calories!
If you have a medical condition such as diabetes or you are pregnant it is important that you seek medical advice with regards to your diet and lifestyle over Ramadhan.
Maintaining good control of diabetes is extremely important in safeguarding your future health.
The holy month of Ramadhan is the perfect opportunity to bring balance into your life.
As a colleague of mine once said its Ramadhan and not 'Ram-it-down'!.
By Gulshinder Chattha UK Senior Registered Dietitian
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.asianimage.co.uk/trade_directory/