Once again the holy month of Ramadan is here for those who follow the religion of Islam; requiring participants to fast between dawn and midnight. Let’s just recap some of our tips we have shared on previous years with how to tackle your post bariatric surgery diet during this time…

  1. Consume 2 – 3 small meals per day:
  • Suhoor: don’t skip this! Include a complete source of protein such as eggs, milk or yoghurt, with a small serve of low GI carbohydrate such as grainy bread, oats or fruit to provide sustained energy levels over the fasting day. Some examples:
    • 1 slice of soy & linseed bread with avocado spread and 1 egg
    • Protein smoothie with low fat milk, yoghurt, berries and whey protein powder
    • Sweet potato and zucchini omelette
  • Iftar: remember this is a meal, not a feast! It is important to break your fast with a warm drink/soup ten to fifteen minutes before eating to avoid any food getting stuck and to stop regurgitation from a build up of saliva during the day.
  • Dinner: all of your regular eating rules apply, regardless of the fast during the day. Meals should be balanced, containing lean proteins and vegetables, avoiding empty calories such as sweets and pastries.

2) Avoid eating and drinking at the same time. BUT make sure that you keep hydrated during Suhoor and Iftar to avoid dehydration. Avoid high calorie drinks though, no matter how tempting this may be.

3) Continue to take your multivitamins (ideally before Suhoor).

4) Continue light/moderate exercise, possibly after Iftar.

Fasting is difficult but it is no excuse to overindulge. Instead, look at Ramadan as an opportunity to increase your weight loss and aid your diet. Let’s take a look at some of the added benefits of fasting.

 

Health Benefits of Fasting During Ramadan

Intermittent fasting has become increasingly popular in recent times, not only for the effect on weight loss but also for other health benefits associated with fasting.

Insulin Levels – fasting changes the level of insulin in your blood, which facilitates fat burning. So you are no longer just burning calories consumed but your body then starts using stored fat as an energy source. Long-term intermittent fasting has also been proven to regulate insulin levels.

Cellular Repair during periods of fasting the body induces important repairing of cells, such as removing waste materials from cells.

Human Growth Hormone – blood levels of growth hormone may increase as much as five fold; these higher levels of the growth hormone facilitate fat burning and muscle gain, as well as numerous other benefits.

So essentially fasting during Ramadan is helping you in two major ways:

  1. Reducing the number of calories consumed (in).
  2. Boosting metabolic rate (which increases the number of calories out).

Make sure to follow your diet given to you by your dietician during periods of eating, as eating a well balanced meal will not only help ease your hunger over the periods of fasting but will also work towards your ultimate weight loss or weight maintenance goals.

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