Breaking your fast healthily during Ramadan

Ramadan is the Holy Month of fasting and blessings. It brings with it a host of special customs, of which food habits and eating play a big part. Eating during Ramadan is also about following the right habits for a balanced “ Iftar” ( breaking your fast) which contributes to maintaining good health during this […]

Ramadan is the Holy Month of fasting and blessings. It brings with it a host of special customs, of which food habits and eating play a big part. Eating during Ramadan is also about following the right habits for a balanced “ Iftar” ( breaking your fast) which contributes to maintaining good health during this holy month.
 Most people, because they spend the whole day without eating, believe in overfeeding themselves which later leads to weakness of the body or stomach upset, and which leaves them unable to observe the (Tarawiy) the post iftar prayer.
 Eating moderately during this period is the right thing to do as it will help you to live a modest and healthy life. 
As the sun sets the muezzins’ call to the Maghrib prayer is an eagerly welcomed invitation to the joyous meal of Iftar, a time when family and friends celebrate the special season of Ramadan together.
 And being a daily event of paramount spiritual and physical significance, it makes it even more important to enjoy the meal and maintain a healthy balance.
But allowing that elaborate spread for Iftar to get the better of the fasting person, leads to over indulgence which can lead to physical discomfort.
 This can however be easily remedied by making sure you take small portions at a time, giving yourself ample opportunity to taste the sumptuous fare and digest the food well.
 Remember, Iftar is a time to enjoy the presence of those around you, while nourishing yourself with food lovingly prepared. Keeping a limit on what and how much you eat will ensure that your joy is complete.
The national chief imam of the Al-Habibiyya foundation, Imam Fuad  Adeyemi, who spoke with Daily Trust, said according to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), when eating as a Muslim, one should divide his stomach into three parts: one part for food, one for water and the third for air, adding that people should understand that the time of Ramadan is not a time for the celebration of food varieties.
 Imam Adeyemi also recommended that during the season of Ramadan, people should try and divide the amount of foodstuff in their houses into two parts and give one part to others in need.
 “When you are over fed, you won’t be able to perform the ibadat which is necessary during the month of Ramadan and you will waste so much money in buying foodstuff while others are looking for what to eat; and while doing that, you deprive your body of the opportunity of serving Allah the way it is supposed to be done,” he explained.