Ramadan: What Happens To Your Body When You Fast

The Holy Month of Ramadan is here!

The Ramadan, which begins today May 6, is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. It entails abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual relations from dawn to sunset, for a month.

In the hopes that this holy month will lead to greater consciousness of God, the Muslim’s engage in the Ramadan fast to attract several spiritual benefits and rejuvenates their faith.

But asides the spiritual benefits that come with fasting, the spiritual exercise has also been thought to attract some benefits to the body medically.

According to medical experts, not eating and drinking for 12hours in a month can be beneficial to the body’s metabolism.

A Nutritionist, Mrs Victoria Okoro, who spoke to THE WHISTLER highlighted the benefits of fasting in our daily lives as it causes a major shift in the way our body operates.

According to her Fasting is regarded as a weight loss tool.

“The liver and muscles store the glucose and release it into the bloodstream whenever the body needs it.

However, during fasting, this process changes. Our metabolism drops and the liver begins to adjust. At this point the liver then uses up the excess fats stored up in our bodies,” Okoro explained.

She went on to reveal that fasting improves our cardiovascular health saying it improves the way the body metabolizes sugar

“Fasting helps to reduce cholesterol, reduce the risk of developing diabetes and lower blood pressure.

“So if we reduce those, we will strengthen the heart and reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Speaking further, Okoro said, “It has been proven also that fasting can help fight certain kinds of cancer because it slows down the progression of cancer cells generally.”

However, she urged people to always consult a physician before engaging in a fast, stressing that the spiritual exercise can also be harmful to some people, especially those with type 1 diabetes, people with an eating disorder or people on some type of medications.