Ramadan Healthy Eating: Stay Hydrated!

Importance of Staying Hydrated During Ramadan

Did you know that up to 60% of the human body is water, our brain is composed of 70% water, and the lungs are nearly 90% water? 

Our lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight, as is the brain, and body fat contains 10% water and bone has 22% water!

About 83% of our blood is water, which helps digest our food, transport waste, and control body temperature. 

Each day humans has to replace 2.4 litres of water, some through drinking water and the rest taken by the body from the foods we eat. 

So during Ramadan, it is crucial that we hydrate ourselves properly. It is advisable to avoid caffeinated drinks during Iftar as the caffeine acts as a diuretic, which stimulates urination. This prevents the water from being properly taken by our cells.

It is also advisable to avoid sugary drinks such as soft drinks. The sugar in the drinks may give us a boost of glucose into our bloodstream so we may feel energetic as the glucose is taken up by our cells. But that rush of energy will be short-lived, and you would be looking to grab another sugary drink to keep up your energy levels for the nightly prayers and so on. If you continue on this pattern, you can accumulate an excess of glucose in your bloodstrea,m, which your cells cannot utilize, and which gets stored as fat instead!

Therefore, it is advisable to stick to plain old water to nourish your body. In your waking hours between iftar to imsak, be sure to sip water and re-hydrate your body. Getting a minimum of 2 litres of water during this period would be good for your body.