Tips & Insights Regarding Ramadhan Fast page 2

[pklopp]

Thanks, pklopp. I usually do my training pre-sunset and pre-sunrise, but, you are correct, keeping hydrated will be an issue being that one doesn't like to eat on top of food. I don't know how those who don't recognise the importance of hydration get through?

I intended to make a point on your IF series of posts. Apart from them being very beneficial, I wanted to ask did any of the studies mention eating breakfast (as in our present definition of the term as a morning (pre-dawn) meal); being that suhur is a strongly emphasised non-essential part of the fast? If so, how has the research accounted for this and why are IF practitioners strongly encouraged to skip breakfast?

I also wanted to ask about encouraging a ketogenic metabolism? I ask, for I would like to take the opportunity to try this in order that I may be called upon to advise others.

The principal takeaway from the Ramadan studies is that meal frequency impacts metabolism, and that a greater than culturally prevalent interval seems to be more beneficial / healthful. I'm speculating here, but I expect that the benefits from fasting are largely derived from control of insulin levels, and specifically, lowered insulin levels as a result of longer intervals between meals. This being the case, all else being equal, longer intervals with moderate to low insulin levels are better than shorter ones, up to a point. This accounts for recommendations to skip the morning meal from non-religious fasting practitioners.

When it comes to suhur, I expect that what you are observing is the evolution of pragmatic advice from those who have the wisdom of experience. Unless you prepare for Ramadan by going for increasingly longer and longer periods of time without food and drink, then the transition into full bore fasting must be quite difficult. Even for someone like me who is accustomed to eating a single meal a day, the Ramadan proscription against drinking during the fast would be a very difficult adjustment. Consequently, I would personally take full advantage of suhur to hydrate, rather than eat.

With respect to ketosis, there is no better way to enter that state than by fasting for a few days. It takes about 24 - 28 hours without eating to exhaust your glycogen stores, at which point, you are left with gluconeogenesis and lipolysis for your energy sources. Once you've exhausted glycogen, then it is fairly simple to stay in a ketotic state by eating a diet heavily skewed towards fat as the energy substrate. My question would be why one would want to do that?

-PK

[texas.grok]

Can anybody who's not involved imagine how eagerly anticipated 29/30 days of dawn to dusk fasting is?

I don't think they can. While I don't fully understand that Islamic religion and Ramadan, I have enjoyed the social time with family and friends during Ramadan at Iftar. To me, as a non-Muslim, that literal break-fast, makes the fasting during the day all the more enjoyable.

Don't get me wrong, the Egyptians are big on social time and I spend many pleasent evenings drinking coffee, smoking shesha and just talking but there is something special about Iftar and I have been honored to be invited to several family Iftars over here.

[zizou]

Iftar definitly is special, for all but even more for the person breaking their fast. The meal always goes down well too.