How fasting during Ramadan dey change di body

When person swallow the last morsel for sahur and the dawn call to prayer begin, something go change for the body of every Muslim wey dey observe Ramadan fast. The change na biochemical as e be spiritual.

If dem no give body food and water until sunset, body go begin find fuel for places wey e normally no dey use.

Prof Sabo Ahmed Mohammed from the College of Health Sciences, University of Jos don study scientifically wetin dey happen next. "The body switches over to the stored form of energy: lipids," na so e tell TRT Afrika. "Lipid mean fat and oil."

Every year during Ramadan, adult Muslims no dey chop, no dey drink and dem no dey do sexual intercourse between dawn and sunset, dem dey give more time to

worship and to help people

The practice fit mainly be to reaffirm faith, but the biological chain reaction wey e dey start — from fat-burning and cellular clean-up to sharper brain function — scientists don sabi well.

Wetin medical experts dey warn about na the way people dey indulge for iftar wey fit undo most of the gains.

Cellular clean-up

Human body dey run on glucose wey we take from food. When that supply cut off for long time, body go turn to im reserves, dey burn stored fat for energy, process wey dem dey call ketosis.

For person wey dey fast, this fit mean say dem go drop extra fat wey fit make person get obesity — basically e dey reduce burden for knee and ankle from carrying too much weight.

But ketosis na only the beginning. Sabo talk say body still use the fasting window to target another thing entirely: cancerous cells.

"The body has a way of mopping up cells that are becoming malignant or cancerous," he explain. "What is becoming a dysfunctional unit will now be mopped up and destroyed or utilised as an energy source."

The process dem dey call autophagy — literally, self-eating — and na like built-in cancer prevention mechanism. Damaged or dysfunctional cells wey fit otherwise multiply, body go identify dem, break dem down and either comot dem or turn dem into fuel.

The brain sef dey get upgrade. When body shift from carbohydrate to ketone bodies like acetone and acetoacetate for energy, brain actually prefer this fuel.

"The synapses in the brain will work better with some of the debris or dysfunctional accumulates being removed through the process of fasting," Sabo tell TRT Afrika.

The result, he talk, na better mental clarity for anybody wey fast for reasonable period.

Undoing the gains

All these no go matter if person spend the hours between iftar (time wey dem break fast after sunset) and sahur (pre-dawn meal before fasting starts) dey chop two or three times wetin dem normally chop. Plenty people dey do this one.

"If you consider the amount of food some people eat between iftar and sahur, it's enormous, probably two or three times what they usually eat before Ramadan," Sabo say.

As over-eating dey counterproductive, the same thing apply when person dey try different food every day for the fasting month.

Sabo warn say irregular meals dey confuse the digestive system. "No matter how much you eat, if it is erratic and irregular, you may end up confusing the gut, where digestive juice could be poured into the intestines. If food is absent in the stomach at the time, it could attack the intestines."

Na this one, he say, dey cause the peptic ulcers wey plenty people dey complain about. The problem na irregularity in meal times, not because of deprivation.

The alimentary system sabi learn person eating schedule and e go adapt. Sabo advise those wey dey fast make dem keep schedule regular so that e go cooperate during the one-month Ramadan rituals.

Sabo still encourage physical activity during fasting hours, but he warn make people no expose themselves too much to heat to avoid dehydration. Movement, he say, dey help body work well and fasten its internal cleaning processes.

His final advice be make people avoid food wey too spicy or too sour, because dem fit irritate the digestive system and spoil the benefits wey the fast suppose bring.