ISLAMABAD  – Fasting in the holy month of Ramazan is proved as a key to good health and an effective cure for various psychological and medical disorders according to the medical experts.
Fasting helps a person to firm up will, refine taste and manners, strengthen conviction of doing good, avoid controversy and rashness which all contribute towards a sane and healthy personality. Talking to APP, Dr Abdul Wahab, a health expert from Holy Family Hospital said that fasting keeps a person healthy, clean, alert, agile and energetic.
Empty stomach during fasting protect the faithful from stomach related diseases including intestinal infections and indigestion and help strengthen immune system of the body against diseases, he said. He said the people of our country are simply unaware of the concept of healthy diet. They do not follow discipline in eating habits and keep on observing unplanned eating that sometimes disturb the stomach which decreases the life value.
Fasting provides relief to those facing stress and anxiety as it has direct influence on the physique and psychology of the fasting individual. Fasting is a tool to make oneself healthy and ensure health and the soundness of human body and mind, he said.
Besides nurturing resistance and ability to face hardships and endurance, fasting reflects on outward physical appearance by cutting out gluttony and getting rid of excess fat.
Dr Wahab said fasting is instrumental in alleviating a number of physical diseases related to digestive systems, such as chronic stomachache, inflammation of the colon, liver diseases, indigestion, and conditions such as obesity, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, asthma, diphtheria and many other maladies.
According to physicians, “the advantages of hunger as a remedy exceed those ingesting medicine several times”. Fasting should be regarded as an effective means of restoring youthfulness and longevity and one must abstain from taking unhygienic food items prepared with unbranded ghee and cooking oil at the time of Iftar to avoid indigestion.
The faithful must take fruits and simple diet in the month of Ramazan to get health benefits in this sacred month. The holy month of Ramazan is a blessing for psychiatric patients, as offering five-time prayers and observing fast helps them in overcoming the disease.
Inactivity ‘killing as many as smoking’
Lack of exercise is now causing 5.3m deaths a year across the world which are as many deaths as smoking cause, a study suggests. The team of 33 researchers from Cambridge University, UK said governments need to look at ways to make physical activity more convenient, affordable and safer,BBC health reported. That equates to about one in 10 deaths from diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer.
Researchers said that smoking and inactivity kill a similar number of people, smoking rates are much lower than the number of inactive people, making smoking more risky to the individual. They said that it is required a new way of thinking, suggesting the public needed to be warned about the dangers of inactivity rather than just reminded of the benefits of it.
It is recommended that adults do 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling or gardening, each week. The global challenge is clear - make physical activity a public health priority throughout the world to improve health and reduce the burden of disease.