Nourishing and taking care of your physical health during Ramadan allows your spiritual health to flourish and grow. Nourishing your physical body means prioritizing your gut health, hormone health, nervous system health, along with all the other organ and systems that are working in harmony 24/7, non-stop, around the clock all within the confines of your body.

This is your mentality going into Ramadan

You are nourishing your body in order to prioritize feeding your soul. You’re eating in order to adequately and optimally fuel your body for worship. Ideally you want energy and optimal focus to sustain everything you are doing this month on a morning and nightly basis for the duration of the month. You are making sure your digestive system, your endocrine system, your nervous system are all prepped and optimally healthy so that when ramadan comes around, you aren’t dealing with brain fog, caffeine withdrawal, fatigue from hormone imbalances, or GI symptoms from poor gut health so that you can focus on nourishing your spiritual health.

How to prepare your body for fasting before ramadan begins

How to Nourish your body: Week 1 of Ramadan

Nutrients to prioritize: polyphenols for anti-inflammatory benefits and for growth of beneficial gut bacteria diversity, omega-3s for cognitive health and anti-inflammatory benefits, sulforaphane to help with detoxification and inflammation,

Add:

• Fermented foods for gut health: Kimchi, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, miso, pickles with the brine, probiotic rich yogurt
• Probiotic supplement: Seed Probiotics or Pendulum Probiotics
• Foods/Herbs that trigger GLP-1 secretion in the gut: (to induce satiety)
  • Foods:
  • Herbs:

Limit:

How to Nourish your body: Week 2 of ramadan

Nutrients to prioritize: polyphenols for anti-inflammatory benefits and for growth of beneficial gut bacteria diversity, omega-3s for cognitive health and anti-inflammatory benefits, sulforaphane to help with detoxification and inflammation,

Add:

• Fermented foods for gut health: Kimchi, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, miso, pickles with the brine, probiotic rich yogurt
• Probiotic supplement: Seed Probiotics or Pendulum Probiotics
• Foods/Herbs that trigger GLP-1 secretion in the gut: (to induce satiety)
  • Foods:
  • Herbs:

Limit:

How to Nourish your body: Week 3 of ramadan

Nutrients to prioritize: polyphenols for anti-inflammatory benefits and for growth of beneficial gut bacteria diversity, omega-3s for cognitive health and anti-inflammatory benefits, sulforaphane to help with detoxification and inflammation,

Add:

• Fermented foods for gut health: Kimchi, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, miso, pickles with the brine, probiotic rich yogurt
• Probiotic supplement: Seed Probiotics or Pendulum Probiotics
• Foods/Herbs that trigger GLP-1 secretion in the gut: (to induce satiety)
  • Foods:
  • Herbs:

Limit:

Assess any current or recent labs using optimal lab ranges

Standard lab ranges represent the average population and does not necessarily refer to the optimal level to remain at the highest level of health. Optimal ranges are obtained from clinical studies and limited research so it may vary here and there.

Switch your mindset. Instead of thinking about how much weight you might lose during Ramadan, think of the health of your internal organs. Also focus on your spiritual health. Taking care of your body and health is an amaanah (trust) on you. Health is wealth and doesn’t equate to how much you weigh or how many pounds you lose. You could be skinny and still have poor metabolic + gut health or symptoms resulting from one of your organs complaining about something internally. Instead of judging health based on superficial metrics like weight, base it on optimal ranges of labs/biomarkers and a symptom free life. *send a written blog post similar to this to Amaliah as marketing and use my blog posts as podcast/video scripts/SM content*

• Are there any hormonal imbalances that will contribute to fatigue during the day? DUTCH testing for hormones linked here.
• Are there any GI symptoms from imbalances in the gut microbiome or resulting from poor gut health? GI-MAP testing for gut health linked here.
• Is there any ongoing inflammation? Look at symptoms as well as inflammatory biomarkers to assess overall inflammation.

Biomarkers/Labs to assess for an overall snapshot of general health:

• Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) for blood sugar health
• Fasting glucose for blood sugar and metabolic health
• Fasting Insulin for blood sugar health
• Fasting triglycerides for heart/cardiovascular health
• HDL for heart/cardiovascular and metabolic health
• Total cholesterol to HDL ratio for heart/cardiovascular and metabolic health
• Liver enzymes (ALP, ALT, AST) for liver health
• Apolipoprotein B (apoB) for heart/cardiovascular health
• Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a) for heart/cardiovascular health

The Process of Autophagy: How your body Rejuvenates itself during the month of ramadan

Prolonged fasting triggers the process of Autophagy: dead cells clearing out and making way for new cells.

Being in ketosis (similar to being in a state of fasting – both burn ketones for energy): in a state of ketosis using ketones for energy instead of the body’s typical fuel source of glucose (similar to keto diet (the unhealthy fad version) or The Therapeutical Keto Diet using for patients with epilepsy – 4:1 ratio *4 grams of fat for every 1 gram of protein and carbohydrate.* this version of the diet is also used for focus and cognitive benefits. OMAD can also allow your body to remain in a state of ketosis.

mitochondrial health ~ mitophagy vs autophagy

The link between healing acne and autophagy. Acne may worsen at first. Hormonal imbalances and gut dysbiosis (gut imbalances) also come into play and affect the health of our skin.

Do you follow a particular eating pattern during Ramadan?

Any eating routine is good as long as these check out:

• Are your lab values at an optimal *not standard* range aka is your body telling you that you are healthy or are you telling yourself that you are healthy?
• Do you feel good with your eating pattern?
• Is it sustainable?
• Is it enjoyable?
• Is it based in whole, real foods? (not ultra-processed or processed foods)
• Any GI symptoms? Any symptoms in general?
• Is your eating pattern causing you stress?
• Do you feel the need to defend it? (have you made it a part of your identity/tribe that you are offended if anyone eats different than you? Do you feel the need to tell everyone to eat the way you do?)

I don’t demonize carbohydrates or any food group. I simply don’t consume refined carbohydrates for the majority of my meals and when I do it’s not a daily thing. There are so many factors to consider when factoring in the human body: It depends on the type of carb, the timing of my meal, my stress levels for that day, the hours I slept that night, etc

The science behind why carbohydrates make you content and sleepy: Carbohydrates > Tryptophan > Serotonin (the feel-good hormone helps to regulate mood) and Melatonin (the sleep hormone).

Tip: when not fasting, keep the largest amount of your carb intake at dinner time for sustained energy and focus during the day.

Eat to worship don’t worship to eat

Revolve the content of your meals around your worship schedule especially during the last ten days where Laylatul Qadr occurs. Ideally, you should be eating in order to prioritize worship not worshipping to eat. You want energy and optimal focus to sustain everything you are doing this month on a morning and nightly basis for the duration of the month.

Create a Worship schedule that You can remain consistent with

Spiritual prep in advance: We all have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to different types of worship. For some people, fasting comes easy for others it’s difficult. Reading the entire Quran once or twice during Ramadan is easy for some and difficult for others. Praying the sunnah prayer, easy for some and difficult for others. It’s easy to stick to the types of worship that come easy to you but is that where the greatest reward is at? Mix it up! Mix in the more difficult types of worship along with the ones that you can remain consistent with so that you don’t get discouraged easily but you’re also challenging yourself. Gamify it?

• Sunnah Prayers
• Five daily prayers on time
• Tahajjud
• Adhkar – My favorite app to use for this is linked here.
• Islamic Lectures
• Sadaqah
• Istighfar
• Duaa’ list

“The most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are most consistent, even if it is small.” (Bukhari)

Follow the 80/20 rule of eating during ramadan

because it’s not sustainable to eat extremely clean 100% of the time especially when you’re eating out.

–

The Best way to eat desserts for stable blood sugar, gut health, Hormone Health, and overall digestion

I have a big sweet tooth so I will never tell anyone to cut out desserts completely. The trick is to understand the order of consuming foods in the meal in order to cushion the potential side effects of the refined sugar or refined carb intake. (as long as it’s not dripping in syrup)

• Recommend order of food intake: dessert should be the last thing to enter the digestive system. The order should be vegetables first (think a salad!), then proteins and fats (main entree), and finally carbohydrates and any sugar. (think rice, bread, starchy vegetables, potatoes)

In order to paint a more realistic picture for you: try and eat protein with the veggies (a salad) alongside the carbs (rice, bread, potatoes) then end with dessert. You will have better blood sugar levels after the meal leading to increased focus and energy during taraweeh and qiyam. Bonus points if you take a walk after iftaar around your neighborhood or your local masjid.

gut health – acv hack (raw and unfiltered apple cider vinegar)

What anti-inflammatory oils should i cook homemade meals with?

Minimally refined, cold-pressed, organic, non-GMO preferred.

• 100% Pure Avocado Oil
• Grass-Fed Butter
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Grass-Fed Ghee/Clarified butter
• Coconut Oil

Help! Why am I gaining weight during Ramadan?

Become your own scientist of what goes into your body. Once you become more in tune with your body or have a general interoception, how you feel during and after you eat certain foods, surrounding your eating patterns it becomes easier to spot trigger foods that lead to symptoms. You are essentially becoming your own root-cause scientist of an N-of-1 trial where you are the sole subject of the experiment.

• Eat slowly don’t scarf it all down in 5-10 minutes let the GLP-1 hormone in your gut do it’s job properly give him some time to cook
• Try not to eat standing up you need your gut to work with you not against you
• Eat with your right hand depending on meal for the day in order to to eat more mindfully and slower allowing the space and time for your fullness hormone to kick in.
• Eat with your right hand: beneficial for gut health microbiome and end up eating less so more barakah with less food. Find study.
• Find yourself eating at 2 am? What is it? What do you usually find yourself craving? Not in a judgemental tone but in an inquisitive tone.
• ACV before or/and after meals

Don’t look solely at calories, look at the nutrients in the meal, organic produce (even if it’s “organic” the soil is depleted of nutrients due to big agriculture and glyphosate is 100% an issue lowering testosterone levels and acts as a endocrine (hormone) disruptor by mimicking estrogen, hydration (there’s so much to say about hydrating properly. Bottled water bottles at the masjid won’t kill you but it’s better for your overall health to bring your own filtered water in a glass bottle to avoid plastics leeching into the water. How long has it been sitting in the warehouse in the heat? In someone’s garage chilling?)

Follow The 1/3 rule when eating also known as the 1/3 Diet™

Overconsumption is not from the sunnah. Something to note: not everyone has the same optimal health of their gut, their hormones, etc. Not everyone has enough stomach acid to digest and absorb nutrients.

• 1/3 Food (different eating patterns)
• 1/3 Liquid/Water
• 1/3 Air

Mood swings during ramadan: Are you guilty of Hangry fasting?

I would consider fasting to be one of the hardest types of worship for me, especially when I’m working, but that just means the reward for it is potentially so much greater than any other act of worship. If you often hangry fast during Ramadan:

• You may not be getting the right quantity or quality of nutrients for your metabolism at suhoor time.
• You could be chronically stressed leading to using all of the magnesium stores in your body which essentially helps regulate the body’s stress response and can help you feel calm.
• You could have imbalances in your gut microbiome also known as gut dysbiosis. The gut and the brain are connected via the vagus nerve. That means your mood is regulated by the health and diversity of your gut microbiome (think diversity of beneficial bacteria!) since various hormones and neurotransmitters related to mood and wellbeing are in constant communication with each other via the vagus nerve. Many of those feel good neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin are either produced or synthesized in the gut.

Whenever you think of gut health, always associate that with emotional or mental health. The nutrients you prioritize at suhoor time will impact your mood throughout the day.

• Your body is used to eating at certain times during the day so when you drastically switch the timing of meals it can take a while for your body to adjust. You may find that you finally get in the groove of things during Week 2. My advice is to start fasting the week before Ramadan begins to allow your body to adjust to the shift in meal timings so when Week 1 comes around, you’ve already moved past that adjustment phase.

Try and lessen the hunger pains by consuming meals that naturally elevate levels of GLP-1 in the gut (as well as small amounts in the brain!) also known as the satiety or fullness hormone.

Consume probiotic-rich or fermented foods such as homemade pickles with the brine, at least 2-3 tablespoons of yogurt (if it’s store bought look for ones without any added sugar!), kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, or any type of fermented vegetable. You may also take a high quality probiotic supplement instead or in addition to eating the food source of probiotics.

How to optimize your Sleep Routine during ramadan

You can track your REM and non-REM sleep stages using an oura ring, ultrahuman ring, whoop band, or an apple watch.

There’s a difference between getting 8 hours of poor sleep versus 6 hours of deep restful sleep looking specifically at the REM and non-REM duration of your sleep for that night using wearable data. (oura ring and whoop band)

Look at sleep routine: reduce blue light towards the evening to regulate proper circadian rhythm and melatonin levels,*at masjids during Qiyam this looks like dimming the bright overhead lights for optimal melatonin levels* limit caffeine intake prior to bedtime (depends on multiple factors such as absorption rate of the caffeine, amount of caffeine intake per drink (milligrams of caffeine), meal intake for that day, meal timing and density prior to caffeine intake, hydration status, and in general your genetics or nutrigenomics & how well you process caffeine), sunlight in the morning for 10-15 minutes to regulate internal circadian rhythm, natural cortisol spike in the morning (to wake us up) as well it’s natural decline in the evening (to wind down) as melatonin secretion increases. You can test your *waking* melatonin levels using DUTCH hormone testing.

Create your own toolbox for Stress Management during ramadan

I have a blog post with stress management tools listed here.

Nervous System Health: ideally you want a high HRV relative to your baseline so you’re relaxed and able to take on the month as well as day to day activities and worship.

maintain an Exercise Routine during ramadan for energy, focus, optimal digestion, and gut health

• Prioritize strength training to soak up the excess glucose floating around in the bloodstream due to excess amount of carb intake after iftar.

• Make sure to take walks around the neighborhood or around your local masjid after iftaar to help with digestion and regulating blood sugar in order to optimize focus and energy during Taraweeh and Qiyam. This will help with digestion of the carb and refined-sugar heavy desserts! Goodbye brain fog and fatigue and hello increased mood, energy, and focus!

What Herbal teas should i be consuming during Ramadan?

These are simple wellness tools to maintain overall health and wellbeing.

• Sage (مريميّة): stress/anxiety relief + great for sleep!
• Chamomile (بابونج): stress/anxiety relief + great for sleep!
• Lemonbalm (Melissa مَلِّيسَة): stress/anxiety relief + great for sleep!
• Mint (نعناع): stress/anxiety relief + great for sleep! One cup of spearmint tea in the evening, post taraweeh or Qiyam, is great for blood sugar related health conditions such as PCOS and insulin resistance.

What Supplements should i be taking at suhoor and iftaar time?

• Digestive enzymes for carb heavy meals or can eat small amount of pineapple or papaya since both have natural digestive enzymes like bromelain or papain that help break down protein.
• Berberine for stable blood sugar from excess carbs (caution with taking berberine for certain health conditions)
• Magnesium Glycinate for sleep and relaxation
• Vitamin D₃ + K₂ (Download the Dminder app for optimal timings for Vitamin D from the sun here): it is best absorbed by the body with a fat source along with Magnesium Glycinate. K2 helps to move calcium into your bones and teeth rather than floating around in the bloodstream.

Follow the Caffeinated Drinks Rule during Ramadan

• Chai (may have sweetened condensed milk containing high fructose corn syrup or refined sugar) vs Coffee vs Tea vs Matcha (caffeine amnt (mg) + what to add within each)

Try to cushion the effects of the caffeine with protein-rich meals.

Tips to avoid headaches during the day from caffeine withdrawals since it is a drug

When using non-dairy alternatives for lattes such as:

• Milk: Soy, Almond, Coconut, Flaxseed, Hazelnut, Hemp, Oat, or Cashew.

For gut health and better overall digestion opt for brands that have:

• no preservatives or additives such as carrageenan, guar gum, xanthan gum,

• no oils such as canola, rapeseed, palm, or sunflower oil. It’s not only about seed oil consumption, it has more to do what the imbalance in omega 6 to omega 3 ratio that leads to chronic inflammation. Better to limit omega 6’s when you can since it’s already in almost every single thing.

Brands Recommended for non-dairy alternative milks: Elmhurst 1925,

What Sweeteners should i add to my tea, coffee, matcha, or chai?

• Stevia (several studies show that it may negatively affect the gut microbiome)
• Monkfruit
• Raw and Unfiltered Honey
• Allulose
• Erythritol
• Coconut sugar
• Refined Sugar-Free Lavender Syrup

Coffee sweetener hack: skip the sweetener and munch on a juicy medjool date with your coffee or chai. You’re getting the fiber to cushion the digestion rate of the caffeine as well as various minerals contained in the flesh and seed of the date (study linked here comparing mineral composition of various types of dates)

Dates contain at least 15 essential minerals including phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, copper, and iron [17]. Minerals are essential supplements for bones, teeth, soft tissues, hemoglobin, muscles and nerve cells [18].

Tip: You can collect the seed of the dates, roast them, and ground them into a mineral rich coffee.

The Oral Hygiene kit for ramadan

Pack it up. Take it with you wherever you go. Morning, mid-day, and nightly so that no one offers you gum that you can’t even take since you’re fasting.

• Miswak
• Floss
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Stainless steel or copper tongue scraper

Bad breath is a result of either candida overgrowth (an imbalance in the gut and oral microbiome), prolonged fasting (saliva production decreases leading to dry mouth), or not using a tongue scraper allowing the white coating of odor causing bacteria to accumulate on your tongue.

What meals should i prepare for suhoor?

Gut healthy suhoor idea:

• Add extra virgin olive oil to pan. Turn on low heat. Dice or crush garlic. Let sit for 10-15 minutes in order to release allicin compound for anti-inflammatory benefits. Add the garlic to the pan along with crushed red pepper. Add three scrambled eggs to frying pan. Cook thoroughly. Remove from pan and serve with one to two slices of toasted *preferable homemade* sourdough sandwich bread. (easy to digest and no preservatives since it’s homemade bread)

Drinks: Herbal teas such as peppermint, sage, or chamomile. Use loose leaf tea instead of teabags to avoid microplastics. Room temperature water with 1 tablespoon of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar with fresh mint leaves.

Caffeine of choice: matcha, black tea, coffee, or green tea. Consume after meals for optimal digestion.

You may add any of these options as a side: black/green olives for omega-3 benefits, olive oil and za’atar for anti-microbial benefits, green onion stalks for quercetin and allicin compound, hummus is debatable due to the high amount of glyphosate that is sprayed on chickpeas, cooked or grilled chicken breast for added protein.

What Meals should i prepare for Iftaar?

Gut healthy iftaar idea: