JEDDAH, 5 September 2007 — Fasting during Ramadan is beneficial to one’s health if done properly and in conformity with the dietary instructions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), according to an Indian specialist in natural medicine.
With the start of the Ramadan season just days away, Dr. P.A. Kareem, director and chief physician at the Hygiene Naturopathy Hospital in the south Indian city of Calicut, explained that fasting “is a powerful therapeutic process that can help people recover from mild to severe health conditions, including high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, chronic headaches, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, uterine fibroids, benign tumors, and lupus erythematosus, a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder.
“Fasting provides a period of concentrated physiological rest during which the body can trigger its self-healing mechanisms to repairing and strengthening damaged organs,” said Kareem.
“The process of fasting also allows the body to cleanse cells from accumulated toxins and waste products,” he added.
He noted that Islam introduced the monthlong mandatory fasting to help Muslims improve their spiritual and physical health.
“Unfortunately, many Muslims consider Ramadan as a food festival, lavishly eating a variety of delicious but unhealthy dishes, forgetting its real message. As a result they don’t get the health benefits of fasting,” said Kareem, who is visiting the Kingdom on Umrah.
“Our body has self-healing power. In order to activate this power, the stomach must be kept empty. This is a rule of nature. We see children and animals refusing to take food when they get sick. Annual fasting if done properly helps a Muslim recover from most diseases,” he said.
Kareem advised fasting Muslims to eat cooked food only once during the night and take a lot of fruit and vegetables for iftar and sahur to accelerate the healing process.
“The Prophet used to eat dates for sahur and water and dates for breakfast,” he pointed out.
During the time of the prophet, Kareem said, there were few sick people in Madinah as they adhered to his dietary instructions and ate moderately. Kareem added that his naturopathic treatment is based on prophetic medicine and teachings.
“Modern scientists and doctors in America and Europe have found naturopathy highly effective in treating many diseases,” Kareem said.
“Cure without medicine is the new ideology. This has led to the creation of several naturopathic hospitals in India and elsewhere in the world,” he said.
He blamed unhygienic lifestyles for the spread of many diseases among expatriate workers in the Kingdom and other Gulf countries.
“They are exposed to ACs and fans, eat refrigerated food and suffer from tension as most of them live away from their families,” he said. Kareem explained that ACs and fans reduce resistance power. Sweating is essential to cure diseases such as diabetes,” he said.
