Before I start, I would like to wish our Muslims readers Ramadan Mubarak (blessed), praying to Allah for assistance to give us health and energy in order to perform fasting and the other four pillars of Islam in the required manner, while reaping all the health and spiritual benefits and rewards of this yearly ritual. Ramadan fasting requires abstinence from eating, drinking (even water), smoking and certain pleasure producing acts from dawn to sunset for 29 or 30 days, depending on the moon that year. However to exercise such restraint, we need self-discipline and resolution.
For Ramadan this time, I chose to undertake a subject that should help us maintain health. Despite my earlier articles about water over the years, I decided to revisit it in depth as well as tackle its different aspects and its implications on the body, brain and health, especially during this Holy Month of fasting.
Water is an essential element to life. We all know that without water, life on earth would not exist today. Every living being originated from water as Allah emphasized it in His Holy Book, the Qur’an, “And We have created all living things from water…” (Chapter: 21; Verse: 30).
Since every practicing Muslim’s aspiration is to be able to fast the entire month of Ramadan without interruption of illness or any other kind, I found it very appropriate to address the subject. This article is meant to stress the importance of drinking “plain” pure water at breaking fast time and before abstinence at dawn, while reducing the overall consumption of food.
Why I chose to discuss water is because certain fasters tend to forget or neglect to drink sufficiently after sunset. Instead, they focus on fatty fried foods and empty and dense calorie desserts and replace water with negative drinks like tea, coffee and “unhealthy” soda and sugar-laden beverages. These drinks have diuretic effects, eliminating water from the body. Because of the risk of dehydration and danger to the kidneys and bladder, I am highlighting the below information in order for us to appreciate the importance of water. Let us, now, explore its necessity for the various body systems.
Water takes up to 75 percent of the body’s weight; while solids only account for 25 percent. By the way, the brain is also composed of 80 percent water. Water is necessary for brain and body nourishment, blood flow and fluidity, nutrient and neurotransmitter circulation, brain cell signaling, digestive tract, waste and toxin elimination, cell hydration and other organs and systems. Because of its important role in the body, plain pure water is required daily to replace the loss resulting from bodily functions and perspiration.
With dehydration or insufficient water intake, joint, muscle and bone pains appear and the brain starts releasing the neurotransmitter, histamine, in order to regulate water in the body, drawing water from other systems (digestive and others). The histamine response usually comes with allergies and pain like headaches, lower backaches, acid reflux, autoimmune disorders and blood clots. Such symptoms indicate that the body is crying out for water and suffering dehydration, but they are misread for illness. Prescribed antihistamine drugs and painkillers relieve the allergies and pain, but unfortunately damage the natural histamine functions as well as the body’s internal signaling.
Dehydration puts the body under tremendous stress, making it release potent stress hormones like adrenaline, cortisol and others. If left roaming too long in the body, they devastate the many different systems and the above hormones soon get depleted. The condition results into hypertension, constricted blood vessels, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, irritability and more.
It is shown in Saudi Arabia that the worst side effect of fasting in Ramadan is not hunger or malnutrition but dehydration due to neglecting water intake, which results in urine and bladder infections and renal disorders or failure. Despite the intense heat, fasters tend to forgo drinking water for overeating at the fast breaking meal.
With water shortage, the kidneys retain urine, constricting blood vessels and urging the body to retain salt and water, causing hypertension and cardiovascular disorders. Consequently, water and urin e retention and hypertension result in kidney damage and even failure as well as exhausted adrenal glands. Hypertension and water retention make the heart pump harder. Diuretics, medication, caffeine, soda drinks and heat rob the body, blood and cells of water and nutrients, disabling the toxin eliminating and glandular systems.
Not only do coffee, tea and soda and energy drinks contain very high amounts of dehydrating caffeine and sugar they also produce other damages. Recent studies pointed to the harmful effects of cola, energy and soda drinks on the cellular level. According to British research, preservatives used in such beverages seem to injure and incapacitate essential parts of the DNA. The preservative, sodium benzoate (E211), is included in soda and energy beverages, pickles and bottled sauces. Moreover, additives and sugar are associated with hyperactivity in children.
Dr. Peter Piper, professor of molecular biology at Sheffield, England added that when vitamin C additives are added to sodium benzoate in sodas, it is converted to benzane, a carcinogen in living lab yeast cells. Unfortunately, the US and Saudi Arabia government Food and Drug agencies, FDA and SFDA, are not preventing the powerful food and beverage industry from including harmful chemicals in our foods. The cumulative effect of such additives can be health threatening to the consumer.
Because of the long fasting period, I would like to emphasize the necessity of hydrating with water more than eating. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) recommended that we break fast with a certain number (3, 5, or 7) of dates and water. Drinking sufficient plain water (not soda drinks) is a requirement in this heat along with dates or fruits, abstaining from desserts and fried dishes until after prayers with dinner.
Remember to hydrate enough in between meals to counter the effect of the high temperatures of summer. Your output of urine should be your indicator to the amount of water intake. The color should be clear light yellow and not dark to avoid straining the kidneys and the bladder.
Water should not be cold but cool or room temperature to avoid shocking the stomach and obstructing the digestion. Sufficient water intake prevents overconsumption of food and desserts. It calibrates the body temperature and cools it during summer. It also increases energy and keeps the brain alert to help heighten spirituality. It is important not to deprive your body and brain from the refreshing effects of water.
Next week, InshaAllah, I shall continue exploring other health aspects of water.
N.B.: Individuals with medical conditions or on medication should consult their physicians when they decide to introduce anything new in their diet even if it is natural.
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