Courtesy of Kompas

A balanced nutritional intake and moderate physical exercise are two recipes to keep you fit throughout the fasting month.

Ramadhan is a month of peace and spiritual purification. Peace, however, can be attained only if we have healthy bodies. A number of ways to keep healthy physically and spiritually are outlined below.

Nutrition matters

The shift in daily habits during the month of Ramadhan impacts the stamina and concentration of those who are fasting.

Aside from managing your nutritional intake and having enough sleep, the consumption of nutrition supplements can also help you maintain your energy while fasting. Macro- and micro-nutritition supplements are equally important.

'€œWhile fasting, sometimes we focus too much on fulfilling our need for macro-nutrition items like carbohydrates and fat, while ignoring micro-nutrition items like vitamins and minerals, which could decrease our stamina and concentration,'€ said medical doctor Rizal Al Idrus as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Meanwhile, University of Indonesia (UI) medical faculty nutrition specialist Fiastuti Witjaksono said as quoted by tribunnews.com that the food consumed during sahur (pre-dawn meals) was key to maintaining physical energy while fasting.

During sahur, a person needs to balance his or her nutrition intake. The food needs to contain a balanced combinations of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, vitamins and mineral as well as fiber from fruit and vegetables.

Fat has to constitute some 25 to 30 percent from your total calorie intake. Fat serves as a source of energy, vitamin absorber and cell growth accelerator. Meanwhile, carbohydrates are the main source of your energy.

Therefore, carbohydrates need to constitute 50 to 60 percent of your total calorie intake.

Meanwhile, proteins need to constitute 15 percent of your total calorie intake. You need to balance your intake of animal and vegetable protein.

You also have to fulfill your need for water by drinking six to eight glasses of mineral water a day. In order to balance your water intake, drink three glasses of mineral water during sahur and drink three or more glasses after you break your fast.

You need to consume two types of fruit and five types of vegetables a day.

'€œIn order to restore your energy during the fast-breaking hours, it is suggested that you consume sweet snacks first when you break your fast, then eat your main meal after you observe your pre-dawn prayer,'€ she said.

Nutritional guide for diabetics

Diabetics, meanwhile, should consult with their physicians first before embarking on a fasting ritual. This is because information regarding a diabetic'€™s health conditions, particularly about his or her glucose level, is very important to manage his or her menu.

Adri, 24, is a type 1 diabetic who fasts during Ramadhan.

'€œThere are three to four days within the month when I need to break my fast before it is proper to do so,'€ said Adri as quoted by tribunnews.com, adding that he had to break his fast because his body entered the hypoglicemical state, where his glucose level dropped to a dangerous rate.

In order to maintain his glucose level equilibrium, he said he consumed rice and vegetables for his main course along with a lot of vegetables.

'€œAfter observing tarawih [extra prayer service during Ramadhan], I will just consume two to three pieces of siomay [dumplings],'€ Adri said.

Meanwhile, nutritionist Pradana Soewondo suggested that diabetics avoid consuming too much simple carbohydrates and sugar when breaking their fast.

'€œIf you want to eat dates, just consume two or three pieces,'€ the professor from UI'€™s medical faculty said.

Before and after the fasting hours, diabetics are advised to consume high-fiber foods like fruit, vegetables, salads and whole seeds. Consume additional fluids between the fast-breaking and pre-dawn meal hours and avoid foods that are high in fat or coconut milk.

Regarding fruit, Pradana suggested that it be consumed whole, instead of being blended and consumed as juice. He said that, for example, it required three oranges to make an orange juice, thereby containing much more carbohydrates and sugar than a single orange eaten whole.

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Stay active

A lot of people become less active during Ramadhan than they do during regular months because they assume that fasting requires them to reduce their normal load of activities.

Contrary to popular opinion, medical doctor Revanggi Marendra said that people needed to stay active during Ramadhan in order to maintain their stamina.

In order to sustain your activities during Ramadhan, so that you will not be distracted by sleepiness and lethargy, it is suggested that you engage in physical exercise during the fasting month.

Research suggests that physical movement helps our bodies to turn fat into glucose that will help our feelings of sleepiness, lethargy and laziness to dissipate.

Physical exercise also helps us to get rid of our excess body fat. Although during the fasting month we do not consume food or water all day long, our body still stores energy reserves in the form of glycogen, fat and protein.

This energy reserve can be utilized as our source of strength to perform physical exercise and keep our body fit while fasting.

Wait a minute, I can hear you say. What is the proper time and duration for my exercise so that my reserve energy will not be exhausted and my body will not be dehydrated by it?

'€œPhysical exercise [during the fasting month] should be conducted during the twilight hours, from 30 minutes to an hour before the fast-breaking hour so that you will not have to wait too long to drink mineral water and replace the water that is drained through sweat while you are exercising,'€ Revanggi was quoted by tribunnews.com as saying.

Happy fasting, may the healthy lifestyle enhance your sense of peace during the month of Ramadhan!