Eating healthy during Ramazan

The month of fasting begins tomorrow in Pakistan. Sawm is Arabic for fasting but literally means "to abstain," and Muslims abstain from drinking, eating, sexual relations, and all manners of bad behavior during this time period.

Here in Islamabad that means, from approximately 4:30am-6:30pm, practicing Muslims will avoid food and drink between the fajr and maghrib prayers. Restaurants and many food stores shut-down during daylight hours - but the party is on when the sun sets and surprisingly these iftar meals eaten to break the day's fast at night are quite lavish. The Marriott Hotel and most restaurants open buffets to fill the glutton stomach or simply to entertain parties of friends and family.

I fasted for the first time in Pakistan two years ago. It was quite a mental strain after two weeks because your waking day is spent working while hungry and thirsty - day after day for thirty days. The roughest times were when I woke up late in the morning and ended up going 24 hours without food while waiting for the next sunset to come.

Why bother? This is a question that's hard to answer when you're blood sugar is low so before the month begins I'll say it is to:

• experience a common practice of another culture (my current host country)
• experience the lifestyle of the poor that exist in such a state daily worldwide
• join in an act of solidarity and unity with another group of people
• cleanse the body, and theoretically cleanse the mind and spirit
• feel the stress that my students and peers feel during this time

But, it's really tough and I didn't finish the month last year. Who knows if I'll do any better this year as I try again to see the world from a different perspective.

Here are a few websites on eating well during the fasting season:
Eat healthy, fast easy - City Times (UAE)
Ramadan and Healthy Eating - IslamOnline.net