Ramzan Special- Tips to Eat Healthy During Sehri

The holy month of Ramzan involves refraining from food and water from dawn to sunset. Sehri is the meal consumed before dawn and is important as it helps people keep their energy up during the day. Therefore, it is necessary to keep it right. Here are a few healthy eating tips to follow during sehri.

• Keep your sehri meal wholesome and filling enough to provide you with energy for the rest of the day. Include fiber and complex carbohydrate-rich foods like whole grain cereals and pulses, as they breakdown carbohydrates slowly keeping you fueled during long hours of fasting.

• Include foods like eggs, grains, dairy products, and meat along with fruits, vegetables, low fat milk, and nuts.

• Many people don't feel hungry early in the morning and tend to skip the sehri. Avoid doing that as sehri will help you sustain the fast. It is always effective in improving your appetite.

• Eating a very heavy meal to prevent feeling hungry later is an absolute no-no. Eating heavy meals at sehri will burden your stomach causing indigestion, heartburn, and bloating.

• To improve digestion of your early morning meal, sleep early and wake up at least 10 minutes before dawn. Avoid sleeping immediately after sehri to thwart reflux of stomach content into the esophagus.

• Many people believe that drinking a lot of tea during sehri will quench the thirst, but, this isn't true. Tea contains caffeine; caffeine is natural diuretic and thus drinking a lot of tea increases urination, causing water loss and in fact increasing the thirst. Therefore, it is recommended not to drink more than 1 cup of tea at sehri.

• Always drink water slowly and gradually during sehri. Drinking too much water too quickly will dilute the stomach's acid content and cause bloating and indigestion.

• A good serving of fruits and vegetables will help you overcome thirst through the day and prevent constipation.

• While foods rich in complex carbohydrates like cereals, potatoes, and pulses are suggested for sehri, individuals should avoid simple carbohydrate-rich foods like candies, cakes, and sweets as they release energy rapidly and make you feel hungry.