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Fasting is gateway to positive health benefits ( This article was published in Oman Daily Observer, Oman's most prestigious Newspapers.The article is reproduced with the permission of the author ) By Hasan Kamoonpuri

 During the Holy Month of Ramadhan many people get rid of addictive foods and habits like caffeine, carbonated drinks, excess sugar, salt and smoking, according to Dr Sayeed Khalfay, Consultant Physician, Apollo Medical Centre, Muscat. Dr Khalfay said all the health-enhancing activities the positive health care professionals advocate such as fasting, getting up early in the morning, and eating wholesome food are the order of the day during the Holy Month of Ramadhan.

In order to optimize these benefits one needs to eat plenty of vegetables, salads, sprouts and fruits so as to ward off future threats to health and to enrich and enhance your health against all risk factors. Scientists hold that all people have certain natural things in their body, which if they develop they can make their own body to stand against any illness. Some people blame viruses for health problems, but viruses have been there for centuries.

What is happening now is that people’s resistance to viruses is declining because of bad habits such as smoking, carbonated drinks, eating unwholesome fast-foods, leading a sedentary lifestyle, and above all not cleansing their body through fasting. All medicines only help the body to repair itself. Fasting as a means of preventive healthcare restores, rehabilitates, preserves, protects and enhances the body’s own self-repairing ability in a very good proactive manner.

During holy month, believers are motivated and their will power increases due to fasting, hence it is the best time to get rid of undesirable habits and addictions. Once the holy month begins we can stop smoking and stop or minimise the consumption of addictive foods and we must continue to do so even after Holy Month of Ramadhan ends, Dr Khalfay said. For those who wish to revitalise their body, mind and spirit, fasting for a month is a panacea. Islamic fasting de-stresses a person.

To be sure, when you are stressed, your resistance to infection decreases and you need all the more help to boost the immunity. Fasting suits all those people who seek fitness, energy and an active lifestyle. Islamic fasting is an institution that builds a foundation of proactive practices aimed at focusing on solutions for ills even before they arise. Fasting gives the much-needed rest to digestive system.

Fasting is a means of cleansing the self, physically, mentally and spiritually, and of restoring the body’s balance. Islam prides itself in providing a positive, preventative and holistic approach to life, say experts.