Pay attention to fruits and sweets in iftar and sahur.
During the seminar held at the Family Women Support Center of Alanya Municipality, dietician Demir shared with the participants the table secrets to be considered during Ramadan. Demir said, “The tables set up after a long hunger in Ramadan often contain more than enough food. However, the iftar meal should not differ from dinner on other days. It is very important to follow a healthy and waste-free diet.
“Sahur is the most important meal not to be skipped”
Dietitian Şule Yavuz Demir, who says, “During Ramadan, a sahur meal should be made for the day,” said, “While fasting without a sahur meal, the metabolism experiences fear of famine and becomes lazy. The blood sugar level drops too much. Low-fat breakfast foods and salads are preferred with sahur, along with yogurt or milk with a lot of cinnamon. There is also a menu with light vegetable dishes, wholemeal bread, yogurt and dried fruit. Since intestinal laziness is a common problem, fruits such as dried apricots, dried figs and prunes which do not cause gas and also work the intestines are consumed with sahur.
“No rush at iftar”
Speaking about the things to be taken into account while fasting, Demir said, “Since our blood sugar will be very low during iftar, we will use dried fruits to bring it back to normal; To balance blood pressure, olives should be consumed and a hot soup should be drunk slowly. A break afterwards is recommended. It is very important to take this break to give our brain the feeling of satiety and avoid the sudden rise and fall of blood sugar.”
“Take a 2 hour break for fruit and dessert”
Demir warned that “consumption of fruits or sweets should be done 2 hours after iftar” and emphasized the importance of giving preference to milky desserts for dessert. Demir stated that the walks taken after iftar will be beneficial for both digestion and energy balance, saying, “Wholemeal bread is preferable, especially for sahur, over white bread and pita bread. With both meals, our cooking technique should be low-fat methods such as grilling or baking for vegetables and meats. Because protein intake is important because it gives a feeling of satiety; If meat is not consumed, low-fat cheese, eggs, yogurt and legumes should be replaced.