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Tips to stay hydrated and healthy during Ramadan

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During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk but it is important to get proper nourishment between Iftar and Sahari in order to be prepared for the next day – especially for those who need to work and go to school or university.

Healthy habits during the holy month are also very important in order to avoid gaining weight.

Cleveland Medical Center in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, reports that there are a few simple times to help you stay fit while fasting.

Stay hydrated

The amount of fluids a person needs depends on age, gender, climate and activity level.

According to Cleveland Clinic, adults, on average, need 2 to 3 liters of water each day. So make sure to drink plenty of fluids before the start of the fasting hours. Unsweetened juices or milk are tasty, low calorie alternatives.

Experts warn against too much coffee and tea and soda drinks outside of fasting hours as the caffeine in them causes increased urination. Cleveland Clinic recommends these drinks be limited during the non-fasting hours.

The clinic also suggests that meals are started with broths, soups or stews. Fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, squash or spinach are mostly water and can also help to replace fluids.

Why is this important?

As stated by the clinic, the human body is about 60 percent water and it is vital for bodily functions, including metabolizing and transporting nutrients throughout the body and removing waste.

The amount of water in the body fluctuates – it is lost through urine and sweat and regained from food and drinks.

However, Cleveland Clinic states it is not unusual to become periodically dehydrated while fasting. Dehydration can result in weight loss that is quickly regained when normal eating and drinking habits resume.

Choose healthy options

Hunger tempts us to indulge or eat fast, convenient foods. But according to the Cleveland Clinic, highly processed foods are high in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats, which won’t last long and can increase thirst.

Try a handful of roasted nuts instead of ready-to-eat foods and also try to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

Eat, rest and exercise strategically

According to clinic experts, planning your activities and meals after breaking your fast will help to refuel you and prepare you for the next day of fasting.

Rest is important, but be sure to stay awake long enough to replenish the fluids and nutrients your body needs.

Eat balanced meals including: bread, cereals and other grains; fruits and vegetables; meat, fish and poultry; milk, yogurt or cheese; and healthy fats.

Focus on foods that are digested slowly and release energy over time. These include food that are high in fiber (e.g. whole grains, fruits and vegetables) and foods containing complex carbohydrates (wheat, beans, lentils, rice, etc.).

It is important to stay active too. Find time to take a walk or do some gentle stretching.

Why is this important?

Weight loss occurs when a person uses more energy than they consume. Some studies on weight loss/gain during Ramadan have shown that energy intake remains the same or increases, despite a decrease in meal frequency.

Health

Saudi Arabia confirms $500 million pledge to Afghanistan, Pakistan polio campaign

The WHO said the funds, initially pledged in April 2024, will be disbursed to help end the wild form of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan and stop outbreaks of variant polio.

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The World Health Organization said Monday Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its $500 million commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

The WHO said the funds, initially pledged in April 2024, will be disbursed to help end the wild form of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan and stop outbreaks of variant polio, Reuters reported.

Wild polio — a naturally occurring form of the viral disease — is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which together reported 99 cases last year, according to the WHO. Variant polio is caused by the weakening of the oral polio vaccine.

The GPEI hopes to declare an end to the wild virus and the vaccine-derived variant by 2027 and 2029, respectively, compared with a previous deadline of 2026 for both forms.

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Health

Chinese researchers find bat virus enters human cells via same pathway as COVID

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A newly discovered bat coronavirus uses the same cell-surface protein to gain entry into human cells as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, raising the possibility that it could someday spread to humans, Chinese researchers have reported.

The virus does not enter human cells as readily as SARS-CoV-2 does, the Chinese researchers reported in the journal Cell, opens new tab, noting some of its limitations, Reuters reported.

The scientists said that like SARS-CoV-2, the bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 contains a feature known as the furin cleavage site that helps it to enter cells via the ACE2 receptor protein on cell surfaces.

In lab experiments, HKU5-CoV-2 infected human cells with high ACE2 levels in test tubes and in models of human intestines and airways.

In further experiments, the researchers identified monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs that target the bat virus.

Bloomberg, which reported on the study earlier on Friday, said the paper identifying the bat virus had moved shares of COVID vaccine makers. Pfizer shares closed up 1.5% on Friday, Moderna climbed 5.3% and Novavax was up about 1% on a down day for the broader market.

Asked about concerns raised by the report of another pandemic resulting from this new virus, Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the reaction to the study “overblown.”

He said there is a lot of immunity in the population to similar SARS viruses compared with 2019, which may reduce the pandemic risk.

The study itself noted that the virus has significantly less binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2, and other suboptimal factors for human adaptation suggest the “risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated.”

 

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Health

UN warns maternal deaths in Afghanistan may rise after US funding pause

Afghanistan has one of the highest death rates in the world for pregnant women, with a mother dying of preventable pregnancy complications every two hours

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A United Nations aid official said on Tuesday that Washington’s funding pause would cut off millions of Afghans from sexual and reproductive health services, and that the continued absence of this support could cause over 1,000 maternal deaths in Afghanistan from 2025 to 2028.

US President Donald Trump last month ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance, pending assessment of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy, setting alarm bells ringing among aid groups around the world that depend on US funding.

Trump has also restored US participation in international anti-abortion pacts, cutting off US family planning funds for foreign organisations providing or promoting abortion.

Pio Smith, regional director for Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA), said that over nine million people in Afghanistan would lose access to services and over 1.2 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan would also be affected due to the closure of health facilities.

Afghanistan has one of the highest death rates in the world for pregnant women, with a mother dying of preventable pregnancy complications every two hours, he said.

“What happens when our work is not funded? Women give birth alone, in unsanitary conditions…Newborns die from preventable causes,” he told a Geneva press briefing. 

“These are literally the world’s most vulnerable people.”

“If I just take the example of Afghanistan, between 2025 and 2028 we estimate that the absence of US support will result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths and 109,000 additional unintended pregnancies,” he said.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, UNFPA receives about $94 million in US funding, he added.

Riva Eskinazi, director of donor relations at the International Planned Parenthood Federation meanwhile told Reuters it, too, would have to halt family planning and sexual and reproductive health services in West Africa as a result of the pause.

“We can foresee an increase in unintended pregnancies and maternal deaths. There is going to be a problem sending contraceptives to our members. It’s devastating,” she said.

IPPF, a federation of national organisations that advocates for sexual and reproductive health, calculates that it would have to forgo at least $61 million in US funding over four years in 13 countries, most of which are in Africa.

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