With Ramadan rapidly approaching, Muslims around the world are preparing to fast.
The holy month is often a time when Muslims cleanse their diet of bad eating habits and embark on a journey towards health.
This Ramadan, many health-conscious people are turning to the ketogenic diet as a way to lose weight, increase energy and improve mental clarity.
But what is the keto diet and is it healthy to follow it while fasting?
The keto food planner
Put simply, keto is an extremely low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet that puts the body into a state of ketosis, forcing it to use fat for fuel in the absence of carbs.
Nyma Peracha, founder of food plan delivery service Be More Keto, has followed the diet for six years and sticks to it while fasting during Ramadan.
“It’s very healthy to do the keto diet while fasting,” says Peracha, a practising Muslim. “The whole point of fasting during Ramadan is to detoxify our bodies.
“It has a bad reputation because people go into it without knowing what they’re doing, but when done correctly it has huge benefits.”
Peracha started following the keto diet as a way to balance her hormones. She started her meal plan company to share the benefits with others.
“When you’re fasting, your body is using fat stores throughout the day,” she explains. “Then when you break your fast your body stays in that fat-burning stage because you’re feeding it with fats, rather than carbs.”
Before taking up keto, Peracha struggled with her sugar intake during Ramadan.
“I have a very sweet tooth and I used to break my fast with something like lentil soup and then I’d need a sugar fix a little while later,” she says.
“When you eat carbs your insulin level spikes and when your blood glucose levels drop you need sugar. With keto, my blood sugars are more stable.”
Now, Peracha has more energy than ever before during Ramadan and credits her low-carb lifestyle for her stamina.
During the first three to five days of following the keto diet, you’re also likely to experience keto flu
Nyma Peracha
“Nine out of 10 times I go to the gym while fasting on the keto diet,” she says. “If anything,…