Posts by yasmin:
- Eat a varied healthy diet and avoid foods that aggravate your symptoms.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Try eating 6 small meals a day rather than 3 large ones.
- Learn new and better ways to deal with your stresses.
- Avoid using over the counter treatments such as laxatives. They may weaken your intestine and you can be dependent on them.
- The average person loses 2.5 to 3.6 % of his/her body just by fasting.-
- Those that are overweight lose more during Ramadan than those with a normal weight.
- The metabolism increases.
- Women lose weight more than men.
- The total calorie intake of an average person in Ramadan is much less compared to prior to Ramadan.
- Women do chores around the house, especially in the kitchen and end up burning more calories than men.
- Ramadan is holly month; all of us try to pray 5 times a day, Taraweeh, and qyaam. All that need huge amount of energy. Furthermore, the timing of Taraweeh is one hour after fotor, which helps digestion, and boosts the metabolism. Qyaam is in the middle of the night, so it helps the body shed more calories, and use energy rather than store it.
Is your colon unhappy ?
February 23rd, 2011
By Dr. Yasmin Abdulghafour
It is not unusual to hear someone say “my colon is irritating me these days!” or “I can’t eat this food, my colon will not be happy!”
These people might be actually referring to a syndrome “group of symptoms” called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
This is a fairly common problem, and many myths and misleading information are linked to it, simply because not many people seek proper medical help to solve their problem and relay on other people’s experiences! Moreover, IBS can interfere with the quality of life of these patients.
IBS, is a group of symptoms affecting the colon. The most common are abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and/or constipation.
Does that mean that anyone of us who suffer from any of these symptoms at any point of time could have IBS? Of course not!
So why are some people diagnosed with IBS and others are not?
The walls of the normal colon are lined with muscles that contract and relax as they move food along, with IBS the contractions are stronger and last longer than normal! Moreover, the colon nerves in these patients are more sensitive than normal, and the result is cramps and diarrhea after eating.
In order to diagnose IBS, the doctor needs to take a detailed history of the symptoms to establish chronicity, relation to diet, emotional stresses, etc…
According to Rome II criteria; IBS is diagnosed if the patient has abdominal pain, diarrhea, and/or constipation lasting for three months per year, associated with mucus in the stool, bloating, abdominal distention, abdominal pain and cramps.
Unlike what most people think, blood tests, x-rays and colonoscopies are not needed to diagnose IBS. In fact all tests results will appear to be normal, simply because the problem is functional and not structural!
The next logical question is: How is IBS treated?
IBS, might be a lifelong condition, and rather than using the term treat, I like to use the term control.
There are some triggers that might make your IBS colon unhappy, like certain types of food and emotional stresses.
Any de-stress measure, like yoga, or even psychotherapy can help.
Dietary changes can be helpful; however, no specific diet can be recommended for IBS in general, because the condition differs from one person to another. So, don’t be tempted to ask for lists of food that you can’t eat! It doesn’t work that way!
The best way is to keep a diary of whatever food you eat during the day, record any symptoms that occurred in relation to eating certain food. Over time you will have your own list of foods that make your colon unhappy!
Medications can be used to reduce the symptoms, several kinds are available, and the choice depends on the severity and type of symptoms. Don’t be tempted to buy over the counter medications to relief the symptoms. The choice of treatment should be discussed with your doctor.
Last but not least, here are some tips:
Wish you all have a happy colon!
World Mental Health Day: Empower your self and know more about Mental health
October 9th, 2010Hello Everyone,
The 10th of October is mental health day, so i have decided to shed some light on the subject.
Mental health is not just the absence of a mental disorder. It is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.
Five Facts about mental health:
1-About half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14. Around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents are estimated to have mental disorders or problems
2-About 800,000 people die by suicide every year.
3- One in four patients visiting a health service has at least one mental, neurological or behavioural disorder but most of these disorders are neither diagnosed nor treated.
4- War and other major disasters have a large impact on mental health and psychological well-being.
5- Mental diseases can be a cause or a result of eating disorders.
The team of AYMSTRONG believe in the global well-being of a person: physically, and psychologically. The balance of these elements leads to the ultimate result of EMPOWERMENT.
Start early, watch the mental health of children to prevent mental disorders in adulthood.
Start now, support those that have mental health problems, help them get better.
Regards,
Dr.Yasmin Abdulghafour
Ramadan… the best diet ever
August 18th, 2010
And here comes that time of the year where all my patients ask me for a diet plan to follow in Ramadan. As a family physician, its part of my job to give advices about healthy eating, but my patients push me sometimes to help them generate a diet plan that they can follow, simply because they don’t want to lose track and gain weight during Ramadan. After all, no one can resist homemade harees, tashreeb or the famous lgaimat!
At first, I used to agree and write them few notes about healthy fotor, sohor and snacks. But, I don’t believe in the concept of” dieting to lose weight “because no one can be deprived from what he/she loves for a long time. Furthermore, literature, and evidence proved that the best way to lose weight is to change your life style into a healthy one.
Taking these few words into consideration, and armed with literature and evidence based medicine, I started to find a solution for the Ramadan diet issue, and what I found was amazing.
In Ramadan,
Consider fasting, a self cleaning system. We fast for a month every year. That is a day of fasting for every 12 days in the year.
During fasting, the body which usually uses glucose for energy will have to breakdown the more complex glycogen to get this energy. When that is not enough, the body then attacks the infamous FAT. The metabolism increases and voila… you lose weight.
By that I came to an agreement with my dear patients not to ask for a diet plan in Ramadan. All you need to do is to decide to change your life into a healthy one and use Ramadan with all its religious chores as your diet.
Headaches in Ramadan
August 13th, 2010
Hello Everyone,
Everyone knows that Ramadan is the holly month of fasting. The average hours of fasting are from 10 to 12 hours. As a doctor, the most common complaint I face from those who fast, especially during the first week of Ramadan are HEADACHES.
It is estimated that around 40% of those who fast suffer from headaches.
So why do headaches increase when fasting?
Well there are several reasons, and most can be avoided or can be easily dealt with.
The most common cause for a headache is simply the change in eating habits which may cause dehydration and hypoglycemia (low fluids, low sugar respectively).
The solution is simple: start by omitting breakfast and reduce coffee & tea intake a few days before Ramadan. This way your body will adjust to the new system gradually.
For those who smoke, another common reason for headaches is smoking, or the lack of it. Smokers suffer because their bodies are dependant on nicotine. So they will feel tired, with low moods and headaches.
There are other reasons like dyspepsia (increase acidity of the stomach) during fasting, for this problem it is good to eat a light and healthy sohoor that contains carbohydrates to help fill the stomach, keep the sugar level steady and reduce acidity of the stomach.
Patients, who suffer from sinusitis or migraine, may experience bouts of severe headaches during fasting. These patients should avoid trigger factors like food and other allergens that may precipitate the attacks.
In short:
- Prepare for fasting before Ramadan.
- Eat a healthy balanced fotor, less fat, sugar & salt.
- Avoid trigger factors that may precipitate headaches.
- If you need to take medications for headache, take them with your sohoor.
Ramadan is a great opportunity to get rid of your addiction to nicotine and caffeine, take this chance and cleanse you body.