Shafaqna English– The Nutrients has published the paper: “Effect of Ramadhan Fasting on Weight and Body Composition in Healthy Non-Athlete Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” written by Hamish A. Fernando et al. in 2019.
According to Shafaqna, this paper aimed to determine the effect of Ramadhan fasting on weight and body composition.
Ramadhan fasting could affect body composition, since it has been shown to affect physical performance or activity. In fact, in sedentary individuals, heart rate and ventilator responses to moderately-intense aerobic exercise were significantly less during Ramadhan fasting in comparison with before, indicating a drop in performance.
The findings are mentioned below:
- On the whole, Ramadhan fasting led to statistically significant reductions in weight and all parameters of body composition (i.e., fat mass, both as a percentage of weight (%) or as absolute mass (kg), and fat-free mass (kg)).
- Starting body mass index (BMI) was significantly and positively correlated with weight loss during the Ramadhan fast (i.e., the greater the starting BMI, the more weight that was lost). This suggests that Ramadhan fasting may be more effective— with regard to weight loss—in people with a higher BMI. Consistent with this, the reductions in weight and fat percentage were of greater magnitude in people with overweight/obesity versus those of normal weight, with the reduction in fat percentage being significant just in people with overweight/obesity and not in those of normal weight.
- The loss of fat-free mass during the Ramadhan fast seemed to be about 30% less than the loss of absolute fat mass, consistent with the observed reduction in fat mass as a percent of weight.
- Over half of the weight lost during Ramadhan fasting may be fat mass. A systematic review revealed that loss of fat-free mass could account for 4.3 to 38.3% of weight lost during obesity interventions based on diet and exercise.
- Not only is the weight lost with Ramadhan fasting associated with significant loss of fat (and fat-free) mass, but also that the loss of weight and fat mass could possibly be influenced by starting BMI. Actually, people with overweight/obesity lost more weight during Ramadhan than people of healthy weight (3.53 kg versus 2.06 kg, respectively), though this difference was not statistically significant.
- There was a statistically significant and positive correlation between BMI and weight loss (the greater the BMI before Ramadhan fasting, the greater the amount of weight lost), and fat percentage was significantly reduced by the end of Ramadhan in people with overweight/obesity but not in people of normal weight. One possible reason for this greater weight loss is that people with greater BMIs are likely to carry more body water because of greater glycogen stores than people of normal weight, and thus would be expected to lose more fluid in response to fasting [97].
- It has been established that during weight loss, people of normal weight lose a greater proportion of weight as fat-free mass than people with overweight/obesity—in excess of 35% versus 20 to 30%, respectively—thus potentially leading to more favorable fat percentage changes in individuals with higher BMIs.
- The present work suggests that location may affect weight changes during Ramadhan fasting in a similar way to that reported in a previous meta-analysis. The differences in weight lost during Ramadhan between the various regions could possibly be explained through cultural influences on food habits (e.g. the energy content of the food typically consumed in each region). Another way in which location could possibly affect weight changes during Ramadhan is through the duration of fasting. However, this meta-regression showed that fasting duration did not affect weight change during Ramadhan.
- There was no apparent change in physical activity, although there was very little data available.
- There was no clear-cut reduction in energy consumption during Ramadhan fasting.
- There was a return to, or towards, baseline values within five weeks after the end of Ramadhan for all measured parameters. This illustrates that any beneficial changes in weight and/or body composition observed by the end of Ramadhan were transient. However, periodic fasting in some form after the Ramadan period appears to be a promising option for preventing weight regain post-Ramadhan, particularly when the fasting is based on religious principles and faith compared to standard dietary guidelines alone. In addition, even if post-Ramadhan weight regain occurs, recent studies have demonstrated that even transient decreases in weight may result in positive long-term health outcomes.
- Ramadhan fasting has metabolic benefits. The benefits of the Ramadhan fast involve greater circulating levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), with concomitant reductions in blood pressure and circulating levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol and glucose. These changes were shown in healthy participants and also in patients with chronic illnesses or disorders such as the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic benefits appeared particularly pronounced in males [111]. However, there have been mixed results while evaluating the effect of Ramadan fasting on people with type 2 diabetes mellitus, particularly with regard to the profile of lipids in the circulation.
- Ramadhan fasting resulted to significant decreases in weight, fat mass (as a percentage of weight and as absolute mass), and fat-free mass. Whatever the starting BMI is greater, the amount of weight lost will be greater. Besides, people with overweight or obesity lost a significant amount of fat mass (as a percentage of weight), and this effect of Ramadhan fasting was not seen in people of normal weight. As these reductions in weight and fat mass occurred regardless of excluding studies where any kind of physical activity directives, diet plan, or other lifestyle coaching were given, these findings indicate that the positive effects achieved during Ramadhan could be enhanced, and the return to pre-Ramadhan weight and parameters of body composition could probably be prevented by encouraging exercise and also dietary guidance and support both during the Ramadhan fasting period and post-Ramadan.
- These findings suggest that Ramadhan fasting may be an appropriate first move as an intervention for the global obesity epidemic, including in many Muslim-majority countries.
Source: researchgate