Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Fast track to physical and spiritual health benefits

By Nadeem Badshah

FASTING regularly could boost a person’s health and religious faith, according to experts.


Intermittent fasting has become trendy mainly in January when Britons take up the diet to lose weight after feasting on food and drinks over Christmas.

US researchers have found that limiting eating to a fixed number of hours or days cuts blood pressure, cholesterol and resting heart rates, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

It can also reduce other risk factors linked to obesity and diabetes, the study in December said. Outside the month of Ramadan, some Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset on Mondays and Thursdays to follow a tradition started by Prophet Muhammad.

Some Hindus fast on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for spiritual reasons as well during festivals such as Navratri, Shivratri, Janmashtami, Diwali, Karwa Chauth, and Chhath Poojan.

Rajnish Kashyap, general secretary of Hindu Council UK, told Eastern Eye: “Fasting is frequently heralded as the ‘miracle weight loss’ for those who have tried all else without success.

“However, while fasting certainly has great health benefits, to define it merely as a type of diet is to undermine one of the oldest and most sacred spiritual practices.

“Fasting has been used for millennia by the saints and sages to purify their bodies, minds and souls and to bring their bodies into connection with the divine.

“A fast also is one of the best ways of controlling our mind and senses. They allow us to withdraw our senses from the outside world and become refocused on our own divine nature and our connection to God.

“Additionally, during this period of sadhana, of austerity, of restraint, one realises that one is truly the master of one’s body, not vice versa.”

Intermittent fasting diets often fall into two categories – the 16:8, where food is consumed within an eight-hour window; or the 5:2, where people eat 25 per cent of their recommended calorie total on two days a week, while following a healthy diet on the other five.

*Farooq, 30, started intermittent fasting last year “to lose weight and become more spiritual”.

The media officer said: “I’ve lost weight and my cravings for sugar have gone down. I’m more disciplined with my diet.

“Being Muslim is a lifestyle too and diet plays a big part. Because intermittent fasting and the 5:2 diet are so similar, I decided to combine the two, so I’m killing two birds with one stone.

“I’m reaping the spiritual benefits of following the tradition of Prophet Muhammad while also losing weight on the 5:2 method.

“Religious fasting in Islam has one major difference when compared to intermittent fasting – you can’t eat or drink anything during the fasting hours, so I face a tougher time than people who are on the 5:2 diet.

“I find it easier to practise fasting during the winter as the days are shorter. While you are fasting, you think about food more often, so it teaches you restraint . It’s also a great time to meditate and clear my thoughts, which makes me more focused during work.”

Doctors have urged anyone with health issues to speak to their GP before starting a regular fasting regime.

Recent studies have suggested intermittent fasting could hold the key to combating Alzheimer’s disease.

A trial at the University of Toronto last year found 220 healthy, non-obese adults who maintained a calorie-restricted diet for two years showed signs of improved memory.

Professor Kamlesh Khunti is professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester. He told Eastern Eye: “Some small studies have shown benefits of intermittent fasting on a number of areas such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancers. However, the reasons for the benefits are not clearly understood.

“The other major limitation is that most of these are short-term studies. We do not know if the benefits, or indeed compliance with intermittent fasting, will be maintained in the longer term.”

* Name has been changed.

More For You

Aldi product recall

Aldi is urging customers to dispose of or return specific food and health products for a full refund

iStock

Aldi recall alert: Contaminated and allergen-risk products pulled from shelves in 37 US states

Highlights

  • Multiple Aldi products recalled due to metal contamination and undeclared allergens
  • Affected items include seafood, taquitos, pork carnitas, vitamins, and churro bites
  • Customers in 37 US states advised to discard or return products
  • No related illnesses reported to date

Safety warnings prompt widespread Aldi product recall

Aldi has issued a series of product recalls across 37 US states following safety concerns involving undeclared allergens and potential contamination. The supermarket chain, in collaboration with suppliers and federal agencies, is urging customers to dispose of or return specific food and health products for a full refund.

The recalls are part of ongoing efforts to mitigate consumer health risks associated with allergen exposure and foreign matter contamination.

Keep ReadingShow less
Queen Camilla

She is wearing a turquoise dress with a rainforest-themed print featuring monkeys, toucans, and lemurs

Getty Images

New photo released to celebrate Queen Camilla’s 78th birthday

Highlights

  • Queen Camilla turns 78 and is expected to celebrate privately at home
  • Official birthday portrait taken at Raymill House, Wiltshire
  • Outfit features rainforest-themed print; jewellery includes iconic diamond ring
  • Recent royal duties include state visits, Trooping the Colour, and military engagements
  • Appointed Vice Admiral of the UK on the same day

Queen Camilla marks birthday with relaxed countryside portrait

A new photograph of Queen Camilla has been released by Buckingham Palace to mark her 78th birthday. The image, captured by royal photographer Chris Jackson, shows the Queen leaning on a metal gate in a field at her private home, Raymill House, in Wiltshire.

She is wearing a turquoise dress with a rainforest-themed print featuring monkeys, toucans, and lemurs. Her accessories include gold drop earrings, her wedding band, a five-carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring, and a distinctive gold ring composed of circular plaques.

Keep ReadingShow less
Babies born free of mitochondrial disease

8 babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from 3 people

iStock

Babies born free of mitochondrial disease using DNA from 3 people

Highlights

  • Eight babies were born in the UK using DNA from three individuals to prevent mitochondrial disease
  • The technique combines egg and sperm from parents with mitochondria from a donor egg
  • Legal in the UK since 2015; results show children are meeting expected milestones
  • One in 5,000 babies are born with mitochondrial disease; no known cure exists
  • Newcastle scientists pioneered the technique, now used under NHS specialist service

UK births mark milestone in preventing inherited mitochondrial disease

Eight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people in a pioneering effort to prevent incurable mitochondrial disease, doctors have confirmed. The technique, developed by researchers in Newcastle, represents a significant breakthrough in reproductive medicine and genetic science.

These births are the first proven cases in the UK of healthy children being born free of devastating mitochondrial disorders thanks to this technique, which has been legal in the country since 2015.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sainsbury

The rollout is part of Sainsbury’s broader Nectar Prices strategy

iStock

Sainsbury’s brings personalised Nectar discounts to all checkouts

Highlights

  • Sainsbury’s will roll out Your Nectar Prices to physical checkouts nationwide from 25 July.
  • Scheme gives loyalty members access to personalised discounts based on shopping habits.
  • Over 17 billion tailored offers generated since launch; £60m saved by customers in the last year.
  • More than one million shoppers currently use the feature weekly.
  • Offers now available in-store, online, via app, and soon, at checkout.

Sainsbury's brings personalised loyalty savings directly to the tills

Sainsbury’s will extend its Your Nectar Prices programme to checkouts across the UK starting Friday, 25 July. The move allows Nectar members to receive personalised discounts directly at the tills for the first time, as part of the retailer’s continued investment in digital loyalty.

The supermarket has already issued over 17 billion tailored offers since launching the scheme, with more than one million customers using it weekly. According to the retailer, these offers have helped shoppers collectively save £60 million over the past year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kew Gardens begins ambitious revamp of Palm House

The Palm House, along with the neighbouring Waterlily House, will be transformed

Getty Images

Kew Gardens begins ambitious revamp of Palm House to cut carbon emissions

Highlights

  • Kew Gardens will shut its iconic Palm House for up to four years
  • Grade I-listed building to undergo major restoration as part of net-zero strategy
  • Gas boilers to be replaced with modern heat pumps
  • Rare plant collection, including 45 endangered species, to be relocated during works
  • Palm House and Waterlily House will become the first net-zero glasshouses globally

Historic Palm House to undergo major upgrade

Kew Gardens will temporarily close one of its most recognisable landmarks, the Grade I-listed Palm House, for up to four years as part of an ambitious net-zero redevelopment plan. Opened in 1848, the glasshouse is home to a globally significant collection of tropical plants and houses the world’s oldest potted plant—an Encephalartos altensteinii dating back to 1775.

The Palm House, along with the neighbouring Waterlily House, will be transformed into the world’s first net-zero glasshouses through a large-scale renovation focused on improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.

Keep ReadingShow less