Ramadan Iftar
After a day of fasting, no doubt everyone is looking forward to Iftar and it may be tempting to think that after a long day, we can eat something we fancy without giving too much thought to its nutrition.
Let’s take a step back and think about what food is and what it does for us. We can often think of food as just being for energy and whilst it is, food contains information that can direct our metabolism, energy levels and mood. A lot of this is contained in the micronutrients in food, that is the vitamins, minerals, types of fats, know as fatty acids (as not all fats are the same) and it chemical compounds called phytonutrients. So on top of thinking about calories, we must think about these other elements of food as without then, things just won’t work so well.
With this in mind and given the shorter eating window during Ramadan, it makes sense to think about the nutrient content of what we eat in this special month.
Dates are often eaten to open the fast with and this makes a lot of sense. They taste great, contain many important nutrients like potassium, vitamin B6 and magnesium, they contain fibre which slows their energy release and have phytonutrients that give antioxidant protection.
The recipe below for energy balls, uses dates as the base and adds in even more nutrition and taste whilst still keeping to the tradition of eating dates at Iftar. Sunflower seeds will add iron and vitamin E; pumpkin seeds add zinc and copper; tahini is a good source of calcium and oats will help slow the energy release and provide more fibre.
Recipe
400g dates pitted (preferably medjool) 50g pumpkin seeds
50g sunflower seeds
100g oats
4tsp vanilla powder
4tsp tahini
60g desiccated coconut
Leaving the coconut aside, blend all ingredients until they form a sticky dough.
Roll into balls – this is enough for 20 balls.
Roll the balls in the coconut.
Leave in the fridge for 2-3 hour.
Moving on to thinking of a main meal, having a base of vegetables and salad is a key way to ensure your intake of these important nutrients is not overlooked. Whilst things like rice and bread can tasty and make us feel full , they do not give much nutritionally and when you have been fasting all day, the can take up room that would be better used for other foods. Add more veg or chick peas to curries or roast a tray of veg to serve with the meal stuff peppers with meat and spices, mix veg like peas, corn and carrots through rice. Use brown rice or bread as this will release its energy more slowly which will leave you feeling fuller for a bit longer. They also contains more nutrients than their white alternatives.
Some foods put a nutritional load on us because they take more nutrients to process and metabolise. Sugar and fried food, especially deep fried foods, are such foods and require more nutrients in their way through our system so as well as not really providing much in the way of nourishment, they actually take from our nutrient stores. I know these foods can be tasty and part of the celebration of Ramadan but consider how often you may be having them and try to reduce it.
Next time we will look at Suhur and ways to make the most of this meal.
Let’s take a step back and think about what food is and what it does for us. We can often think of food as just being for energy and whilst it is, food contains information that can direct our metabolism, energy levels and mood. A lot of this is contained in the micronutrients in food, that is the vitamins, minerals, types of fats, know as fatty acids (as not all fats are the same) and it chemical compounds called phytonutrients. So on top of thinking about calories, we must think about these other elements of food as without then, things just won’t work so well.
With this in mind and given the shorter eating window during Ramadan, it makes sense to think about the nutrient content of what we eat in this special month.
Dates are often eaten to open the fast with and this makes a lot of sense. They taste great, contain many important nutrients like potassium, vitamin B6 and magnesium, they contain fibre which slows their energy release and have phytonutrients that give antioxidant protection.
The recipe below for energy balls, uses dates as the base and adds in even more nutrition and taste whilst still keeping to the tradition of eating dates at Iftar. Sunflower seeds will add iron and vitamin E; pumpkin seeds add zinc and copper; tahini is a good source of calcium and oats will help slow the energy release and provide more fibre.
Recipe
400g dates pitted (preferably medjool) 50g pumpkin seeds
50g sunflower seeds
100g oats
4tsp vanilla powder
4tsp tahini
60g desiccated coconut
Leaving the coconut aside, blend all ingredients until they form a sticky dough.
Roll into balls – this is enough for 20 balls.
Roll the balls in the coconut.
Leave in the fridge for 2-3 hour.
Moving on to thinking of a main meal, having a base of vegetables and salad is a key way to ensure your intake of these important nutrients is not overlooked. Whilst things like rice and bread can tasty and make us feel full , they do not give much nutritionally and when you have been fasting all day, the can take up room that would be better used for other foods. Add more veg or chick peas to curries or roast a tray of veg to serve with the meal stuff peppers with meat and spices, mix veg like peas, corn and carrots through rice. Use brown rice or bread as this will release its energy more slowly which will leave you feeling fuller for a bit longer. They also contains more nutrients than their white alternatives.
Some foods put a nutritional load on us because they take more nutrients to process and metabolise. Sugar and fried food, especially deep fried foods, are such foods and require more nutrients in their way through our system so as well as not really providing much in the way of nourishment, they actually take from our nutrient stores. I know these foods can be tasty and part of the celebration of Ramadan but consider how often you may be having them and try to reduce it.
Next time we will look at Suhur and ways to make the most of this meal.