Is fasting during Ramadan good or bad for your blood pressure?
Religious fasting during Ramadan is beneficial for a person’s blood pressure, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. This is true for patients with and without hypertension or diabetes.
During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. They also do not sleep, smoke or take medication during that time.
“This lifestyle modification could have acute as well as long‐term consequences for health,” wrote first author Rami Al-Jafar, MSPH, of the school of public health at Imperial College London, and colleagues. “Although hundreds of millions of Muslims practice Ramadan fasting worldwide, the effect of this ritual on health is not adequately studied. Blood pressure could be acutely affected by such changes in dietary intake and timing, physical activity, and sleep patterns including among individuals with hypertension.”
The research team evaluated data from 85 individuals who fasted during Ramadan in 2019. All participants were living in London at the time and belonged to one of five area mosques. Fifty-three percent of participants were male.
Overall, the group found, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were both significantly lower after participants fasted for Ramadan. They even performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on 33 previous studies on the same basic topic, finding a similar result.
Also, the drop in SBP and DBP was seen whether the participant experienced weight loss during Ramadan or not.
Though this trend does not appear to carry over for participants with chronic kidney disease, the authors did note that it remains true for patients with hypertension and diabetes.
The team concluded by saying their work supports the recommendations of different organizations, including the Saudi government, that describe fasting during Ramadan as “a safe religious practice with respect to blood pressure.”
The full study is available here.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.