Increasing inflation and scarcity of well-paid jobs has turned the modern man into a money earning machine. It has become an obligatory practice for human beings to earn money in order to support the livelihood and to fulfill the needs of one’s family. But the completion of this task is through a pathway of sacrifices. In order to uplift his family, he has to sacrifice not only his time but also his precious health. Now a days, people face lack of time furthermore, they want to eat more palatable food which leads to the consumption of ready-made food. In the holy month of Ramadan such consumption reaches high levels. Ramadan is the ninth month of Islamic calendar. Beingthe month of forgiveness, it holds a great significance among other Islamic months.
Ramadan is not only associated with spiritual purity but also with bodily health as it helps a good deal in detoxifying the body. Fasting itself functions as a means of prevention from a number of diseases varying from general to those life threatening. It helps to reduce blood cholesterol as the body shifts from burning sugar to burning fats for energy. Furthermore, it gives a chance to human digestive system to rest and improves the immune system. When one begins to fast the old or damaged immune cells are quickly replaced by the new immune cells. On the other hand, during fasting blood become less in nutrients concentration hence immune cells move to bone marrow thus becoming supercharged to provide better protection. All these remarkable benefits are the result of fasting just for a few hours. But these benefits are often masked by our unhealthy eating habits during iftar. Fasting acts as a cleansing process of human body after fasting for several hours and then eating fried food is just like spending a whole day in cleaning a room and then throwing a bucket of dirt into it.It is generally said that fried food are adverse for health because of high content of trans and saturated fat. But do you know the oil that is repeatedly used for frying releases toxic substances that can be even more injurious to health. In most of the homes especially during Ramadan, the fried items are prepared by continuous frying within the same oil for three to four consecutivedays. And in some cases, fresh oil is added to the previously used oil which is life-threatening. At high temperature some of the fats in the oil change into Trans fats. Tran’s fats are harmful fats and increase the risk of CVD’s. Moisture contained in food oxygen and high temperature produces mono, di and triglycerides. The toxicity of these compounds increases when the oil is reused. As a result, Acrolein is formed that is considered as carcinogenic. Also, such practice of reusing of oil leads to the release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are associated with number of malignancies. Repeatedly heated oils and their fumes cause chromosomal damage and genotoxicity. Consumption of foods prepared in such oil increases free radicals in one’s body causing inflammation and speeds up aging process. Aboveall, the worst thing is the consumption of fried food prepared by street vendors. Street vendors uses low quality oil furthermore, they keep on frying a plenty of items within the same oil and continue adding fresh oil in remaining oil, which increases the risk of cardiac arrest and high blood pressure. According to a survey conducted at Lahore, Pakistan 50 samples of cooking oil were taken and examined. Most of them were unfit for consumption. The results of this survey clearly indicatemixing, adulteration and less practice of oil change. According to survey 60 % of street vendors use vegetable ghee. Most of them use oil continuously for 4 hours while 34%use oil for 6 hours 20% do not change their oil and add fresh oil into the remaining one ,while 34%change oil when odour starts coming .Apart from this another major problem, is their lack of knowledge about personal and environmental hygiene.According to a survey conducted on the assessment of hygiene practices of street vendors in Lahore Pakistan 55% were shown to have long finger nails, 15% of them had sores on their hands,77%smoked during working ,100%didnot wash their hands between handling of food and money receiving additionally, 91%didnot wash their hands after toilet .Hands of food handler are a place where E.coli, Campylobacter ,Salmonella can survive for varying period of time causing illness. Most of street vendors buy cheap adulterated raw materials from unauthorized suppliers which also serves as a mean of transmission of pathogens. On one hand fried food consumption immediately after fasting should be avoided as it leads to indigestion followed by stomach cramping, bloating and many other painful symptoms. On the other hand purchase of ready made deep fried food by street vendors should be completely avoided.
As a human being our sole priority should be our bodily health and fitness. In this task of healthy eating, we can become successful by avoiding certain things and this can only be done by searching better alternatives. As during fasting, the body retains low sugar levels so immediately after iftar it starts craving for fried and sugary foods. There are some better alternatives such as dates that are high in polyphenols, antioxidants and fibers.They quickly refill carbohydrate pockets in human body and suppress sugar craving .They are high in glucose sucrose and fructose so they boost the energy levels.Instead of samosas and pakoras grilled or steamed items should be preferred such as grilled fish, steamed chicken etc. Raw vegetables in form of salads should be preferred as they are high in water and fibers content and help relieve constipation during Ramadan. Potassium rich food such as dates, bananas should be eaten as they help in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance. But whatever is eaten it should be ensured that it providesthe body with a balanced level of nutrients required for the maintenance of health. As it is said that the quality of health is determined by quality of food that is consumed.
By: Mahrukh Maqbool
