Many people become irritable during the continuous fasting of Ramadan. Many assume the cause is going without food for long hours, or fasting itself.

Even in this month of restraint and self-control, many people are seen exploding with anger over trivial matters. But is the cause only going without food or fasting, or something else? What do experts say?

Experts say mood changes in Ramadan can occur mainly because of changes in eating habits and sleeping times, and that fasting itself is no reason for mood changes.

Rather, fasting has many benefits. It has a remarkable effect on preserving the body's external organs and its internal energy.

According to doctors and nutritionists, what a fasting person eats at breakfast and sehri plays an important role in their mood. So sehri and iftar should include foods that keep both the stomach and the mood calm.

Another reason for mood changes during the fast is the effort of self-control. For many, the biggest challenge of Ramadan is the ability to control themselves and stay calm and restrained through the whole fast.

Abstaining from food and drink for long periods means a struggle with oneself to bring the mind under control, and this can cause irritability.

The body converts the food people eat into amino acids, fats and simple sugars. When these run out, the body begins to raise the alarm.

After several hours of fasting, many chemicals stored in the body begin to break down. These chemicals create feelings of hunger and anger. During fasting several physiological changes take place in the body that cause mood changes. These are:

• Addiction to caffeinated drinks such as tea, coffee and soft drinks: with low caffeine levels in the body, the fasting person feels restless, less productive and angry.
• Not getting enough sleep, staying awake for long periods and not making up for sleep during the day, which unbalances the body's biological clock.
• Physical symptoms that can increase during fasting, such as stomach acidity, indigestion, headache, lethargy and low energy.
• Changes in eating habits, which disturb the mood and also mental health.
• A rise in ketones. This chemical is used to protect the brain from the lack of glucose caused by fasting, which increases the release of ketones, so the fasting person's mood changes somewhat during the day.
• Autophagy, a beneficial process that happens during fasting. Fasting helps the body get rid of waste and damaged cells, which increases the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

BDNF is a protein that rises during fasting and interacts with many neurons in parts of the brain linked to memory, learning and cognition.

Various studies have shown that the negative psychological effects appear in the first days of fasting, after which the body soon gets used to the eating pattern and the various physical changes begin to improve.

Follow these health tips to avoid irritation and mood changes while fasting:

• Make sure you get enough sleep at night. Do not sleep for long periods during the day, especially in the afternoon.
• Eat healthy food at sehri so you can stay fresh all day. You can eat or drink strawberries, dark chocolate, chamomile and the like.
• Include complex carbohydrates and whole grains such as oats and brown rice, and high-fibre foods such as fruit and green vegetables. These foods supply sugar to the body slowly, which keeps hormones in the blood stable.
• Cut down as far as possible on foods with refined sugar, such as sugary drinks, white bread, pizza and cake.
• Drink enough water between sehri and iftar, because dehydration causes mood changes and feelings of frustration, and even headaches, which affect the mood negatively.
• Avoid foods that cause stomach acidity, such as fried and spicy food, because stomach acidity also changes the mood.
• A little exercise before iftar increases the release of hormones that improve mood.
• Eat foods rich in vitamin B, such as dates and sweet potato, to keep the nervous system healthy and resist stress.
• Eat potassium-rich foods such as bananas, yoghurt and red beans for their ability to reduce stress and tension.
• Eating foods rich in folic acid, such as spinach and strawberries, regularly will increase feelings of happiness and keep the mood under control.
• Eat foods rich in magnesium and uridine, such as beetroot and dark chocolate, for their ability to fight depression.

Citing Arabia Weather and Gulf News.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.