There are certain foods you should not buy for your Muslim friends for Iftar.
Here are six of them.
These foods are major contributors and creators of poor eating habits and put personal health at risk especially if you eat them to break your fast. Not only do some of them offer zero nutritional value, but they also leave you hungrier and craving more unhealthy foods.
In fact, they should be avoided the entirety of Ramadan.
Here are some foods you may want to cut from your Iftar diet.
1. Cheese
Pizza and other cheese products are not a good idea after a day of fasting.
Humans are wired to have an ‘addiction reaction’ to the protein casein found in milk. This allows babies to desire more of their mother’s milk. When it comes to cheese, casein is more concentrated which means its compounds, known as casomorphins, when combined with salt and fat result in an obsession with cheese. So the more you eat, the more you crave.
2. Juice
The process of making juice strips them of their fibre making them high-calorie beverages. Once stripped of the fibre, they travel very fast not allowing absorption into the bloodstream. They also cause your blood sugar to spike and then crash leaving you hungrier.
The best way to prepare your juice is to mix fruits and veggies in a blender and drink them. Use a nut butter or protein powder to make the blend better for absorption. Stick to eating your fruits and veggies and drinking water for hydration.
3. Egg whites
Most of the nutrients in eggs are concentrated in the yolk. This includes vitamins, fats, and minerals. The saturated fats in the yolk are important in making you feel full and in hormone production that supports the absorption of vitamins and minerals. So if you eat only the white part, you will feel hungry faster.
4. Ketchup
Ketchup is made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which can build your tolerance to feeling full. HFCS essentially slows the production of the hormone leptin which helps you feel full. So it interrupts communication between the brain and body which lets your body know it should stop eating.
5. Salty snacks
If you are a fan of crisps and other salty snacks, you may want to know where your love for them comes from.
Salty snacks have high sodium concentrations with little to no fibre or protein to back them up. So they quickly dehydrate your body and trick it into wanting more of the snack instead of getting a glass of water. They are also carbohydrate-laden which means they make your blood sugar spike and crash. The sodium also triggers the pleasure hormone dopamine which makes you want more of the snack.
6. Fast foods
Fast foods are loaded with HFCS, salt, trans fats, and preservatives which interrupt the communication between the stomach and brain. The hormones that are responsible for regulating eating and satisfaction are not released which leaves us eating more. The salt also makes the body retain water leaving us feeling bloated and dehydrated.
Hunger goes hand in hand with the body’s need for water. Sometimes hunger is the body’s way of telling you to rehydrate.
