With the start of the fasting of the Holy Month of Ramadan, I call on all to change your lifestyle.
It is your opportunity to establish a healthy lifestyle to prevent diseases and strengthening the immune system.
The healthy lifestyle depends on healthy balanced diet and regular daily exercise.
First: Adopt a healthy balanced diet and integrated to:

1. Choose variety when you select foods to eat, in order to include major food groups in Iftar (breakfast after Maghreb prayer) and Suhoor (the meal before the Dawn prayer) meals,
2. Be moderate, particularly in Iftar and Suhoor meals.
   Follow "MyPlate" or the Harvard "Healthy Eating Plate" in order to control food portion size,
3. Add and increase your daily intake from nutrient dense foods,such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, fish and soybeans products,
4. Increase your daily dietary fiber intake, to slow down the digestion, feeling full, and not feeling hungry,
5. Be moderate in using good fats,
6. Reduce as possible from the nutrient poor foods, such as sweets in general, Ramadan Luqaimat sweets, Qataief sweet, French Fries, deep fried foods, and sweetened drinks and juices in general.
   

Second: Mindful eating Makes you:

1. Enjoy the foods you eat,
2. Eat slowly and chew thoroughly,
3. Feeling full and satiety in less amounts compared to eating fast,
4. Digest better, an avoid indigestion,
5. Better bowel movement

Because the fasting hours in Ramadan this year is between 14 to 16 hours, it is more likely:

1. to feel hungry before Iftar.
   Feeling hungry varies from person to another and according to person's health status,
2. the glucose storage in the body of fasting person is depleted.
   

So you should start you Iftar with three Dates or fresh dates (Rutab), following the Prophetic traditions and Sunnah.
Eating three dates after long hours of fasting will:

1. elevate the blood sugar level to its normal level before fasting,
2. provide the fasting person brain and nerves with its requirement from the simple sugar, glucose,
3. and that makes the fasting person calm, relaxed and eat slowly later on Iftar,
4. secure the energy for the fasting person and refresh him.
   

Third: Balanced and fluid intake in Ramadan One of the major health complications in the Holy month of Ramadan is dehydration.
Dehydration is common to occur during the fasting of Ramadan and on hot and severe weather, as it happening now in Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf Countries.
According to a study published in ( Eur J Clin Nutr.
2003 Dec;57 Suppl 2:S30-8), they found no direct adverse health effect related to negative fluid balance.
You need to drink at least 2 litres of water and fluids between Iftar and Suhoor.
If you don't meet your body fluid need, your risk of dehydration is increased.
Elderly should be aware of dehydration.
If they can't manage it, they should see their Doctor.