Research
Mixed
Islamic Ramadan fasting results in heterogeneous health outcomes, with no consensus on changes to body mass index, blood lipids, or blood pressure, largely due to confounding variables like dietary choices, smoking cessation, and fasting duration.
Ramadan fasting does not guarantee health improvements; outcomes depend heavily on what and how much you eat during non-fasting hours, as well as other lifestyle factors like smoking.
LimitedQualifiesLOW confidence
The majority of health-specific findings related to Ramadan fasting are mixed. The likely causes for these heterogeneous findings are the differences between studies in the following: 1) the amount of daily fasting time; 2) the percentage of subjects who smoke, take oral medications, and/or receive intravenous fluids; and 3) the subjects’ typical food choices and eating habits.
Why this rating
Based on a review of multiple studies with conflicting results.
Source
The impact of religious fasting on human health
John F. Trepanowski et al. · Nutrition Journal · 2010
DOI 10.1186/1475-2891-9-57
narrative_reviewCited 432×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- A 21-day Daniel Fast, characterized by the consumption of plant-based foods while excluding animal products, refined carbohydrates, and additives, significantly improves cardiovascular risk markers including blood pressure, total cholesterol, and LDL-C, and reduces biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation.Moderate
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