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Nutrition and Health (including climate and ecological aspects)

Impact of religious fasting on metabolic and hematological profile in both dyslipidemic and non-dyslipidemic fasters

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 76, pages 891–898 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives

Religious fasting (RF) is practiced annually by millions of Christian and Muslim followers worldwide. Scarce data exist on the impact of RF on the metabolic and hematological profile of individuals with or without dyslipidemia.

Subjects/Methods

The present study included: (i) 60 Greek Orthodox participants, 30 with dyslipidemia and 30 without dyslipidemia, who abstained from meat, fish and dairy products for seven consecutive weeks, and (ii) 15 young, non-dyslipidemic Muslim participants abstaining totally from food and liquid from dawn till sunset during 30 days. Biochemical (iron, ferritin, vitamin B12, calcium, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride and fasting glucose) and hematological (hemoglobin, hematocrit) serum blood test results of study participants were measured pre- and post- RF (at weeks 0 and 7 for Orthodox participants and at weeks 0 and 4 for Muslim participants).

Results

In dyslipidemic and non-dyslipidemic Orthodox participants, a significant reduction of fasting glucose, HDL, LDL and TC levels was found post-RF. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, iron and ferritin levels were significantly increased, while post-RF vitamin B12 and calcium levels were substantially decreased. Subanalysis between dyslipidemic and non-dyslipidemic Orthodox participants revealed a greater decrease of cholesterol levels in the former. In Muslim participants, triglyceride, LDL and total cholesterol levels were increased post-RF (all p values < 0.05).

Conclusions

Our study adds to the existing literature evidence about the significant impact of RF on metabolic and hematological profiles of Orthodox and Muslim followers. The prevention of calcium and B12 deficiency during Orthodox RF by supplement consumption as well as the protection from dehydration and dysregulation of lipid metabolism during Ramadan RF should concern both clinicians and dietician nutritionists. Nevertheless, studies with larger sample size and/or long-term follow-up are warranted before reaching definite conclusions about the effects of RF on human health.

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Data availability

Data are available from Andreas S Papazoglou (e-mail: anpapazoglou@yahoo.com) upon reasonable request and with permission of AHEPA University Hospital.

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Acknowledgements

The CorLipid trial has been co‐financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call “RESEARCH–CREATE–INNOVATE” (project code: T1EDK-04005). The CorLipid trial has been co‐financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call “RESEARCH–CREATE–INNOVATE” (project code: T1EDK-04005).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Dimitrios V. Moysidis, Christos Tsagkaris.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1st Cardiology Department, AHEPA University General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Andreas S. Papazoglou, Dimitrios V. Moysidis, Ioannis Vouloagkas, Efstratios Karagiannidis, Anastasios Kartas, Georgios Sofidis, Nikolaos Stalikas, Nikolaos Otountzidis, Haralambos Karvounis & Georgios Sianos

  2. Athens Naval Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Andreas S. Papazoglou

  3. University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine, Heraklion, Greece

    Christos Tsagkaris

  4. 251 Hellenic Air Force General Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Nikolaos Vlachopoulos & Georgios Konstantinou

  5. Biomic_AUTh, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH), Balkan Center, B1.4, 10th km Thessaloniki-Thermi Rd, 8318, GR 57001, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Eleftherios Panteris, Olga Deda, Helen Gika & Georgios Theodoridis

  6. Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Georgios Theodoridis

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Contributions

Conceptualization, ASP; Formal analysis, EP; Funding acquisition, HK, HG, GT, and GS; Investigation, ASP, NV and GK; Methodology, ASP and EK; Resources, EK, GS and OD; Software, AK; Supervision, EK; Writing – original draft, ASP, DVM, CT, and IV; Writing – review & editing ASP, DVM, CT, AK, NV, NS, and NO.

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Correspondence to Georgios Sianos.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Scientific Committee of AHEPA University Hospital (reference number 12/13-06-2019).

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Papazoglou, A.S., Moysidis, D.V., Tsagkaris, C. et al. Impact of religious fasting on metabolic and hematological profile in both dyslipidemic and non-dyslipidemic fasters. Eur J Clin Nutr 76, 891–898 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-021-01053-7

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