Tarek Kareem Harris – Islamic Diet and Health Advice-Science is only catching up!

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Wali, salaam, Timothy, what a wonderful day. It's been too
long since we've done one of these. That is very, very true. It has been very long since we have
done one of these but Alhamdulillah you know, better late than never. Unfortunately, we're having a
little bit of trouble with the video on your end, but that's okay. I wonder if you can hear me and
see me quite clearly inshallah. Yes, I can hear you. Fine. And I can see there's a bit of issue with
the transmission as well from my side.
		

			Tell me if it comes through, I'll try and put a static picture up there that would make might make
it easier.
		

			Okay, but that's fine. That's fine inshallah. Anyway, so how have you been through this? lockdown? I
think you guys are in the UK? Yes. Well, I have been busy and overwhelmed. And I feel good about it.
And I'm very thankful to allow because at this time, so many of us have got the opposite problem.
We're not busy because there isn't work or businesses have struggled and my heart goes out to
everyone who has been experiencing the negative sides of this lockdown for people who are creative
people who are in the professional field wherever people are struggling, and I got a lot to thank
for keeping busy. Yes, yes. You know, the main reason why we're speaking is because many people are
		

			struggling with their mental health. And as you say, mental wealth. And many people are struggling
and this lockdown the virus has not done any good. Instead, there is a lot of anxiety and a buildup
of stress, uncertainty so much that everyone is going through. So I know we've spoken already in the
past, but, uh, one thing I wanted to introduce to all the viewers and perhaps to those who may or
may not know, you know, you've been so busy, it's an inspiration for someone like me and hamdulillah
you've been so busy authoring some books and putting your your thoughts and teachings on paper on
paper. So can you tell us more about your books, starting from the very first one basic instincts? I
		

			recall that was last year this time if I'm not mistaken. Yes. Yes, instant insights, basic instinct.
Not far, it cooks about basic instincts. Okay. insights was probably at some point last year, we
		

			I think we got it out March or so. And since then,
		

			was a sort of a conversation that I was having, because I then decided to go on social media and to
interact with the readership to understand what they would like some instant insights was just it
had been brewing in my mind, you know, they say, everybody has one book in them. And I fully
expected that this would be it. And that would be over. But then Well, actually, I want to, you
know, I just want to highlight to the, to the viewers out there and the listeners that I'm so proud
of you because it was my encouragement that actually made you go on to social media, a lot of the
medical fraternity, they might be working very hard, but not all of them would actually embrace
		

			social media. So I really want to appreciate that on behalf of everyone who's benefited and those
who will benefit inshallah, from our brother, Dr. tk Harris. Well, I think they have you to thank,
because it was at your behest. In fact, you know, you know, as we know, we've had conversations over
the years about how our respective fields interact. And you know, you yourself have a huge amount of
sort of ability to deal with people's everyday issues, which could be said of me as well, but from a
professional sort of a different field. And I always thought there was a conversation to be had
between our fields, because Islam comes first, as far as I'm concerned. And what I guess what was
		

			always troubling me in my profession was there was the focus on the scientific but not the
spiritual, necessarily, and I thought, I think it's incomplete. So I decided, right, I've got to do
this because I need to benefit the Ummah, ultimately, we are all on low to Earth from Allah, we're
going to return so let's not, you know, let's not be beat around the bush and let's say, Allah, so
Allah so amazing, amazing, amazing Habibi. So jumping straight into what we were saying, the first
book, Mashallah went very well, you were probably expecting it to be just one and tell us how did
the second, the third and the fourth and everything happened thereafter? Because it's just amazing.
		

			I've been going through your books. I even did a foreword for some of them. And I'm just so
impressed by how, although you're not an Islamic scholar, but how you marry the Islamic teachings
with your own field of medicine, you know? Yes. Well, I think that, again, it was partly, you know,
your inspiration and the fact that I, you know, I feel privileged by law to have known people of
your standard and standing
		

			Anyone in my position wants to understand Islam intellectually, but to have a person like you in my
life has allowed me to sort of go really do real deep dives. And you know, I've given you some very
difficult questions in my view, and you've sort of answered them very expertly. And then I spent
probably three or four years reading deeply into all sorts of texts and ideas. And I began to form
what were quite easy conclusions, I must say, I thought it would be difficult, but actually, the way
Islam I see Islam as being static, and unchanging, and it says, If I imagine Islam to be like a
palace, from which there is light coming out of the windows and sciences, just this machine, which
		

			is hitting happens to come across the light of Islam from time to time, and he's doing some more
frequently, as time goes by, from the very beginning, you know, when we had scholars like email
Haytham who discovered the theory of light, which I talked about, then from the Islamic revolutions,
the intellectual age, now it's our time because we are back, you know, Subhanallah, there are Muslim
scientists with COVID vaccine and whatever, who are high profile, and I think it's time to grab that
mantle, and put my thoughts on paper. So the first book was about just general principles of how the
mind works and how to be you know, how to find contentment with things like, you know, the subwoofer
		

			enough, how does that equate to a mental process scientifically? Can I isolate the knifes in the
brain? How did and I found Actually, it was quite easy to make these connections. It's so easy, in
fact, but I realized that for other people, they don't know, you know, what's going on in the brain.
So I sort of spelled that out. And I go, Okay, this is how anxiety works. This is how relationships
are conceived of, and this is how these lamp says, and it's actually proven true. So the next book
was then, really, from my social media following it was called Instant actions, because what I
tended to get after that after your own, sort of propelling me into that, so public, I was a lot of
		

			questions from people saying, Look, I'm having trouble with this, this relationship, or I can't
forgive people, or I need to ask for forgiveness, but I can't or I feel lost from my family. So that
book, in a sense, was, if I took instant insights, and said, right, okay, that's the theory, the
practice is this. So instant action was entirely about saying, Okay, these are a list of something
like 40, different problems, everyday issues, you know, losing your ability to smile, always
focusing on the past or the future, or needing to be a bit closer to Allah, or needing to balance
your work and your and your religion. And, you know, to pause, to interrupt a little bit, I must say
		

			that I have had hundreds of people come back to me and thanked me to say shukran, for introducing us
to Dr. tk Harrison, his books, they have helped us navigate through the mental challenges that we've
had, not just through COVID, and the lockdown, and so much of anxiety, but even otherwise, so
Alhamdulillah, I just want to say that so for the others who don't know, the books are available on
Amazon, there, you can go to Dr. tk Harris, follow him on Instagram, Dr. tk Harris, follow him on
YouTube. He's got quite a few interesting videos, you know, short and beautifully explained.
different concepts. Now, what made you go into diets thereafter? Right. So yes, well, what propelled
		

			me into it as again, the conversation I'm having with the modest but very avid and keen following
that I've developed, you know,
		

			and they sort of I sort of pulled them a few months ago and said, you know, what would you like me
to talk about, you know, this is what I do. I'm not an Islamic scholar, but I can bring the science
to Islam.
		

			And, you know, and diet or everyday issues amongst which diet was at the top? And I thought, Well,
okay, well, actually, this is very much a mental health issue, because let's face it, most of the
problems we have with controlling our food or our weight comes from how we perceive our food, and I
can't control my eating, or I control it too much, because I think I'm too fat, and now I've ended
up being thin.
		

			Okay, so I want to jump straight into this and tell you from an Islamic perspective, were taught
about halal food, about the halal slaughter about the ingredients about certain things being
prohibited about how much we should eat, the quality and the quantity. That is what we're taught in
Islam. Now, can you shed some light on that, from your perspective as a doctor? Indeed, well, the I
examine these things very closely and it seems as if like I said before, Islam is the palace to
which science is advancing. So there are so many things which are, if you like, trending or being
discovered today, you know, the myths that we have about avoiding
		

			avoiding calories about exercising and, and having low fat foods, and I thought, Well, okay, hold
on, what is Islam have to say about this, and there's none of this there. And in fact, if one
examines the life of the Prophet sallallahu
		

			selam and what Islam says halau For example, let's talk about a couple of things which are sort of
been there since the beginning halaal, as you say, as you say, in your videos, and as any good
scholars should know, that clearly is not just about how you kill the animal, or how what death it
is, it's about what life it has. So in a sense, it isn't really helpful if that creature has been
treated badly hasn't been if the chicken hasn't been living as a chicken, if the car has been eating
food, which is not really its natural food, so that sort of thing, in contrast to that, and then we
talk about things like low carbon footprint and, and sustainable agriculture. Well, you know, anyone
		

			who's a thinking Muslim, would rightly know that we are loaned the earth and everything in it. And
if we abuse those things, we are going to be accountable. So why did you damage this river? Why did
you make these things knowing that you wouldn't be able to dispose of them? What? So I tried to then
conceive of this as how do we approach our food and what are we losing control of, and also
something amazing that I was thinking about today, I was speaking to my wife about something very
interesting, I said, you know, we are driving here. And if the Prophet sallallahu sallam, obviously
being the best of creation, the most loved unto Allah subhanho wa Taala, he would have been existing
		

			at a time when technology was as advanced and even more advanced than it is right now. And he would
have had the best of the best. So I'm quite sure that the simple life of the basics that he had was
actually and is actually the best way of living the simplicity, like now they have this minimalism,
they have a lot of other things, and even the organic food, I mean, he ate very simple food, and it
was, I'm sure a lot of mighty would have ensured that he had the best of the best of the best. So
all this technology we have, yes, we're enjoying it and so on, but, uh, from from a enrichments
perspective, spiritually and the fulfilment of your purpose in the dunya, I'd like to say that at
		

			the time of the process of selling would have been the best time to have lived I mean, as a, as a
companion of the Prophet peace be upon him, and so on. So all this that crept up later, it's very
challenging, because to navigate through it in a way that is not displeasing to Allah on one hand
and not harmful. The other way, I love the verse of the Quran, where Allah says that which is
harmful is prohibited, which means anything you discover later on to be harmful in any way, consider
it prohibited from me, Subhana Allah and anything that is beneficial, you know, would be and pure,
anything pure meaning with all the Islamic restrictions, and beneficial would be permissible. So
		

			Alhamdulillah it's just amazing, amazing, you know, the issue you've discussed in one of your books
about halaal On one hand, and on the other hand, it's something could be technically halaal. But
it's not necessarily clear enough for us to, to want to go into and consume, but for many reasons.
So the books just to clear it once again, because I see comments, people asking, Where exactly are
they available? Because I know that they're very beneficial. Yeah, well, I mean, the standard I
think the best platform that I found was to distribute to was Amazon. So you can go onto Amazon and
just if you find search for Dr. tk Harris, and then you should find most of my catalog, including my
		

			lens. And if for those people who don't have Amazon, I've set up an Etsy outlet so etsi and Etsy is
a place which is pretty much global. I think it's owned by Google. And if you can't get the books on
Amazon, you can find audiobooks and PDF downloads of all my books on Etsy as well. Just because I'm
conscious I mean, my my main mission is to just bring this message to as many people as possible,
inshallah, one day it will be for free once I can make this project so inshallah inshallah
inshallah. So I think, guys, let's give Dr. tk Harris a follow on YouTube as well, and on Instagram,
but in the law tell us, I cannot control my eating. That's what we've been titled this particular
		

			session. Tell us more about it. What do you suggest what should happen in a nutshell? Well, I think
the conversations that led up to this question were things that we observe in our own lives, you
know, we think of Ramadan and even the non Muslims in our lives when they when they hear you're
fasting, we all get the same questions like, what 30 days nonstop, not even water, this sort of
thing. And we then go through Ramadan, and I believe that many of us have lost the essence of what
Ramadan is. We're told, okay, look, you have to cut down on the food and you fast technically from
this point to this point. And what we do outside although the alums will tell us no, eat modestly.
		

			We might do
		

			But many of us gain weight in Ramadan, because we have this feast or famine approach. We, we overeat
and then we starve and we get no benefits. And not to mention we don't moderate ourselves in the
other things that we, you know, did you know for the most Muslims don't know or may or perhaps don't
remember that you should speak less than Ramadan, you should be waving your arms around a lot, this,
everything needs to be reduced. Because this is not an it's not a bootcamp where you suffer. The
philosophy of Ramadan is not to impose suffering on yourself, it is actually the opposite. It's a
sanctuary where you can go, and it's like a very expensive spa break on, on allows expense, he's
		

			saying, look, cut out your life, relax, come to me, and think about your life for a month. That's
what I'm asking you to do. Cut down the food here because it will help to straighten out the way you
look at food it will be make you more merciful. You will think about the poor what they go through.
And you will understand actually where you've been excessive in the rest of the year. And after I'm
done. If you use it in that way, it should be helpful beyond themselves. You know that? I'm sure you
know, you know so much more about this. But does that make sense to you what I'm saying? Absolutely.
And that's why the professor seldom used to used to work his way into Ramadan with the fasting in
		

			the month prior to Ramadan, which is Shaban. And he also used to then work his way out of the month
of Ramadan with a lot of fasting in the month of Sha one, especially the six fasts that have been
recommended for us. Now, do you know this issue of intermittent fasting that has been promoted right
now I heard it on several channels of non Muslims saying they fast intermittently and they have a
two fasts a week, they found it very beneficial. Surprisingly, according to the sooner Monday and
Thursday, they also say Monday and Thursday, like you rightly say, you know, Islam is like this
light that is beaming, and science is just getting from that light every now and again. And you
		

			know, discovering that Whoa, it's there. They don't even mention the Hadith, or they may or may not
know that it's the proper celebs teachings. But, you know, I see that this intermittent fasting,
fasting is not just a religious thing, tell us about its benefits from a medical perspective.
Indeed, it did. Well, you know, as a doctor, I must say you you don't miss lots of doctors don't get
trained in nutrition. So even many doctors would, would go along with the party line, what we've
come to understand wrongly, over the last 50 years that you know, diet or controlling your food is
all about cutting out the fat, it's about counting the calories, it's about doing more exercise. So
		

			things which were wholesome things like fats, and meats and the and the things that we enjoy eating,
were sort of lost and and substituted with,
		

			you know, sugar and carbohydrates and processing. And what you were saying earlier about the profit
simple life. He said, Well, he ate this and he ate this food. And he was he tended to eat one dish
at a time. And he would have butter and you'd have meat and and so people have thought of people
kind of whitewash this going, Oh, well, if he was around today, he would have probably eaten all the
what what we've eaten, but actually know, what we see, we see things like paleo diet, we see keto
diet, we see low carb diet. And actually, what we've discovered is a lot of the information we had
was misinformation, based on either faulty studies, or marketing by food companies or whoever. So
		

			intermittent fasting, I examined this issue because it struck a chord with me that hold on, the
sunlight is too fast twice a week. So the twice weekly fasting is probably the most popular of the
sort of secular intermittent fasting. And within that there's other little variants like 16 to eight
or 20 to four meaning 16 hours of the day, if you fast and you allow you fast and eight hours when
you're allowed to eat. Now, it turns out, when you examine the evidence very closely, that fasting
actually is far more effective in controlling weight and resetting your body system than any kind of
dieting as such. And that's useful. So there's lots of books out there on intermittent fasting,
		

			which will basically will say to you, okay, fast, you know, twice a week or thrice a week or
whatever, but then you know, sorry to interject, I'm just thinking of the fasting being so
beneficial for weight loss and so on. Earlier we were seeing people gain weight and Amazon you know,
primarily when we opened the fast at the end of the day, it's not supposed to be a heavy meal, the
professor salad used to open his fast with us we're done sometimes with water with gates with
something else and there is never a record of him having had a big meal. When he broke his fast I
think this is where a lot of us go wrong where we have a massive meal trying to compensate for what
		

			we in inverted commas missed out on during
		

			The day. Yes, that's quite right. And in fact, a lot of the wisdoms that are from that time would
correct would correct our misconceptions. So if, for example, you know, amongst what you've said, I
looked very closely, what was the data on what the prophet actually ate? How often did he do this?
And you know, like you said, he had simple food, if there wasn't data around, he'd have some water,
but he'd never ate excessively. And when he did eat a meal, it was simple xR week, which is like, a
rough and the meal of barley and meat. So what does that tell us? And how does that relate to our
modern approach to what we eat and what we don't eat? Well, there's some things which are just
		

			fascinatingly sort of just so revolutionary, you will, you will read them and go, Oh, my God, I
can't believe and so there's a you know, you, I think you've even said it in your, in your lectures
online and in the books that, you know, if you fast, you actually will get hungry a little bit, but
the longer you fast, actually, hunger goes away. Now, you might, you might say people might say,
Well, actually, that's just that's just mind numbing or brainwashing to, to make you feel alright
about fasting. But the science turns out to be absolutely the case. What happens is you get to
hormonal shift. And the hunger that you feel initially from fasting is not a true hunger. There are
		

			three types of false hungry, did you know that the three types of false on the days, sugar hunger,
there's emotional hunger, I've got, you know, and I can't remember the third one right now because
of limited flux. But there are three, three types of false and the true hunger is only that which
comes after a long actually, technically speaking, you can fast for much longer than the the 12
hours of the 24 hours, but the Prophet has made it easy for us. He was he was asked once you know,
as you well know, you were used fast for three days. But he was asked by this hobby, can you should
we do this and he said, No. Lies made it easy for you only fast for the one day, this is what makes
		

			a fast for you. And within that one day, we will see hormonal changes and the wisdom of what how the
fast works, is because you are tapping into a hormonal system, which most of us today will not
actually ever use unless we fast and unless we eat moderately. So the rules of Islam happen to be
Islamic, but they are extremely scientific. I couldn't Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, you know, you've
just inspired me to cut down further on my food. And to practice this this two day fasting, you
know, as it is I Subhanallah I've been quite conscious with what I eat. And you know, I also noticed
you've written about the prophets are seldom having divided his system into three and saying to us
		

			that if you're really going to eat and you really want to eat, then, you know, don't exceed a third
for solid, a third for liquid and keep a third for air. So can you speak on that a little bit?
Because obviously, from an Islamic perspective, it's unquestionable, we will do it, and we will do
it because it's sooner. But it's always interesting to know the other benefits. Yes, well, this is
especially useful. So people tradition, this is exactly what I'm saying. It ties into how I think
we've been misinformed as to the ideas of hunger and fullness, fullness, it turns out. So if you
are, for example, on a low fat diet, one of these modern ones where all your yogurts are 0% fat, but
		

			what they do is they fill it out with carbohydrates or with processed sugars, and whatever you did
you know that actually, if you just eat that, you do not actually get truthfulness, what you
actually get is an insulin hit, which sedate you, and then you get hungry very soon afterwards.
truthfulness only really comes if you eat fats, and proteins because they result in a specific
hormone being secreted, which then tells your brain that you are food. So you're already setting
yourself up for problems if you're avoiding fats and proteins. And as for the stomach being a third
and a third and a third. There are stretch receptors in your stomach. So when you eat when you eat
		

			fibrous and wholesome foods, and then No, I talk a lot about what Dave actually means is five or six
different qualities be wholesome, local, and what have you. What happens is, you should not eat
until you feel food because until you feel full in your in your head, because what that's doing is
actually stretching your stomach beyond what is necessary for you to feel full, Eat slowly and eat
until you feel reasonably full because when you eat the foods, proteins and fats and not the refined
carbohydrates, that fullness will hit you hard about an hour afterwards and I thought okay, is there
evidence for this? There's plenty of data to suggest it and when I've tried it myself, Well, I am
		

			telling you this I've tried this myself over the last year it's a lockdown issue. I have never felt
so
		

			food in my life, ironically, from eating less, and filling my stomach up much more consciously. And
so basically what you're saying is that you'd rather eat everything but in moderation than to
actually take out things and to eat low fat stuff and so on. Well, I know when I was much younger,
maybe 1520 years back, I remember a discussion on our dining room table, once our dining table and
what was discussed is the harms of that which is low fat and that which is, you know, not natural.
So from that time, I decided to have full fat milk and full fat everything and proper chocolates and
proper bread meats and proper everything but but I you just minimize it, like you have less of it.
		

			So I feel extremely healthy. I feel that and hamdulillah by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala
health is from Allah, and we thank him for it. But we play our bit. And I feel that the you know,
like you rightly say, whenever I have things with all these preservatives, and you know, long life
something and something that's low fat and low this and you actually don't feel as healthy as if you
were to eat all of the stuff but less, yes, yes. In fact that that is it. And it goes further than
that. Because we're just talking about the diet side, we've left out even the risk side. So the
issue is this, okay, so if you didn't fast Did you know, if you do not fast and eat less, you are
		

			missing out on an important hormonal system, which actually Prevents Cancer, and actually encourages
brain growth, those systems only kick in after you have been fasting. So we get something called
autophagy. autophagy is when your body realizes, okay, this guy is not eating. Okay, so what I'm
going to do now is I'm going to switch to a fat burning state. And when it switches to that fat
burning state after about 16 hours or so, it then also kicks in a number of little factors, which
then go around sweeping up what we call rogue genetic defects. So cells which are potentially
cancerous, and what have you. And also
		

			we get we get we get release a B NFP, which is a sort of a brain growth factor. And those things
only happen when you fast. Now, you know, you know, I have a friend, I have another friend who's a
doctor who was telling me that in order to boost your immune system during this time of Coronavirus,
you should fast every Monday and Thursday. And him as a doctor was telling me this, and I didn't
discuss it deeper with him. But I guess it goes back to what you're saying. So it actually boosts
your immune system to it, the immune system is exactly connected to it's the same system that
police's your body for cancer cells. And beyond that, let's let's move it up a level to the true
		

			spiritual meaning Did you know for example, that, you know, if you eat less, and specifically, if
you cut out the sugars, or this local low index carbohydrates, which are explained in some detail, I
simplified in the book, then what happens is for people who struggle with emotions, who have
unstable emotions or anger, those evidentially, they become more calm, you get a more steady, even
keel. So the biology influences the psychology when you actually change so it's not just about
weight loss and all the books that we get secularly what was what was surprising, as you say, was,
there was no mention of Islam in those books. And yet, the religion that does fasting more than any
		

			other one is Islam. And there was no mention of any of them about the, the the psychological
approach to it, which actually in Islam is the main thing. It is Tamara Allah, you know, it reminds
me of a cake that looks so beautiful from the outside, but inside, it's actually it's unacceptable.
So, you know, we, we have now concentrated on our bodies, we want to look nice, you've got your abs,
and you've got everything else and you can stretch and you can and you look so good, but inside
You're so unhealthy. And, and, and this is when when I see all these, you know, big muscular guys,
it's a good thing, and it's a bad thing, depending on how you did it, you know, I'm not trying to
		

			say it's not good to be muscular and so on. But for me, you know, I'm I'm happy with, with my little
pack that I have been under.
		

			For as long as I'm healthy, I'm okay with the little muscle that I do have, I'm fine with, you know,
I'm sure I can knock out a few of these guys here. But at the same but at the same time. I think
what's important and what you what you've highlighted here is something really really important to
be able to come to to, to help the insides your health, your organs, your body, your mind,
everything you know, your immune system should be working correctly. And and Subhanallah the
teachings of Islam of how to eat when to eat, the sun practices, the encouraged practices of fasting
twice a week, the three the three facets of the month, you know those are human beings and so on. So
		

			I've just learned something new to say that it kicks in the the different, you know system
altogether to be able to check and mark and police and combat whatever needs combating. Yeah, it's a
cleaning up process which doesn't happen unless you fast there is no if need be, you know, all these
sort of diet advice, some looking eating little and often it's a it's a toxic process because it was
thought to be less stressful to your diet to be a grazer, and what have you actually know Islam
said, Look, respect the food psychologically, this is a provision of a law, what are you doing? Why
are you driving an eating What's wrong with you, you know, sit down, appreciate. Good, call the
		

			family around, make it an occasion and then eat slowly make the main purpose of you're sitting down
to eat. When you do that, and you eat, actually, you eat substantially but twice a day, once a day,
whatever it is, it actually then is in sync with what is naturally going on what your body is
naturally tending towards, anyway, and you will find there's weird stuff that happens, maybe Believe
me, mostly, there are some things which I cannot explain, but they are good refugees that you just
think, well, Allah made this way. For example, if somebody ate, now you're the Prophet ate at
certain times, you never eat too late he did. And I examined all of these. And it turns out, if you
		

			and I, supposing you and I ate exactly the same foods, but I only ate them. I eat my food very late
at night, say 10pm before I go to sleep, and you he was at, say eight or 6pm, I will actually gain
more weight than you even though I'm eating the same amount. How is that happening? That happens
because of the hormonal system again, which actually, if you eat too late, what happens is it's your
insulin levels stay up, and then turns as much of that food as possible into fat. So you've got to
eat early, meaning the knock off time should be a few hours before bedtime. Exactly, exactly. And
then
		

			to eat at an occasion, even things like from the Prophet's life of what color plates he ate from
people now say the psychologists were you know, as far as I could find out the profit aid from
either wooden steel or earthenware and the earthenware tended to be either green or red, not very
often white. Why, and now, you'll see because there's a psychological queuing system. If you're
doing I'm gonna, I'm gonna have to change my white cutlery.
		

			Because the evidence would suggest that actually, those people who eat from colored plates feel more
food compared to those who don't, in a blind trial. So I'm gonna have to try that blind trial.
		

			But these Habibi, this is, this is very interesting because you know why I'm so intrigued and
impressed is that we've known the sooner all along and I've always wanted to know that, you know,
from a, from a perspective of someone who knows, health and who knows the body and how nutrition
works with the body, and, and is a Muslim who can marry the two and here we have you. And that's the
reason why I've chosen to, you know, to come on Instagram with you. It's not for the first time but
again and again, because I'm so intrigued and you know, Subhanallah what you said earlier also
about, about the amount of food and
		

			eating isn't a bad if it's the with the right intention, so to concentrate to thank Allah to take
your time. So what you just said now is do not eat fast, we have a problem even with some within my
home. Sometimes we eat a little bit too quickly. And I always say chew your food, take your time to
your food, take your time. And the processor, you know, when we were small, there was a myth. The
myth was that you know, when you clean your entire plate, the plate will make draft for you that you
cleaned it and we religiously ate the last grain but actually the sooner is you should be having all
the grains you know whether the plate makes a drought or not is another matter but that you should
		

			be finishing your food don't waste and don't take too much eat from that which is near you. And like
you said make it an occasion sit with with your family and concentrate on your food thank Allah for
it psychologically like what you just saying now all that plays a role in getting the nutrition from
that particular food and letting it be of the correct benefit. It's supposed to be for your body.
Right? Absolutely. I mean to get the right nutrition you know sometimes as I said before, it keeps
repeating this idea that you know, we we sometimes make the mistake of thinking Oh, Islam said this
because it's just an Islamic rule. It's it's an ornament from times beyond But no, everything
		

			repeats even the idea of say, okay, so it might seem For example, let's take the idea of kindness to
animals, right. So you might say okay, well Yes, fine. any religion would say kindness to me. Islam
says that with the animal will hold witness against you.
		

			how you treated it when if you know that it's being treated badly, you will be asked to answer for
it. Now what we discovered, not only is it psychologically better, but nutritionally it is better
because if you were to compare the meat quality of a factory farmed animal versus the meat quality
of a naturally found on what what they have discovered, actually, and all the advice we get on red
meat, you know, the advice we've had on red meat, avoid red meat, it turned out that that's those
studies were conducted on battery fed animals and their fats are actually much higher in what we
call a
		

			heavier, full saturated fats. So if you actually eat the meat from a grass fed organic animal,
actually, those fats will be the opposite, they'll be good for you. So it's not just a psychology,
it's the biology, everything is contained within and I, I can't stop spewing these facts, because,
well, it I, myself have enjoyed a journey of discovery over the last year, especially in lockdown
when I've been discovering these facts in the journals and what have you. And every time I've
compared them to this, and now, I've said yes, this is another paragraph I can put, yeah, it's very
beneficial. So, you know, I recall from the time you mentioned, the link of Salah, and the different
		

			postures of Salah, and how beneficial it is for the, you know, for the individual and the human
being and all the Riba and then subtle, what we'll call the you know, the series, I think you did
more than one federal attorney, am I right?
		

			Yes, so this
		

			the series is, the first one was managing anxiety, Volume One, and so thorough called Volume Two is
third. And I will continue to make the next series depending on the things that I've been asked to
do my followers, so I've got things like mental health issues in, in relationships with people
depression, I've also considered things like addiction,
		

			a finance, so these will be things projects that I'm working on, and inshallah also quite soon I'll
be launching an app
		

			which will be all about sort of, you know, mental health management and trying to be the best person
you can as a Muslim in this world. So inshallah inshallah, Allah Subhana, Allah.
		

			May Allah make it easy, and I pray that, you know, Volume Two, three, and everything else comes up
very, very successfully. And obviously, at this moment, we definitely need a lot of help with all
these things. We all want to be healthy immune system needs to be up the mental health condition
needs to be Tip Top as I would say, as I would say, but at the same time Habibi. You know, what's
very interesting is the,
		

			the diet and the fact that people try to lose weight. And because of that they stop eating.
Sometimes I know of people who have anorexia or people who don't want to eat, they can't they just
stay away from eating completely, and they get a phobia of food, you know, what would you say to
them? I think, I think in your book, you do have a chapter near the end that discusses this, right?
		

			Indeed, yeah, so I've added it to the appendix. But it's not strictly part of the normal management
of diet, but it does need to be mentioned, because we're talking about weight control. So weight
control not for most people, it's about trying to keep your weight down. But for some people, it can
go to the extreme where their weight is severely underweight. And from the mental health point of
view, this is a these are very, very serious conditions, they are actually much more lethal than
many physical conditions, you know, things like anorexia and bulimia can have up to a 20% mortality
rate, one in five people will not survive these conditions. So we're not messing around here. And
		

			they have their origins in a number of different causes, if you like, and a lot of it in many people
with anorexia is to do with your idea of finding something that they can control as a substitute for
the things that they cannot control. So if some people have been from traumas, for example, or they
have lived in families where they've been mistreated, where expectations are high, if for things
that they cannot satisfy, it's an idea that especially in younger children, you know, that not in
younger children or in adolescence, the knifes is very strong and they haven't quite developed their
code with the intellect. So what happens is knifes defends you and the Nef says, Okay, I can't
		

			control these things outside my life, but what I'm going to control is what I can control, I can
control what I eat. And so they focus on that, because it seems to have some kind of undoing of all
the stuff that is very difficult in their life otherwise. So it may not even be about the food, but
it is something that they can exhibit.
		

			And feel better about. In the same way. I guess At the other extreme, we talk about conflict eating,
and comfort eating is about I can't control these unmanageable emotions or this difficult issue in
my life, what I can control is I can get a little bit of pleasure from eating and from re uncomfort
eating quite deliberately tends to be high carbohydrate, why? Because we are short circuiting the
nerves, we are short circuiting the system that sedates us, you know, when you eat sugary food. And
when you eat a lot of rice, for example, on a day that that cetacean you get afterwards is part of a
reward system. So when we talk about people who eat too much, mostly the problem is not to do with
		

			the food as such as to do with the food having an effect on the reward system. It's the same system
at work, which you'll see in addicts of various other kinds, be it, you know, at the West End things
like heroin, but smartphone addiction, and what have you had the same system in mind? So we are
trying to reclaim with the idea of tayabas? And how can we reclaim the idea of food being a source
of pleasure only it is a provision of a law. And believe it or not, there are ways in the book that
I've described that you can actually continue to eat a cake, and I you know, I've had a sweet tooth
since as long as I can remember. And unlike yourself, you've always been in fantastic conditions.
		

			But I like you, I my weight has yo yoed. But now for the first time, I'm able to look and eat a
packet of sweets, and not feel one little iota of guilt. Because I know exactly. Right.
		

			It's just a wonderful feeling to have.
		

			When I say I know how to manage it, I can you can you tell us what that is? Well, yes, well, what
I've done essentially is first you have to consider Well, what is the food that I can eat and what I
can't eat what I shouldn't eat. Like I said, it might be technically allowed to eat a packet of
sweets every day. But that doesn't mean it's good for you. It's not the right, so cut out the
refrigerator. So go without, for a while and let your body reset to some, some, some, some, some,
some some fasting, so that you allow this hormonal system and learn what I also give his mental
lessons on how to recognize true hunger, as opposed to emotional hunger, and how to recognize that
		

			actually, I'm eating now because I feel anxious, or I have an urge to eat because I've actually ate
some carbohydrates earlier. And at the moment, I'm hungry, not because I'm truly hungry, but because
my insulin is just is at its way high, and my sugar is very low. When you get that under control,
then you can relapse, I still have a sweet tooth. And there are still times when I you know I
gravitate towards the fridge and I'm opening it and, and my mom has put some lovely things there. My
wife has put some cake there. But now there are ways on what I can do with for example, I would have
and I suggest this, you have the agreement not too deep not to deny yourself but delayed. So there
		

			may be one or two days a week when I say actually, Wednesday and Saturday will be the days I can eat
these treats. So I will say okay, I won't have it today, because Wednesday is when I'm going to eat
more. That's one strategy. So then the nuts feels happy because there's nothing worse for you enough
then to be told no. You know, tell the child No, they'll actually they'll rebelled they say no. But
if you tell the tell, Okay, no problem tomorrow, then.
		

			Right? That's one yeah. And actually, there's a thing about being kind to yourself, you know, Allah
says, Be kind to others. But people forget your own dialogue within yourself is actually quite
cruel. You say I ate sweets, I feel so bad, I shouldn't have done it. What an idiot. Now imagine
you'd said that to someone else. That's not a nice. So if you eat something and you've relapsed,
you've not intended to eat it actually reverse it go. Well, actually, I enjoyed it. It was a
provision of a law, it was lovely to eat. And I refuse to feel guilt at something that is a
provision of a law, even though it might not be good for me. What that does is give you the control
		

			back it means next time you eat it, you eat it slowly, and you actually realize this stuff is mega
mega sweet. I don't want to eat so much. And you won't have that rebound guilt because you'll eat
less. You just think, actually, I've had enough. I don't have my emotions, determining I'm eating
this for pleasure, not for alleviation of anxiety. Does that give you a clue that it is that
helpful? So basically what you're saying I mean, what I've understood is, initially it comes for
alleviation of something, it's more of an addiction. And when you manage to control yourself and you
know, hold back and just give a day or two, where you you're going to call it like a cheat day, for
		

			example, then you begin to realize that this is just a pleasure. You know, it's just to eat
something I like rather than I'm craving for this and I need it and it has to be there.
		

			And in fact, I took my cue from the prophets book because, you know, again, the secular books, we'll
call these cheat days and whatever Actually, I don't call them that I call them simple parts of your
life because the Prophet was known to enjoy dates and honey. He didn't need them very often, right?
But he this is what this is the kind of early dates and dates he talked a lot about dates and how if
the Prophet was around today, what would the prophets ageless? Yes, he'd say he dates in moderation.
And did you know for example, he, he, he did things which were far in advance of their time. For
example, when he ate dates, he generally ate them with
		

			I can't remember well, they called pickled zucchinis or gherkins because that cut up the tartness
and increase the fiber. And that's the exact exact advice you get from a diabetologists if you eat
something sweet, use it eat it with something taut and something fibers because that reduces the
sugar load. There's our profit was there time and time ago?
		

			It's these Oh, that the sad thing is that a lot of the modern minds think that Oh, that's Islam, you
know, it's just the prophets of Salaam it's just a long time back it's just like, you know, ancient
Arabia it's a setting that was not the setting and as much as we believe in the Salah and and the
second The Pillars of Islam, but you know, the prophets are seldom His ways are not necessarily
compulsory. Some people say that, you know, without realizing that the benefit of following the
entire soon as best as we can, actually is way beyond our imagination. So kind of layer below and
that's why I love talking to you, Habibi, and you know Time flies Mashallah we've already spoken for
		

			more than 45 minutes and hamdulillah I pray that Allah, Allah grant your goodness, and I'd like to
see you back in Sharla. Again, on one of our lives here, so many comments, I'm reading a lot of them
here and there's some amazing stuff inshallah, I'm going to try and get this posted on YouTube,
perhaps you can do to guys, Dr. tk Harris, follow him on YouTube, follow him on Instagram and
inshallah you will be able to benefit quite a lot regarding the Islamic aspects of a lot of concepts
and things connected to mental health, mental wealth, connected to your diets, you and so much more.
That inshallah we will learn. So Dr. l'affaire Habibi any parting words? Oh, Allah can I just thank
		

			Allah that they are people you know, so many people are thankful that we have people like you and
I'm always thankful and just to say to your audience who are listening you know, people have the
persona in public and you think oh, it'll be might be different when he's on a private level.
Believe me this man is even more magical on a one to one basis. Now Allah forgive us. May Allah
forgive us. That's your kindness. And may Allah make us even better in person than we are perhaps on
line.
		

			Keep it that way. You are indeed
		

			Avi Habibi. May Allah bless you and shukran for your kind words, and just akmola hate for everyone.
And we hope to meet again. Okay. Salaam Aleykum.
		

			Selam Aleykum Silla