Tarek Kareem Harris – S7E5 My head hurts Doc!! Fasting Side effects #02 – Headache, mood changes, could it be good?

			So let's carry on with some side effects of fasting, which I'm sure many of you will experience a
lot of questions about. And I've got your answers for you right here. And mostly, it's good news
that the side effects of fasting are beneficial to you directly, because they show that something
useful is happening. And they're beneficial for you in terms of your lien because going through some
difficulty, self imposed is a sign of faith, if not anything else, right. So changes in mood, people
often report changes in mood, it can lead to greater emotional stability overall. But in the first
few days, you might find your mood being a bit more wobbly as you get more hungry or irritable and
		

			what have you. But broadly speaking, after a good week or so you'll find that your mood generally
settles down and your emotional stability increases. And that's because you're not subjecting your
body to the swings in sugar that come from eating too often in the day.
		

			Many people with pre existing anxiety and low mood also report improvements in mood as a result of
fasting. So there's a lot to look forward to, if you get through the first few days. And awareness
of your mood is in itself a way to becoming mentally stronger. The fact that you notice your mood
goes up and down as a result of fasting. Well, that's fair enough, but becoming awake to that. And
knowing that your mood is something biological, it's not always rational, it's not always
controllable. That gives you a sort of handle, as to how to understand your mind without feeling
that your mind dictates how you feel. You can say well, my mind feels sad or my mind feels anxious.
		

			And you don't have to engage with that feeling as much as you did before you can feel you can stand
apart from it somewhat. Now, some people also feel dizzy, a lack of water causes dehydration, so
which can cause mild dizziness, especially if you getting up to stand later in the day.
		

			The same goes for that short period later in the day when your body between sort of eight and 12
hours start switching from burning sugar to burning fat. And what it does in that Meantime, is
there's a slight lull in energy because it's using up that energy to try to switch to another
system.
		

			So you might feel a bit dizzy, and a bit of nausea, nausea alongside that. But that is usually not
harmful and it only lasts a few seconds. If it lasts more persistently, it can also mean that you
could also mean that you've got excess salt, or that you've got a lowered blood pressure overall.
That might take some getting used to. If you take blood pressure medication, you would need to talk
to your doctor about lowering the dose. But otherwise, think about having less salt in the mornings
because it may be that your dizziness is related to having too much salt in your food.
		

			Smell small things but important dryness of the lips. Okay, so the most common cause of that is a
lack of water on the surface of the lips. unbeknown to us, when you eat and drink through the day,
that happens to moisturize your lips. So having a lip balm can solve the dryness while fasting as
long as you're not sort of, you know tasting it or to get into your mouth.
		

			After this, the main causes of dryness of lips are dehydration, followed by a lack of salt. Yeah, so
you might want to increase your fluid intake, but also consider adding a small amount of salt about
a quarter teaspoon over your sample food should suffice. If you get these dryness of lips. If the
problem persists over a number of days if it It should correct itself initially, so no need to take
extreme measures to start with. Now, a big one, common and irritating is headaches. that often gets
to people around one in 10. People who may get a headache in the first few days is usually quite
mild and it's dealt with by taking rest, doing some relaxation thicker, going to a darker room just
		

			finding a quiet place. Do some slow breathing. Read this Be it works wonders. And the commonest
cause of headache in fasting is a lack of caffeine in people who are used to drinking tea and coffee
through the day. And that usually should settle depending on how much key to coffee you've drunk.
But that headache should should diminish after two or three days.
		

			To have a bit of coffee or tea in the morning at all is totally fine.
		

			headaches are common in other people two main causes include things like mild dehydration, or lack
of salt, or just the normal kind of tension headaches that everyone gets, you know.
		

			still gonna, you still might have a stressful life or you might be anxious about
		

			Getting your things done before, if they are, so obviously you might cause a bit of a headache. And
most causes of headaches will settle in a few days with a bit of patience and reassurance. That you
know, the causes are benign, like I've told you. heartburn happens heartburn is felt like a small
point of pain with some sense of heat. And that's felt right in the center of the chest, it's at the
top of your sort of soft area where the rib cage in the middle just kind of stops and economics
point to it. The commonest cause of heartburn is going to sleep after su raftaar with too much food
in the belly, or foods that are too spicy.
		

			So the way to get around that is to eat less to start with and change the food that you're eating.
Eat more macrobiotic food, like live yogurt.
		

			Give the food time to digest you know, so don't eat your store too late. And after suhu don't eat
too much at school but eat more of the calming foods and give yourself a bit of time before you go
to sleep. You might want to take some antacid liquids, you know things like rainy or Gaviscon fairly
commonly available.
		

			And you can get generic versions of those. Milk of magnesia is a common thing to ask for it a
pharmacy does the same thing as Gaviscon. And if it persists for a few days, as always see your
doctor.
		

			The stomach makes acid to digest food. So when you start fasting, the stomach may still produce acid
at expected meal times especially if you're around food, and this is normal and will settle.
		

			Changes in sleep. Now there's every reason to get at least as much sleep as on any other day. But,
and actually most people have an increase in the quality and quantity of sleep overall. The sewer
and if at all times vary depending on how far north and south you live, but the body will adjust to
your new schedule of weakened sleep. Most people find that the onset of sleepiness shifts forwards
or backwards. Naturally too much. This also has an effect our times sleeping fewer hours because of
late nights, early mornings or can be offset by having a snooze in the late afternoon. And if you if
there is very late, consider delaying your sleep sleep a little too because you'll be eating quite
		

			late. Alright, present the HUD juden. Just stay up a contemplate. You'll find actually that you'll
sleep better if you buy yourself some calm downtime by staying awake a bit longer before you go to
sleep. And don't be put off if sleep takes a little time to adjust. every challenge every change in
fasting is a gift to those of us who are insightful. And if you accept the challenge as such, the
mind will shift from seeing things as a problem to being a chance to take advantage of this change
of this challenge. Later nights could give you quiet quiet time on your own to reflect and play and
catch up on things that you can't do in normal Waking Times.
		

			These changes come along not as difficulties but as chances to reassess how we spend our time
anyway. And reclaims and sense of being in command of our day. So go ahead and claim it. Enjoy and
savor those extra hours of waking. Look forward to the afternoon's news.
		

			The bathroom will be freer than ever, you may take time to spend a very lovely hour to have a
relaxed bath at a time when others are not doing it when they're too busy going to sleep.
		

			Warm water increases your core temperature which is conducive to sleep. Look, the key to so much
good mental health is distraction. Fasting does make you more sensitive to the mind and the body.
And there's more details on various side effects of fasting in the book. But I've kind of covered
the main things here.
		

			There's also stuff on Thursday, tiredness and changes in sexual drive which are also important to
consider for many people in fasting.
		

			But you know there's more detail in the book. But this is more merely sort of outline of things that
you commonly expect and things that people ask me about a lot.
		

			Look, the mind will tend to over elaborate on small physical things. distractions and ignoring
trivial matters is totally appropriate. Avoid things that are necessary. Don't be ransomed by your
body into responding to every little ache and pain.
		

			Don't do your food shopping when you're fasting, okay?
		

			Cook the day before or or keep the dishes very simple. cut down on your socializing. If you have a
long journey. Plan that around the fasting Don't try to do it in the latest stage of fasting. If you
can. Avoid
		

			Your cooking channels on TV and social media. And these small things they add up to make fasting a
very pleasant time. And they tee you up for the deeper insights that come from fasting which we'll
look at as the month goes by wassalam I hope you're having a good Ramazan. I mean