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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2012;7(10):e47615.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047615. Epub 2012 Oct 24.

Favorable changes in lipid profile: the effects of fasting after Ramadan

Abdullah Shehab  1 , Abdishakur Abdulle, Awad El Issa, Jassim Al Suwaidi, Nico Nagelkerke
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Favorable changes in lipid profile: the effects of fasting after Ramadan

Abdullah Shehab et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

Aims: We assessed the effect of fasting during Ramadan on blood pressure (BP), body weight, plasma lipid, and lipoprotein variables among healthy normal individuals.

Methods: 102 (68% male) multi-ethnic volunteers; mean age ± SD (38.7 ± 10.5 years) were randomly recruited in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to be investigated before Ramadan, one day after the end of Ramadan, and four weeks after Ramadan. Anthropometric, demographic, fasting plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured by standard methods, and Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated using Friedewald's formula.

Results: 65 subjects completed the study. We found significant and beneficial changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), body weight, waist circumference (WC), TG, HDL-C and LDL-C, at the end of Ramadan, but not in TC. Further, there was a progressive and significant increase and decrease in HDL-C and LDL-C levels, respectively, four weeks after Ramadan.

Conclusions: We observed significant improvements in HDL-C, and LDL-C levels even after four weeks post Ramadan. Ramadan-like fasting may be considered for more effective lipid and lipoprotein control.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Box plot chart showing the progressive changes in HDL-C (light gray boxes) and LDL-C (dark gray boxes) over the time points.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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