Overeating on the Days of Eid al-Fitr

Written by: Muhammad Arif Rahim

Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam and Muslims celebrate Eidul Fitr once a year after the ending this holy month. In Afghanistan, many families celebrate Eid ul Fitr with different varieties of dried and fresh fruits, cookies, and cake. Some people do not take care of their eating on Eid ul Fitr days and they might face health problems.

A girl, a resident of Laghman province, who doesn’t want to introduce herself, says, “Once I had eaten two much-dried fruits and cookies on the first day Eid ul Fitr. I was suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. My father took me to the hospital and they applied me some serum.”

Muhammad Ashraf, a resident of Logar province says, “Last year on the Eid ul Fitr days, one of my sons had eaten too many dry fruits and he became sick. He was suffering from vomiting and diarrhea and we took him to the hospital and he spent two days there in the hospital.”

Doctor Safiullah Orialkhel, an internist at Qarabgh district talks about this issue.

Oriakhel says, “The biggest problem is digestion. When a person eats sweets, spicy foods, and dried foods together, the stomach is not ready after a month of fasting to solve all kinds of foods at once, the person might face some health problems like vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, and body ache and he/she might face dehydration.”

Why do some people think about this problem?

Shuja Agha, a resident of Parwan province says, “My brother had eaten boiled eggs and dried foods together and he became ill.”

A woman, Amarkhel, a resident of Maidan-Wardak says, “As the stomach is not ready to digest more kinds of foods at once, therefore people face some health problems.”

Doctor Oriakhel confirms what do the people say and he adds, “After a month rest, the stomach is not ready to digest any kind of foods at once. Most foods could be digested in about 305 hours and dried foods need more time to be digested and it causes some health problems. Some bacteria in fruits also cause some health problems.”

How do people solve this problem?

Khalilrahman Kohistani says, “None of our family members have to face health problems during Eid days. My mother prepares soft foods on the first day of Eid ul Fitr and she wants us to eat fewer foods on the first day of the Eid and she cooks us meat on the 3rd day of the Eid and she prevents us from eating more dry fruits and cookies.”

Doctor Oriakhel says, “On the first day of the Eid, we should drink liquids and avoid drinking hot tea and eat some dates and soft foods, and this helps the stomach in food digestion. We should avoid eating dry fruits after lunch of dinner and we can eat dry fruits 3 hours after foods.”