Short-term maximal performance, alertness, dietary intake, sleep pattern and mood states of physically active young men before, during and after Ramadan observance

Abstract

Purpose To assess changes in short-term maximal performance, alertness, dietary intake, sleep pattern and mood states of physically active young men before (BR), during and after Ramadan observance. Methods Twelve physically-active men (age: 21.9±2.4yrs, height:1.77±0.09m, body-mass: 72.6±7.8kg, exercising: ≥3h/week) performed the 5-jump and the digit-cancellation (alertness) tests 15-days BR, on the first (FR) and last 10-days of Ramadan (ER) and 10-days (AR10) and 20-days (AR20) after Ramadan. During each period, sleep pattern (Pittsburgh-Sleep-Quality-Index (PSQI)), mood states (Profile-of-Mood-States ( POMS)) and dietary intake were recorded. Results No significant changes in the 5-jump, digit-cancellation test and POMS parameters appeared during and after Ramadan relative to BR. However, the PSQI total score was lower during FR compared to AR10 (p<0.001). Specifically, the subjective sleep quality was lower ( i ) at BR compared to FR (p<0.05), AR10 (p<0.01) and AR20 (p<0.01) and ( ii ) at ER and AR20 compared to FR (p<0.05). The sleep duration ( i ) increased at FR (p<0.05) and (ii) decreased at AR10 (p<0.01) and AR20 (p<0.05) compared to BR. Sleep disturbances were significantly greater ( i ) at BR compared to FR (p<0.01), ER (p<0.01), AR10 (p<0.05) and AR20 (p<0.05) and (ii) at AR10 and AR20 compared to FR and ER (p<0.05). In terms of diet, the fractional contribution of carbohydrate (%) was lower and the dietary fat content (g) was higher during ER than AR10 and AR20 (p<0.05). Further, the dietary protein (in %) was significantly lower during FR compared to BR (p<0.01), ER (p<0.05), AR10 (p<0.05) and AR20 (p<0.05). Conclusion Ramadan had no-adverse effects on the 5-jump performance, alertness, or mood states in physically active young men. However, the sleep duration was shorter and the sleep quality was improved following compared to during Ramadan. The fractional intake of fat also increased at the expense of carbohydrate during Ramadan, and the protein intake was lower at the beginning of Ramadan than before, at the end of and after Ramadan.

Longer Nap Duration During Ramadan Observance Positively Impacts 5-m Shuttle Run Test Performance Performed in the Afternoon

“…Thus, impaired physical performance cannot be attributed to the changes in dietary patterns and must be a consequence of the disruption of sleep. Consistent with this hypothesis, several studies have suggested that if sleep characteristics during Ramadan are not different from before Ramadan, the observance of Ramadan will not have adverse effects on short-term high intensity exercise performance (Karli et al, 2007;Chaouachi et al, 2009;Hsouna et al, 2019b).…”

Does observance of Ramadan affect sleep in athletes and physically active individuals? A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Specifically, for studies examining sleep duration, the average correlation value of 0.512 from five studies (Boukhris, Hsouna, et al, 2019; Boukhris, Trabelsi, et al, 2019; Hsouna et al, 2019, Hsouna, Boukhris, Trabelsi, Abdessalem, Ammar, Irandoust, et al, 2020; Hsouna, Boukhris, Trabelsi, Abdessalem, Ammar, Glenn et al, 2020) was used. An average value of 0.512 from four studies was used for PSQI scores (Boukhris, Hsouna, et al, 2019; Boukhris, Trabelsi, et al, 2019; Hsouna et al, 2019; Hsouna, Boukhris, Trabelsi, Abdessalem, Ammar, Irandoust, et al, 2020; Hsouna, Boukhris, Trabelsi, Abdessalem, Ammar, Glenn et al, 2020). Given that pre–post correlations were not available in all articles examining the effects of Ramadan fasting on ESS scores and daily nap duration, we followed the recommendations of Higgins and Green (2011), assuming a conservative estimation of r = 0.5 for these two variables.…”

“…A subgroup analysis for the categorical variable "continent" revealed that Ramadan observance had a more significant impact on A subgroup analysis for the categorical variable "season" revealed that Ramadan observance had a more significant impact on sleep and-fill analysis, two studies (Hsouna et al, 2019;Karli et al, 2007) were trimmed, resulting in a "true ES" of −0.948 (95% CI −1.411 to −0.4851, Q = 238.119).…”

Unraveling preferences for religious ties in food transactions: A consumer perspective

“…Studies about consumers’ social identity have mostly detailed how social identity impacts dietary practices, the type of food purchased, and where food is purchased. Studies about religious identity have largely focused on Islam, evaluating food intake during Ramadan (Hsouna et al., 2019; Seyed et al., 2019; Shadman et al., 2014) and purchase and consumption intentions towards halal products (Amalia Fatya et al., 2020; Bonne et al., 2007; Khan et al., 2020). Several studies have detailed the extent to which purchase intention varies for certified halal products from different store types (e.g., supermarket vs. Islamic butcher) (Ahmed, 2008; Jamal & Sharifuddin, 2015; Verbeke et al., 2013).…”