Ramadan Fasting Raises Health Concerns Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The immune system needs vitality to produce antibodies. But isn’t it advisable to postpone fasting, knowing that lack of food, coupled with dehydration, are likely to promote viral development?

On this question, the International Union of Muslim Scholars has issued its advisory opinion, stating that the coronavirus epidemic is not a valid excuse in Islam to abstain from fasting.

While encouraging Muslims to prepare physically and psychologically for the holy month, the Union indicated that breaking the fast is only granted to people infected with covid-19, referring to the Quranic verse. "Whoever among you is ill or on a journey, [let him fast] an equal number of other days."

In a new study, a team of researchers at the University of Southern California has proven that fasting for three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly or seriously ill.

According to Valter Longo, one of the authors of the study, "the good news is that the body gets rid of the damaged or old and ineffective parts of the immune system during fasting," adding that if your system has been "severely damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can literally create a new immune system."