The quality and length of sleep can change drastically during Ramadan. The effects of fasting, changes to work and school schedules and staying up late or rising early for suhoor are all contributing factors.
When a person gets less sleep each day, with the lost time building up without being recovered, it is called sleep debt. Not only restricted to Ramadan, sleep debt can affect anyone who doesn’t get the recommended amount of sleep or isn’t able to catch up on that lost sleep with daily naps.
“During the holy month, the sudden change of eating habits and sleep timings, are accompanied by some physiological changes in the body,” says Arfa Banu Khan, clinical psychologist at Aster Clinic, Bur Dubai. “The normal circadian rhythm of the body gets affected and makes it difficult to get a proper night's rest and sleep. The social gatherings and prayers later in the evening also add to the improper sleep schedule.”
What is sleep debt?
Sleep debt, also known as sleep deficit, is the difference between how much sleep you need and how much you get. Getting less sleep than you need for a few days won’t be an issue, but when that difference is sustained over a long period of time, the lost hours accrue and become impossible to get back.
“Sleep is an essential part of our lives and the typical person needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night to maintain peak mental and physical health,” says Dr Waseem Dar, specialist neurology at RAK Hospital. “Getting less than adequate sleep is known as sleep deprivation. When an individual has multiple consecutive days of sleep deprivation, they enter 'sleep debt', which is a cumulative effect of insufficient sleep for any period of time.”
It is recommended that adults sleep between seven and nine hours a night; teenagers aged between 14 to 17 years should get eight to 10 hours and school-age children aged between six to 13 years should get nine to 12 hours.
Not getting the full amount of sleep can have a detrimental effect on health, including low energy levels, irritability, anxiety and an inability to concentrate. More serious effects caused by long-term sleep debt can lead to depression, heart disease and risk of stroke.
For an adult, losing two or three hours of sleep a day can result in 14 to 21 hours of lost sleep in a week or the equivalent of two or three full night’s sleep.
How Ramadan and fasting can increase sleep deficit
A 2013 study, The effects of Ramadan fasting on sleep patterns and daytime sleepiness: An objective assessment, found that: “During Ramadan, bedtime and wake-up time were delayed, and there was a significant reduction in total sleep time for Muslims.”
Rem is the deepest level of sleep and is characterised by irregular breathing, elevated heart rate, relaxed muscles and quick eye movements. It is the time when most dreams occur, the brain strengthens its ability to form memories and also rests and repairs. Adults are recommended to get at least two hours of rem sleep a night.
“Fasting has been shown to alter the sleep-wakefulness pattern,” says Dr Dar. “For example, food deprivation has been shown to increase wakefulness and markedly reduce rapid eye movement sleep.”
Adds Khan: “The reduction in total sleep time during Ramadan makes you sleepy during the day and lack energy. Lack of sleep causes hormonal dysregulation and is detrimental to overall well-being.”
Can napping help make up sleep debt?
Making up your sleep debt during Ramadan can be helped by developing new sleeping rhythms and patterns as your day allows. “Try to sleep for at least four hours at night after iftar, before waking for suhoor – and return to sleep for a couple of hours before getting up for the day ahead,” says Khan. “This will help your body get into a rhythm for more restful sleep. A short power nap in the afternoon can revive the energy level. A 20 to 30-minute nap can boost energy and help combat daytime fatigue without interfering with night-time sleep.”
The amount of time taken for a nap should be regulated by setting an alarm so you don’t get too much, which can have a detrimental effect on the rest of the day. “In power naps, a person wakes up from light sleep and feels refreshed and alert,” says Dr Dar. “Waking up from deep sleep can cause a feeling of drowsiness and grogginess, a term known as ‘sleep inertia’. Research has shown that napping for less than 20 minutes improves alertness and functioning right away, with little or no grogginess after waking up.”
Adding: “If a person has had a late night, they might benefit from a longer nap. Snoozing for an hour or 90 minutes can help make up some of that sleep deficit. However, power naps are not the answer for chronic sleep deprivation.”
Making up for lost sleep after Ramadan
When eating and sleeping patterns, along with work and school hours, return to normal, getting back to your natural rhythms may take some time, but there are ways you can naturally facilitate the transition.
Dr Suresh Vassen at Bodytree Wellness in Abu Dhabi suggests partaking in daily walking meditations and reducing exposure to screens and monitors as ways of returning to your previous schedule.
“Maintain a strict routine of rest and activity at the same time every day, with a mild to moderate movement of the body,” he says. “Throughout the day, try low, deep, regulated and gentle alternate nostril breathing exercises hourly for one to two minutes each time.”
Replenishing natural melatonin levels can also help. Try to incorporate foods that are high in melatonin into your meal before bedtime – to be eaten three or four hours before sleeping – such as milk, bananas, cherries and eggs.
The cost of Covid testing around the world
Egypt
Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists
Information can be found through VFS Global.
Jordan
Dh212
Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.
Cambodia
Dh478
Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.
Zanzibar
AED 295
Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.
Abu Dhabi
Dh85
Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.
UK
From Dh400
Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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