Food Ethics, Health and Eid-ul-Adha
Every Eid-ul-Adha, our kitchens become busier, our homes warmer and our plates heavier. And every Eid, doctors witness another festival too. Acidity. Gallbladder attacks. Gout flares. Uncontrolled sugars.Breathlessness.Chest discomfort.Food poisoning.Constipation. Blood pressure spikes.The problem is not the meat. The problem is the human tendency to convert celebration into excess. Eid-ul-Qurban was never meant to test the stomach. It was meant to soften the heart.
As a doctor, let me say something honestly: Almost everybody can enjoy Eid meat. But not everybody can enjoy unlimited Eid meat. The difference lies in portion size, cooking style, hydration and common sense.
The body does not understand emotion. It understands metabolism. And metabolism has no holiday. One of the biggest mistakes people make on Eid morning is eating heavy fried meat on an empty stomach after little sleep and excessive tea. Your digestive system is not prepared for sudden overload.Start light. Hydrate first. Eat slowly. Do not begin Eid with an assault on your liver and pancreas. A healthy adult usually does well with a moderate serving of lean meat — roughly the size of one’s palm in a meal. Not half a kilogram in one sitting. Your stomach is not a freezer warehouse.
Another mistake is “continuous eating.” One barbecue here.One wazwan there.Then fried liver.Then tea.Then kebabs........
