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Comment by throwaway413 | Hacker News Reader

Fitting to see this during this month, as it is currently the holy month of Ramandan for Muslims, who fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days.

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Well, perhaps it's good for the metabolism of my muslim colleague, but right now his productivity is way down. Also I don't the ramandan fasting is particularly good since muslims usually eat a lot during the night to compensate.

I generally don’t have a problem at work (Ramadan + Keto). Then again I don’t get up at 2 AM to eat. (Generally have a 18:6 fasting to eating cycle)

Can you share how you are measuring changes in his productivity? I find that, in general, to be fairly difficult to measure, let alone find trends in small time intervals (like a week)

Agreed that binging after fast as compensation is a common trend and not a healthy one. I think the way one practices the fast definitely will lead to differences in productivity. Personally, I work fewer hours but find myself to be more productive for those fewer hours as I have generally prepared better to get work done during those specific times - which isn't something I do for my "normal" workflow.

yeah, but it should be investigated, and there's so many people doing it regularly that it's probably easy to find subjects.

some people do one-day fasting so maybe ramadan has a tangible effect beside psychology

Is your colleague a coffee drinker? It's common for muslims who regularly consume caffeine to go through withdrawal the first week of fasting. This can cause excessive tiredness and headaches. Also during Ramadan its common to make longer prayers at night, which can disrupt sleep.

Personally I just make sure I get enough sleep (even by taking naps during lunch) and taper off caffeine before Ramadan starts, and then I feel just as productive in Ramadan while fasting vs not.

I wonder if any studies have looked at if Muslims who participate in Ramadan receive any measurable health benefits.

Even if Ramadan is only one month of the year, that could still potentially show some benefits if there are any over a whole life time.

The Muslim way of fasting is likely not healthy (or at least not optimally healthy). Food intake should fit the body's circadian rhythm: eat during light hours, fast when it's dark. This is pretty well established.

For perspective’s sake, keep in mind that this practice was established in the desert circa ~600AD and many communities were already much more active during later evening and earlier morning hours. So not exactly the same lifestyle as the modern American person.

I'm not sure that qualifies as a fast by metabolic standards. Most people fast for 8+ hours every day. By the paper's definition, it's more like time restricted eating.

I believe 16:8 is an IF methodology - You easily hit 16 hours here in Tokyo (2:30 AM -> 6:50 PM)

Right now where I am (SoCal, USA), Fajr (first daily prayer) is around 4:30 and Maghrib (prayer at sundown) is around 7:30. So ~15h fasts this year.

At the same time, Ramadan shifts up the calendar ~12 days every year, so during Winter fasting the days are much much shorter and I agree with what you're saying.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting#Eastern_Orthodoxy

and on friday.

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