Annals of Family Medicine - Intermittent Fasting for Diabetics: What We Can Learn from a Study of Muslims During Ramadan

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- While intermittent fasting is growing in popularity worldwide as a diet and lifestyle choice, it has roots in religious practice around the world. During the month of Ramadan, observant Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk. Many Muslims who have diabetes fast despite safety concerns. 

A team of health researchers at the National University of Singapore conducted a study of fasting adult Muslims with type 2 diabetes during Ramadan using a protocol for diabetes management called FAST, or "Fasting Algorithm for Singaporeans with Type 2 Diabetes." The lead researcher Joyce Yu-Chia Lee, PharmD, now a professor at the University of California, Irvine, says, "FAST is one of the first tools that brings together Ramadan education, guidance for health care providers and elements of patient empowerment." Trial participants who used the FAST protocol to manage their diabetes collaboratively with their health care provider saw no increase in the risk of hypoglycemic events, and greater improvements in glycemic control.

The FAST protocol seeks to empower diabetic patients who fast with culturally tailored education, dosing-modification information for patients and their doctors, and encouragement of blood glucose-monitoring before, during and after fasting. The researchers conclude that the use of tools like the FAST protocol can help observant Muslims with diabetes fast safely.

Dr. Lee notes that Muslim patients often fast without seeking medical advice "due to the fear or the fact that their healthcare providers would advise against fasting, as a diabetic." Culturally sensitive tools like FAST fill a practice gap for health care providers and the growing number of diabetic patients who fast for religious reasons or are just considering fasting as a diet and lifestyle choice. She hopes that evidence from this trial could lead to the inclusion of culturally and religiously tailored diabetes management plans in standard practice guidelines.

Efficacy and Safety of Use of the Fasting Algorithm for Singaporeans With Type 2 Diabetes (FAST) During Ramadan: A Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial 
Joyce Yu-Chia Lee, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS, BCACP et al
University of California, Irvine, Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice, Irvine, California

SOURCE Annals of Family Medicine

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