How to make sure you get enough sleep during Ramadan

In fact, sleep becomes a hot commodity for so many due to waking up at dawn every morning to eat and pray – in fact, more challenging than the fast itself.

Sleep is a key ingredient of one's wellbeing and functioning during the day. Our cells repair themselves during sleep, thus it is important to find the right balance, even during the holy month of Ramadan.

Here are some tips for ensuring that a balance can be found:

Sleep straight after the last prayer of the day, Isha, until waking up for the morning meal, suhoor. In London, for example, this translates to around three to four hours of sleep.

After praying the morning prayer, Fajr, return to sleep until your alarm goes off in the morning to get ready for work. For the average person, this may be 7am. Again, this translates to another three to four hours of sleep.

With this routine alone, one can expect to have slept for at least six to seven hours. In fact, this is the recommended length of sleep that a person should have per night.

With this routine alone, one can expect to have slept for at least six to seven hours. In fact, this is the recommended length of sleep that a person should have per night

Many Muslims choose to pray additional night prayers, taraweeh, which takes place after the Isha prayer and extends for another hour at least.

In London, this could mean not returning home until midnight. Others choose the time after eating to revise or read Quran at home. Thus, to supplement the lack of sleep, the following tips may be helpful.

Take a late afternoon nap between 6-8pm for no more than 45 minutes. This is the average length of a person's sleep cycle dictated by the circadian rhythm, the 24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings that helps regulate sleep patterns based on external/internal stimuli.

Use your weekends to supplement sleep, have a lie in until 11am – no later. Add the hours needed to rejuvenate without overdoing it.

Again, moderate how much you catch up with sleep as it becomes important to keep a solid sleep routine that will follow you into the following weeks.

Ramadan is a month of spirituality, family and food; lots of food. Muslims are used to preparing extravagant feasts to break the fast at iftar time.

Commonly, the food prepared tends to be fried, high in oil. At the best of times fried food is not recommended, least yet in Ramadan.

Eating a diet of fried food, sugars and caffeine will result in digestive issues and insomnia, thus resulting in poor sleep and fatigue.

The key to ensuring a good night's sleep in Ramadan is to be consistent and to regulate your diet to ensure a more wholesome healthy routine.

The New Arab's Ramadan Series: Click on our Special Contents tab to read more on Ramadan 2018: