Towards A Foundation of Good Health

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Welcome to Episode Seven of the Middle Ground Podcast. In this episode brother Dawud Aleman (GBLevate) and myself discuss health and how to take steps towards actualizing better health in one’s life, God willing.

We also discuss and share some strategies for better health such as:

• a system of accountability (calendaring your workouts and food journaling);

• having a plan as well as a program;

• most “diets” (keto, paleo, carnivore) seem to have roughly the same short-term success rate when weight loss is the target but also seem to have the same failure rate over the long haul. Clearly there’s no single best diet;

• motivation and inspiration are nice but they come and go — only discipline lasts;

Here’s a look at what intermittent fasting (16 hours; 6pm — 10am) did for me in the beginning of my journey with type-2 diabetes:

We share some of our person journey and anecdotes as the two of us both strive for better health. As usual, I discuss all topics in light of the Qur’ān and statements from the Prophet, ‎ﷺ.

Other references in this episode:

• Sūrah ‘Abasa v. 24: “Let people consider their food…”;

• Sūrah al-Muṭaffifīn v. 26: “That is what the diligent strive for…”;

• Hadith collected in Imām al-Bayhaqī’s Shu’ab al-Īmān, no. 10,250: “take advantage (ightanim) of five before five…your health before sickness”;

• Hadith from Ibn Mājah’s collection, no. 3349, “if man must fill his stomach then let one third be for food, one third for drink and one third for air”;

• For more on fasting, see Dr. Jason Fung;

• For the benefits of walking see Paul Revelia’s YouTube channel;

• DR. Robert Lustig’s Metabolical is recommended reading. Also see his talk on sugar and its effects;

• A fascinating study on food and its degraded nutritional value by Brian Halweil entitled No Free Lunch (pdf);