Eat responsibly. Live peacefully …
The final messenger of God, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mounted the pulpit, then wept and said, "Ask Allah (swt) for forgiveness and health, for after being granted certainty, one is given nothing better than health." Related in Tirmidhi
Of all the blessings Allah (swt) granted us with, good health is one we tend to forget. Indeed our age, our vitality and mobility are all blessings from Allah (swt). Similar to how we work hard to preserve our education, careers, and fortune, we should work just as hard to maintain our health. On the Day of Judgment, Allah (swt) will ask us how we spent the blessings He bestowed upon us and our health is one of them. As the Prophet (S) advised his Muslim brothers and sisters:
“Take benefit of five before five:
your youth before your old age,
your health before your sickness,
your wealth before your poverty,
your free-time before your preoccupation,
and your life before your death.”
(Hakim)
With many of us gearing our education and dreams toward the healthcare profession, we should take a second to understand why the number of health care workers needs to continue to grow. The rate of patients especially diagnosed with diabetes II, hypertension, and obesity steadily increase. Such diseases are commonly looked over in society and even in our families. Alhamdulillah with the power of medicine, these diseases can be managed with a simple pill or a quick shot of insulin the body is no longer able to produce. Maybe such quick fixes are the reason why these diseases are casually overlooked. However, these ‘innocent’ diseases eventually branch out and affect other parts of the body. Hypertension is the number one factor linked with stroke. Uncontrolled diabetes WILL cause neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney issues, and even heart failure. Obesity is linked to both diseases, hindering the overall quality of life.
Being a college student, the stressors we face are understandable. Pulling those all nighters for exams or papers, the last thing we worry about is what is good and not so good for our body. I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of red bulls, cupcakes, Starbucks frap-craps, and those weapons of mass destruction also known as hot Cheetos. However, remember those diseases I mentioned earlier? Well they don’t develop over night; they actually develop over years of negligence. Statistics show that 85% of the time, the eating and lifestyle habits we develop during early adulthood (aka college years), persist the remainder of the adult’s life. Another scary thought for the future is that children are more likely to develop the eating habits observed from their parents. Insha’Allah when we have children – would we allow them to eat junk and want them to get diseases such as diabetes or hypertension? Hopefully not, so it is time to eat responsibly and live peacefully.
As everything else given to us in this world, the food we have is a blessing from Allah (swt). This article is not to make you feel guilty and give up eating everything you’ve ever liked. If you love that gyro pizza or can’t give up the flan lattes from Starbucks -- don’t. However with every blessing comes a responsibility. Limit yourself to maybe having these delights once a week. Make a conscious effort to include more RAW fruits and vegetables in your diet; those fruit smoothies from the store are nice and pretty, but they tend to have more corn syrup and added sugar than actual fruit.
Make breakfast a habit because it does give your metabolism a boost and increases your cognitive abilities – and no, eating coco puffs or captain crunch does not constitute as breakfast. Swap out your mindless eating times with mindful activities such as visiting Halas or attending the weekly halaqas. As a rule of thumb, anything home cooked is ten times more nutritious than what the restaurants have to offer, so thank your mama. For the overachievers, meal times do not take away from study time (or MSA work), they actually make studying more productive so please do not skip out on meals.
Lastly, say Bismillah before you eat anything and Alhamdulillah that you got to eat anything of your choice. As stressed earlier, everything given to us is a blessing from Allah (swt) so take care of it and reap its benefits in this life and the next iA :)
The final messenger of God, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mounted the pulpit, then wept and said, "Ask Allah (swt) for forgiveness and health, for after being granted certainty, one is given nothing better than health." Related in Tirmidhi
Of all the blessings Allah (swt) granted us with, good health is one we tend to forget. Indeed our age, our vitality and mobility are all blessings from Allah (swt). Similar to how we work hard to preserve our education, careers, and fortune, we should work just as hard to maintain our health. On the Day of Judgment, Allah (swt) will ask us how we spent the blessings He bestowed upon us and our health is one of them. As the Prophet (S) advised his Muslim brothers and sisters:
“Take benefit of five before five:
your youth before your old age,
your health before your sickness,
your wealth before your poverty,
your free-time before your preoccupation,
and your life before your death.”
(Hakim)
With many of us gearing our education and dreams toward the healthcare profession, we should take a second to understand why the number of health care workers needs to continue to grow. The rate of patients especially diagnosed with diabetes II, hypertension, and obesity steadily increase. Such diseases are commonly looked over in society and even in our families. Alhamdulillah with the power of medicine, these diseases can be managed with a simple pill or a quick shot of insulin the body is no longer able to produce. Maybe such quick fixes are the reason why these diseases are casually overlooked. However, these ‘innocent’ diseases eventually branch out and affect other parts of the body. Hypertension is the number one factor linked with stroke. Uncontrolled diabetes WILL cause neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney issues, and even heart failure. Obesity is linked to both diseases, hindering the overall quality of life.
Being a college student, the stressors we face are understandable. Pulling those all nighters for exams or papers, the last thing we worry about is what is good and not so good for our body. I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of red bulls, cupcakes, Starbucks frap-craps, and those weapons of mass destruction also known as hot Cheetos. However, remember those diseases I mentioned earlier? Well they don’t develop over night; they actually develop over years of negligence. Statistics show that 85% of the time, the eating and lifestyle habits we develop during early adulthood (aka college years), persist the remainder of the adult’s life. Another scary thought for the future is that children are more likely to develop the eating habits observed from their parents. Insha’Allah when we have children – would we allow them to eat junk and want them to get diseases such as diabetes or hypertension? Hopefully not, so it is time to eat responsibly and live peacefully.
As everything else given to us in this world, the food we have is a blessing from Allah (swt). This article is not to make you feel guilty and give up eating everything you’ve ever liked. If you love that gyro pizza or can’t give up the flan lattes from Starbucks -- don’t. However with every blessing comes a responsibility. Limit yourself to maybe having these delights once a week. Make a conscious effort to include more RAW fruits and vegetables in your diet; those fruit smoothies from the store are nice and pretty, but they tend to have more corn syrup and added sugar than actual fruit.
Make breakfast a habit because it does give your metabolism a boost and increases your cognitive abilities – and no, eating coco puffs or captain crunch does not constitute as breakfast. Swap out your mindless eating times with mindful activities such as visiting Halas or attending the weekly halaqas. As a rule of thumb, anything home cooked is ten times more nutritious than what the restaurants have to offer, so thank your mama. For the overachievers, meal times do not take away from study time (or MSA work), they actually make studying more productive so please do not skip out on meals.
Lastly, say Bismillah before you eat anything and Alhamdulillah that you got to eat anything of your choice. As stressed earlier, everything given to us is a blessing from Allah (swt) so take care of it and reap its benefits in this life and the next iA :)