The Effects of Islamic Fasting on Blood Biochemical Parameters in Morbidly Obese Patients Undergone Bariatric Surgery

Abstract

Morbidly obese patients who have undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass are prone to alterations in lipid, glucose, and serum electrolyte profiles. The changes in these factors were investigated after Islamic fasting vs. non-fasting in bariatric surgery patients. This case-control study was conducted on patients who had undergone bariatric surgery 6 to 12 months before. Two groups of participants (case group: Islamic fasting; control group: no fasting) were compared in terms of their blood biochemical parameters. Blood samples were collected 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the fasting period of Ramadan. None of the participants showed any known complications. The mean age of the participants was 38.4 ± 8.2 years. The two groups were similar in terms of age and sex (P > 0.05 for both). The comparison of these factors after the fasting period showed a significant reduction in blood cholesterol (P = 0.003), low-density lipoprotein (P = 0.016), and total protein (P = 0.022) in the case group compared with those in the controls. Other parameters, including fasting blood glucose, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, triglyceride, high-density lipid, very low-density lipoprotein, albumin, calcium, phosphor, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin, showed no significant differences after fasting in this study (P > 0.05). Islamic fasting does not have detrimental effects on blood chemistry parameters in patients who have had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.