Thousands of sheep are slaughtered during Eid al-Adha to relatives, friends and poor. But eating a lot of meat can lead to indigestion: hospital urgencies in Doha were crowded by a record number of patients who complained of severe stomach upsets.

Eid al-Adha (“Festival of Sacrifice“) commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael in response to a command from God. But God thanks Abraham devotion replacing Ishmael with a sheep.

That’s why pilgrims at the end of their Hajj re-enact this scene by slaughtering sheep; all Muslims in the rest of the world also participate in this rite in their family. It is a major event in the Islamic religious calendar and it is an opportunity to gather all family and relatives: the meat is divided into three parts to be distributed to others. The family retains one third of the share, another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor & needy.

Overeating meat without balancing could be harmful for health

Meat is a rich source of protein which is needed by our body. But overeating meat without balancing with fiber or vegetables can cause diseases (cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis).  Meat has no fiber: vegetable sources of protein are excellent choices and they offer healthy fiber, vitamins and minerals¹.

On long term, of course, a high-fat diet is associated with weight gain, heart disease and declines in cognitive function. Moreover a new research (on rats) leaded by Dr. Andrew Murray shows last year how indulging in fatty foods over the course of a few days can affect the brain and body. When you eat during the few days of Aid el-Adha a fatty food based on meat, the short term effects of protein on metabolism are more important than we thought. No fiber in meat induces postprandial complications like constipations and stomach aches. But the metabolism and blood pressure is really altered by high dietary meat protein intake (unlike vegetarian protein intake).

Fast Foods are targeting Fatty Population

Sources

• Halton TL, Willett WC, Liu S, et al. Low-carbohydrate-diet score and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. N Engl J Med. 2006; 355:1991–2002.
• Horvath Tamas, et al., Yale University, One high-fat diet, two different outcomes: The path to obesity becomes clearer. ScienceDaily, 2010, August 5

1. A 20-year prospective study of 82,802 women found that those who ate low-carbohydrate diets that were high in vegetable sources of fat or protein had a 30 percent lower risk of heart disease, compared to women who ate high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets. But women who ate low-carbohydrate diets that were high in animal fats or proteins did not have a reduced risk of heart disease (see sources below). [↩]