The quality and length of sleep can change drastically during Ramadan. The effects of fasting, changes to work and school schedules and staying up late or rising early for suhoor are all contributing factors.
When a person gets less sleep each day, with the lost time building up without being recovered, it is called sleep debt. Not only restricted to Ramadan, sleep debt can affect anyone who doesn’t get the recommended amount of sleep or isn’t able to catch up on that lost sleep with daily naps.
“During the holy month, the sudden change of eating habits and sleep timings, are accompanied by some physiological changes in the body,” says Arfa Banu Khan, clinical psychologist at Aster Clinic, Bur Dubai. “The normal circadian rhythm of the body gets affected and makes it difficult to get a proper night's rest and sleep. The social gatherings and prayers later in the evening also add to the improper sleep schedule.”
What is sleep debt?
Sleep debt, also known as sleep deficit, is the difference between how much sleep you need and how much you get. Getting less sleep than you need for a few days won’t be an issue, but when that difference is sustained over a long period of time, the lost hours accrue and become impossible to get back.
“Sleep is an essential part of our lives and the typical person needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night to maintain peak mental and physical health,” says Dr Waseem Dar, specialist neurology at RAK Hospital. “Getting less than adequate sleep is known as sleep deprivation. When an individual has multiple consecutive days of sleep deprivation, they enter 'sleep debt', which is a cumulative effect of insufficient sleep for any period of time.”
It is recommended that adults sleep between seven and nine hours a night; teenagers aged between 14 to 17 years should get eight to 10 hours and school-age children aged between six to 13 years should get nine to 12 hours.
Not getting the full amount of sleep can have a detrimental effect on health, including low energy levels, irritability, anxiety and an inability to concentrate. More serious effects caused by long-term sleep debt can lead to depression, heart disease and risk of stroke.
For an adult, losing two or three hours of sleep a day can result in 14 to 21 hours of lost sleep in a week or the equivalent of two or three full night’s sleep.
How Ramadan and fasting can increase sleep deficit
A 2013 study, The effects of Ramadan fasting on sleep patterns and daytime sleepiness: An objective assessment, found that: “During Ramadan, bedtime and wake-up time were delayed, and there was a significant reduction in total sleep time for Muslims.”
Rem is the deepest level of sleep and is characterised by irregular breathing, elevated heart rate, relaxed muscles and quick eye movements. It is the time when most dreams occur, the brain strengthens its ability to form memories and also rests and repairs. Adults are recommended to get at least two hours of rem sleep a night.
“Fasting has been shown to alter the sleep-wakefulness pattern,” says Dr Dar. “For example, food deprivation has been shown to increase wakefulness and markedly reduce rapid eye movement sleep.”
Adds Khan: “The reduction in total sleep time during Ramadan makes you sleepy during the day and lack energy. Lack of sleep causes hormonal dysregulation and is detrimental to overall well-being.”
Can napping help make up sleep debt?
Making up your sleep debt during Ramadan can be helped by developing new sleeping rhythms and patterns as your day allows. “Try to sleep for at least four hours at night after iftar, before waking for suhoor – and return to sleep for a couple of hours before getting up for the day ahead,” says Khan. “This will help your body get into a rhythm for more restful sleep. A short power nap in the afternoon can revive the energy level. A 20 to 30-minute nap can boost energy and help combat daytime fatigue without interfering with night-time sleep.”
The amount of time taken for a nap should be regulated by setting an alarm so you don’t get too much, which can have a detrimental effect on the rest of the day. “In power naps, a person wakes up from light sleep and feels refreshed and alert,” says Dr Dar. “Waking up from deep sleep can cause a feeling of drowsiness and grogginess, a term known as ‘sleep inertia’. Research has shown that napping for less than 20 minutes improves alertness and functioning right away, with little or no grogginess after waking up.”
Adding: “If a person has had a late night, they might benefit from a longer nap. Snoozing for an hour or 90 minutes can help make up some of that sleep deficit. However, power naps are not the answer for chronic sleep deprivation.”
Making up for lost sleep after Ramadan
When eating and sleeping patterns, along with work and school hours, return to normal, getting back to your natural rhythms may take some time, but there are ways you can naturally facilitate the transition.
Dr Suresh Vassen at Bodytree Wellness in Abu Dhabi suggests partaking in daily walking meditations and reducing exposure to screens and monitors as ways of returning to your previous schedule.
“Maintain a strict routine of rest and activity at the same time every day, with a mild to moderate movement of the body,” he says. “Throughout the day, try low, deep, regulated and gentle alternate nostril breathing exercises hourly for one to two minutes each time.”
Replenishing natural melatonin levels can also help. Try to incorporate foods that are high in melatonin into your meal before bedtime – to be eaten three or four hours before sleeping – such as milk, bananas, cherries and eggs.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
HAJJAN
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
