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Fasting Doesn’t Affect Kidneys in Healthy People, New Study Suggests

A water bottle is seen next to a student studying at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in Los Angeles, California, March 4, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
A water bottle is seen next to a student studying at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in Los Angeles, California, March 4, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
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Fasting Doesn’t Affect Kidneys in Healthy People, New Study Suggests

A water bottle is seen next to a student studying at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in Los Angeles, California, March 4, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
A water bottle is seen next to a student studying at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in Los Angeles, California, March 4, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

When people speak about the healthy effects of fasting, they say it benefits all the systems in our body except the kidneys. However, a new study published in the latest issue of the journal Transplantation Proceedings, reports that fasting does not affect kidneys.

It was thought that fasting increase the levels of serum creatinine because of dehydration, which usually indicates a kidney dysfunction. But the new study, carried out by researchers at the Nablus University Hospital, Palestine, found that fasting does not harm the kidneys.

The study involved 58 healthy subjects who were randomly divided into two groups. The hydrated group drank 2 to 3 L of fluid from sunset to the dawn of the next day, while the control group drank fluids in regular amounts. Kidney function was measured before, during, and 1 month after Ramadan.

The researchers found that “Ramadan fasting was not associated with a permanent increase in serum creatinine or urea. For those groups with a high fluid intake, serum creatinine and urea were significantly lower than the controls, suggesting a favorable effect of hydration during the non-fasting hours. This compensated with the dehydration occurring during daylight, as dehydration is responsible for increased concentrations of urea and creatinine.”

“This study adds further evidence that Ramadan fasting does not affect the renal system of healthy subjects; however, fluids should be increased at night, during non-fasting hours,” they added.

For his part, Khaled el-Feki, kidney expert at the Egyptian health ministry, said “the results of this study apply to healthy people and should not be considered for kidney patients.”

“Those patients are advised not to fast because they need to drink fluids constantly. But in case they insist to fast, they should be urged to drink a lot of fluids between sunset and dawn,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Those patients should also pay attention for some alerting signs and break their fast immediately when they feel swelling in the legs, nausea and vomiting, serious drop in blood sugar and blood pressure, and less or no urine,” he concluded.

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Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
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Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP

One of the most enduring images of Greece's summer travel brand is the world-famous sunset on Santorini Island, framed by sea-blue church domes on a jagged cliff high above a volcanic caldera.
This scene has inspired millions of fridge magnets, posters, and souvenirs -- and now the queue to reach the viewing spot in the clifftop village of Oia can take more than 20 minutes, said AFP.
Santorini is a key stopover of the Greek cruise experience. But with parts of the island nearing saturation, officials are considering restrictions.
Of the record 32.7 million people who visited Greece last year, around 3.4 million, or one in 10, went to the island of just 15,500 residents.
"We need to set limits if we don't want to sink under overtourism," Santorini mayor Nikos Zorzos told AFP.
"There must not be a single extra bed... whether in the large hotels or Airbnb rentals."
As the sun set behind the horizon in Oia, thousands raised their phones to the sky to capture the moment, followed by scattered applause.
For canny entrepreneurs, the Cycladic island's famous sunset can be a cash cow.
One company advertised more than 50 "flying dresses", which have long flowing trains, for up to 370 euros ($401), on posters around Oia for anyone who wishes to "feel like a Greek goddess" or spruce up selfies.
'Respect Oia'
But elsewhere in Oia's narrow streets, residents have put up signs urging visitors to respect their home.
"RESPECT... It's your holiday... but it's our home," read a purple sign from the Save Oia group.
Shaped by a volcanic eruption 3,600 years ago, Santorini's landscape is "unique", the mayor said, and "should not be harmed by new infrastructure".
Around a fifth of the island is currently occupied by buildings.
At the edge of the cliff, a myriad of swimming pools and jacuzzis highlight Santorini is also a pricey destination.
In 2023, 800 cruise ships brought some 1.3 million passengers, according to the Hellenic Ports Association.
Cruise ships "do a lot of harm to the island", said Chantal Metakides, a Belgian resident of Santorini for 26 years.
"When there are eight or nine ships pumping out smoke, you can see the layer of pollution in the caldera," she said.
Cruise ship limits
In June, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis floated the possibility of capping cruise ship arrivals to Greece's most popular islands.
"I think we'll do it next year," he told Bloomberg, noting that Santorini and tourist magnet Mykonos "are clearly suffering".
"There are people spending a lot of money to be on Santorini and they don’t want the island to be swamped," said the pro-business conservative leader, who was re-elected to a second four-year term last year.
In an AFP interview, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni echoed this sentiment and said: "We must set quotas because it's impossible for an island such as Santorini... to have five cruise ships arriving at the same time."
Local officials have set a limit of 8,000 cruise boat passengers per day from next year.
But not all local operators agree.
Antonis Pagonis, head of Santorini's hoteliers association, believes better visitor flow management is part of the solution.
"It is not possible to have (on) a Monday, for example, 20 to 25,000 guests from the cruise ships, and the next day zero," he said.
Pagonis also argued that most of the congestion only affects parts of the island like the capital, Fira.
In the south of the island, the volcanic sand beaches are less crowded, even though it is high season in July.
'I'm in Türkiye
The modern tourism industry has also changed visitor behavior.
"I listened (to) people making a FaceTime call with the family, saying 'I'm in Türkiye," smiled tourist guide Kostas Sakavaras.
"They think that the church over there is a mosque because yesterday they were in Türkiye."
The veteran guide said the average tourist coming to the island has changed.
"Instagram has defined the way people choose the places to visit," he said, explaining everybody wants the perfect Instagram photo to confirm their expectations.