Ramadan

Ramadan can be the perfect time to reflect on your eating and smoking habits, and even during this time of fasting you can make significant changes towards better health.

Healthy body, healthy mind

Mutton curry recipe

- 900g/2 lb mutton, beef or lamb
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 teaspoons ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder/green chillies, crushed
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

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1. Cut the meat into small pieces and remove all visible fat. Wash the meat and place in a pan with enough water to cover the meat. Add all the remaining ingredients.
2. Bring the meat to the boil and cook on a high heat for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium heat and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the meat is soft and cooked.

When you're fasting, it can be difficult to avoid overindulgence once the sun sets. However, keeping to a simple and balanced diet is very beneficial.

South Asians living in the UK are more likely to have a heart attack before the age of 75 compared to the rest of the UK population. Eating healthily can go a long way to help prevent heart disease.

Cook up a healthy, tasty chicken tikka masala with our video

Your time to quit smoking

Smoking is one of the major causes of heart and circulatory disease and smokers are almost twice as likely to have a heart attack as people who have never smoked.

Stopping smoking is one of the most important things you can do to for your heart health and Ramadan is the ideal time to quit smoking for good. It's not just about cigarettes either - shisha and chewing tobacco are both addictive and harmful to your health.

Shisha smoke contains large quantities of the chemicals that can lead to heart disease, lung cancer and other cancers. In a single 20 to 80 minute smoking session, a shisha smoker may inhale as much smoke as a cigarette smoker would inhale if they smoked 100 or more cigarettes.

Chewing tobacco can increase your risk of mouth cancer, throat cancer and cancer of the oesophagus. It's highly addictive and can also make your teeth more vulnerable to decay and tooth loss.

It’s never too late to give up smoking and the risk to your heart decreases significantly soon after you stop.