Food Safety and Health from the Perspective of Islam

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objective: The relationship between food and the health of the soul and body is one of the issues mentioned in a monotheistic worldview including Islam. The verse "And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers" confirms the influence of religious teachings in this respect. This study examines the Qur'anic guidelines on food safety and hygiene.Methods: This review study investigates into the health system through library reviews of authentic sources, religious teachings, Quranic verses, authentic statements from the infallibles (Imams and the prophet), important Qur'anic commentaries, statements and books on nutrition on national and international databases. After categorization, the results were analyzed and integrated. The authors declared no conflict of interest.Results: About 250 Qur'anic verses and dozens of statements from the infallibles point to the importance of food and nutrition. The Holy Qur'an mentions the word “food” 48 times, the word “eating” 107 times, and the word “drink” 39 times. In the verses related to food, it has been mentioned six times that food should be Halal, and in various interpretations, the importance of nourishing the body is emphasized. Attitude to food as a sign in knowing God, believing in divine generosity, enjoying divine intent, asserting the rights of those in need, clean eating, having a balanced diet, adhering to halal food, and avoiding forbidden foods are the most important attitudinal and habitual strategies related to food safety. In addition, human dignity is one of the most important outcomes of adhering to Islamic food safety strategies.Conclusion: Since in revelatory doctrines, a healthy diet involves physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects of human life, it is essential that health policy makers consider the Islamic nutritional approach to achieve a true universal health.For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Please cite this article as: Biglari H, Dargahi A, Vaziri Y, Ivanbagh R, Hami M, Poursadeqiyan M. Food Safety and Health from the Perspective of Islam. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(1):131-143.https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i1.1914

Depression and anxiety in sterilised women in Iran

Sterilisation is an effective and convenient means of contraception and has become increasingly popular as a birth control technique throughout the world during the past 40 years. However some women who choose sterilisation may suffer a neurotic syndrome, which is manifested in the form of pain, depression and loss of libido.1We undertook a study designed to investigate depression, anxiety and post-operation regret rate in sterilised women referred to health centres in Tabriz, Iran in 2006. The study design was descriptive-analytical. The study participants comprised 300 women in the age range 25–45 years, of whom 150 women were sterilized between 1 and 10 years ago and 150 were a control group of non-sterilised women who used condoms, withdrawal or safe period methods for contraception. The control group was selected by a cluster random sampling method. Fifteen health centres were selected as a cluster from 96 health centres located in Tabriz. Ten women were selected randomly from each health centre using health documents. Women were eligible for inclusion in the study if they were aged between 25 and 45 years at the time of sampling, and if they had no history of psychological disorders and no recent sorrowful events. There were no differences between the two groups as regards the number of children, income or demographic characteristics. The women were contacted by telephone at their last known address and were asked to complete questionnaires. Data collection was done using Zung’s self-rating depression and anxiety scale in addition to questions about post-sterilisation regret. Data were collected from the subjects anonymously and analysed using SPSS (v. 11.5) statistics software. Analysis employed t-test, Chi-square test and descriptive statistics. The comparison of the means for depression in the two groups was not significantly different (p = 0.96), however the mean of anxiety in the case group was remarkably greater than the control group (p = 0.03). Insufficient poststerilisation rest was a significant risk factor for depression and anxiety (p = 0.008 and p = 0.02, respectively). Requesting information about reversal after tubal sterilisation was 2.7% and the post-sterilisation regret rate was 6%, which was significantly related to women’s conflict with their husbands about the decision-making process prior to sterilisation (p<0.001). The study findings as regards psychological disorders of sterilisation suggested that women undergoing sterilisation should ensure that they have a good rest after their operation in order to reduce the extent of psychological disorders. Unlike studies undertaken in other countries,2–4 women’s age, parity, marriage duration and the timing of sterilisation was unrelated to the women’s regret in our study. The earlier the sterilisation is carried out, the longer the woman’s remaining period of fertile life and the greater the chances of changes in her marital status and/or the loss of a child, both circumstances that may lead to a change in the desired family size and expression of regret. In our study, probably one of the reasons why women’s regret did not appear to be significantly related to young age of sterilisation was the infrequency of divorce or remarriage in our study population. Consistent with our study, Jamieson et al. reported that women who had substantial conflict with their husbands or partners prior to sterilisation were more than three times as likely to regret their decision and more than five times more likely to request a reversal than women who did not report such conflict.5 In our study, pre-sterilisation counseling was reported by 29.3% of subjects. With respect to personality and adaptability differences in facing the changes, pre-sterilisation counseling and post-sterilisation follow-up systems have an important role to play in women’s psychological and psychosexual health promotion

ایمنی و بهداشت مواد غذایی از منظر اسلام

خلفية البحث وأهدافه: تعتبر علاقة التغذية بسلامة الروح والجسم من القضايا التي قد اشير اليها في النظرة التوحيدية ودين الإسلام. ففي القرآن الكريم تؤكد آية "وَنُنَزِّلُ&nbsp;مِنَ الْقُرْآَنِ مَا هُوَ&nbsp;شِفَاءٌ&nbsp;وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ"&nbsp;على تأثير التعاليم الدينية على مفهوم السلامة الغذائية. إن الغرض من هذا البحث، دراسة التعاليم القرآنية في مجال صحة التغدية وسلامتها من منظور الإسلام. منهجية البحث: بغرض البحث في نظام الصحة ومن خلال دراسة مكتبية للمصادر الموثوقة والتعاليم الدينية للمختارات من الآيات القرآنية والأحاديث الصحيحة للأئمة المعصومين عليهم السلام والتفاسير القرآنية المهمة وتفاسير الروايات والأحاديث المتعلقة بسلامة المواد الغذائية في القواعد المعلوماتية الوطنية والدولية، معتمداً على أدوات الجمع والدراسة والفحص والتأمل، والمستوحى من تعاليم علماء الحضارة الإسلامية في إرشادات سلامة الأغذية والصحة. تم الإبلاغ عن النتائج بعد تصنیف المعطيات وتجزئتها وتحليلها و تركيبها. إن مؤلفي البحث لم يشيروا الى اي تضارب في المصالح. الكشوفات: ان مايقارب 250 آية من الآيات القرآنية وعشرات من الاحاديث المروية عن المعصومين تدل على أهمية الطعام والتغدية. لقد جاء في القرآن الكريم 48 مرة كلمة الطعام، 107 مرات كلمة "أكل" و39 مرة كلمة "شراب" وكذلك قد اشير 6 مرات في الآيات المتعلقة بالطعام الى حلية الأطعمة؛ كما انه قد أكدت التفاسير المختلفة الى اهمية التغذية وتأثيرها على الروح. ان التأمل في الطعام كآية من ايات معرفة الله، والإعتقاد بأن الله هو الرزاق وأن نجعل النية الإلهية في إستهلاك الطعام واعطاء حق المحتاجين من الطعام ونظافة الطعام والتنوع في الطعام والإلتزام بتناول الطعام الحلال وتجنب أكل المحرمات وكل هذا يعتبر من أهم الاستراتيجيات السلوكية في سلامة الغذاء من منظور إسلامي. وإضافة الى هذا فإن الكرامة الإنسانية تعتبر من أهم نتائج الإلتزام بإستراتيجيات السلامة الغذائية. الاستنتاج: بما أن التغذية السليمة في الرؤية الإسلامية تشمل جميع جوانب الصحة الجسمية والعقلية والروحية والإجتماعية؛ فمن الضروري لواضعي السياسات في مجال الصحة، ايلاء الإهتمام في النهج التغذوي في الإسلام من أجل تحقيق الصحة الشاملة الحقيقية في المجمتع. &nbsp; يتم استناد المقالة على الترتيب التالي: Biglari H, Dargahi A, Vaziri Y, Ivanbagh R, Hami M, Poursadeqiyan M. Food Safety and Health from the Perspective of Islam. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(1):131-143. https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i1.19142Background and Objective: The relationship between food and the health of the soul and body is one of the issues mentioned in a monotheistic worldview including Islam. The verse "And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers" confirms the influence of religious teachings in this respect. This study examines the Qur'anic guidelines on food safety and hygiene. Methods: This review study investigates into the health system through library reviews of authentic sources, religious teachings, Quranic verses, authentic statements from the infallibles (Imams and the prophet), important Qur'anic commentaries, statements and books on nutrition on national and international databases. After categorization, the results were analyzed and integrated. The authors declared no conflict of interest. Results: About 250 Qur'anic verses and dozens of statements from the infallibles point to the importance of food and nutrition. The Holy Qur'an mentions the word “food” 48 times, the word “eating” 107 times, and the word “drink” 39 times. In the verses related to food, it has been mentioned six times that food should be Halal, and in various interpretations, the importance of nourishing the body is emphasized. Attitude to food as a sign in knowing God, believing in divine generosity, enjoying divine intent, asserting the rights of those in need, clean eating, having a balanced diet, adhering to halal food, and avoiding forbidden foods are the most important attitudinal and habitual strategies related to food safety. In addition, human dignity is one of the most important outcomes of adhering to Islamic food safety strategies. Conclusion: Since in revelatory doctrines, a healthy diet involves physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects of human life, it is essential that health policy makers consider the Islamic nutritional approach to achieve a true universal health. &nbsp; Please cite this article as: Biglari H, Dargahi A, Vaziri Y, Ivanbagh R, Hami M, Poursadeqiyan M. Food Safety and Health from the Perspective of Islam. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(1):131-143. https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i1.19142سابقه و هدف: ارتباط ‌غذا‌ با‌ سلامت ‌روح‌ و ‌جسم ‌از‌ مسائلی ‌است‌ که ‌در ‌جهان‌بینی ‌توحیدي ‌و ‌مکتب‌ اسلام ‌به‌ آن ‌اشاره ‌شده ‌است. ‌آيۀ ‌«وَنُنَزِّلُ&nbsp;مِنَ الْقُرْآَنِ مَا هُوَ&nbsp;شِفَاءٌ&nbsp;وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ»‌ مؤید اثر‌گذار‌‌ی آموزه‌‌های ‌دینی در ‌مفهوم‌ ایمنی ‌غذایی ‌است. هدف ‌اين‌ مطالعه بررسي رهنمودهاي‌ قرآني ‌در‌ زمینۀ ‌ایمنی‌ و‌ بهداشت مواد‌ غذایی ‌از ‌منظر ‌اسلام ‌بود. روش کار: ‌این ‌مطالعۀ‌ مروری‌ با‌ هدف ‌تحقيق ‌در‌ نظام ‌‌سلامت ‌از ‌طریق‌ بررسی‌های کتابخانه‌‌ای ‌منابع معتبر‌ و‌ آموزه‌‌های ‌دینی، ‌بر‌گزيده‌‌اي ‌از‌ آيات ‌قرآني‌، احاديث‌ معتبر ‌معصومان‌ (ع)‌، ‌تفاسير ‌قرآني ‌مهم و کتاب‌هايي ‌در‌ شرح ‌احاديث ‌و روایات ‌مرتبط ‌با‌ بهداشت‌ و ‌ایمنی ‌مواد ‌غذایی ‌در‌ پايگاه‌هاي ‌اطلاعاتي ‌ملي‌ و ‌بين‌‌المللي؛ ‌با‌ اتکا‌ بر ‌ابزار ‌گردآوری، مطالعه، ‌تفحص‌ و ‌تعمق و ‌‌با‌ الهام‌‌گيري‌ از‌ آموخته‌هاي ‌حکيمان تمدن ‌اسلامي ‌به‌ رهنمودهاي ‌ایمنی‌ و‌ بهداشت ‌مواد‌ غذایی‌ انجام ‌شد.‌ پس ‌از دسته‌‌بندی، ‌تجزیه‌ و ‌تحلیل و‌ یکپارچه‌سازی ‌نتایج‌ گزارش ‌شد. مؤلفان مقاله هیچ‌گونه تضاد منافعی گزارش نکرده‌اند. یافته‌ها: حدود ‌250 ‌آیۀ‌ قرآنی ‌و ‌ده‌ها ‌روایت ‌از ‌معصومان ‌(ع) ‌بـر ‌اهمیت ‌غـذا‌ و ‌تغذیه‌ دلالت ‌می‌کند. در قرآن‌ کریم‌ ‌۴۸‌ بار ‌واژۀ‌ طعام، ‌۱۰۷ ‌بار ‌واژۀ‌ اکل ‌و ‌۳۹‌ بار‌ ‌واژۀ شراب آورده ‌شده‌ که‌ در‌ آیات‌ مرتبط ‌با طعام، ‌شش بار ‌به حلال ‌بودن‌ غذاها‌ ‌اشاره؛ و‌ در ‌تفاسیر ‌مختلف ‌به اهمیت ‌تغذیۀ جسم ‌در ‌روح‌ ‌تأکید ‌شده است. نگرش ‌به‌ غذا ‌به‌‌عنوان‌ آیه‌ای‌ در شناخت‌ خدا، ‌باورمندی ‌به ‌رازقیت ‌الهی،‌ برخورداری ‌از نیت ‌الهی در ‌مصرف،‌ ادای‌ حقوق نیازمندان ‌به ‌هنگام مصرف،‌ پاکیزگی ‌غذا، تنوع غذایی،‌ التزام ‌به‌ غذای‌ حلال و پرهیز‌ از ‌غذای ‌حرام ‌مهم‌ترین راهبردهای‌ نگرشی‌ و‌ رفتاری ‌ایمنی‌‌ غذایی‌ با‌ نگاه ‌اسلامی ‌است. ‌به‌علاوه، از ‌مهم‌ترین ‌نتایج‌ التزام راهبردهای ایمنی ‌غذایی،‌ کرامت‌ انسان‌ شمرده ‌شده ‌است. نتیجه‌گیری: از‌ آنجا‌ که‌ در‌ آموزه‌‌های ‌وحیانی، ‌تغذیۀ ‌سالم شامل جنبه‌‌های‌ جسمی،‌ روانی، ‌معنوی‌ و‌ اجتماعی است؛ ضروری ‌است‌ ‌سیاست‌‌گذاران ‌عرصۀ‌ سلامت‌ به ‌رویکرد ‌تغذیه‌‌ای اسلام ‌‌توجه کنند ‌تا سلامت ‌همه‌جانبۀ واقعی ‌یا ‌جامع‌‌نگر‌ در‌ جامعه‌ حاصل ‌گردد. استناد مقاله به این صورت است: Biglari H, Dargahi A, Vaziri Y,&nbsp;Ivanbagh R, Hami M, Poursadeqiyan M. Food Safety and Health from the Perspective of Islam. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(1):131-143. https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i1.1914

Studying the Environmental Health Condition of the Cities in the Kermanshah Province Affected by 2017 Earthquake

Background: Natural disasters are out of human control, often leading to loss of life and property, and particularly affecting public health. Natural disasters influence human lives in different ways. They may have severe, obvious, or hidden consequences. Therefore, the present study aimed at examining the environmental health condition of the cities affected by 2017 earthquake in Kermanshah Province. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The environmental health experts gathered and analyzed the study data regarding the environment health condition of public places, food safety, solid waste management, types and number of water supplies, number of healthcare facilities and local health centers, etc. Results: According to the results, the lowest and highest number of damaged villages in Kermanshah Province were located in Sarpol-e Zahab (205 villages) and Ghasreshirin (29 villages), respectively. In addition, Eslamabad-e Gharb and Salas-e Babajani had the highest and lowest urban and rural populations, respectively. A total of 138564 people were affected by the earthquake. The improved water sources in the affected areas included 51 low-risk water sources, 171 moderate-risk water sources, 2 high-risk water sources, and 0 very high-risk water sources. In addition, 5059 m3 water was chlorinated by the environmental health experts and 1805 households were under the coverage of methoxymethyl chloride. Moreover, public healthcare centers (1059 intact and 605 damaged), 4564 food safety centers (3204 intact and 1360 damaged), and 20 solid waste management centers (16 intact and 4 damaged) were available in the area after the earthquake. Conclusion: Overall, the results indicate that the environmental health activities in the areas affected by the earthquake were adequate in terms of providing healthy drinking water, garbage and wastewater management, distribution of healthy foods, and so on. Thus it can be used as a good model to response the needs of the survivors from the future natural disasters and crises

Study on the Awareness of the Students of Azad University of Medical Sciences About Nutrition and Food Storing Stuff During Crisis

Background: Consumption of healthy and hygienic foods is imperative to live a healthy life. This issue is of greater importance when obtaining foodstuff is relatively tough. The countries prone to natural disasters should always be prepared for a crisis. The present study aims to investigate awareness among the students in Azad University of Medical Sciences regarding nutrition and storing foodstuff in case of crisis.&nbsp; Materials and Methods: A descriptive-analytical method was used in the present study. The study participants included 1350 students in Azad University of Medical Science which were selected randomly from all students in the academic year 2015-2016. Experts confirmed the validity of the questionnaire and it was distributed among the students. The collected data was analyzed through SPSS version 16.&nbsp; Results: Given the results of the study, only 35% of the participants had a good level of awareness, 38.5% had moderate awareness, and 26.5% had low level of awareness about nutrition and how to store food during crisis. No significant gender and age (&alpha;=0.05) difference was observed. Conclusion: Health experts and authorities should be aware of nutrition safety and sampling risky foods. This process can be helpful in case of a crisis, especially during early hours of the crisis and after the settlement of the displaced population are essential. To that end, training the experts and authorities responsible for such situations can be helpful. Therefore, holding training courses and teaching for related authorities on how to prevent waterborne and foodborne disease can prevent from food poisoning outbreaks and high mortality rate

Impact of Short Message System Education on Blood Sugar Control and Treatment Adherence in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives: Considering the need of diabetic patients for accessing the care system and the role of modern media in health education and culture, we aimed to determine the effectiveness of educating via mobile SMS in controlling blood sugar. Moreover, the adherence to drug treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes was assessed. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in Isfahan City, Iran in 2018. A total of 100 diabetic patients participated in the case (intervention) and control groups. The control group underwent conventional therapies and training. SMS training was applied for the intervention group in addition to the conventional therapies. Collecting the information and data to assess adherence to patients’ treatment was done using a researcher-made 18-item questionnaire. Analyzing data was performed in SPSS software, version 20 through the employment of the independent t test, paired t test, and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: Based on the independent t test results, no significant difference was detected between the two study groups at any time points (P>0.05) in terms of the mean fasting blood sugar. However, by analysis of covariance and adjusting the fasting blood sugar level before the intervention in the studied groups, the mean fasting blood sugar was recognized to be significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control group in the second month (P=0.048) and the third month after the intervention (P=0.008). Discussion: There is an association between SMS education and fasting blood sugar control and adherence to treatment in the studied patients. In the field of health care education, it is possible to use patient communication techniques and short message services to control follow-up and monitor interventions

Assessing the Effects of Acceptance-commitment and Psychodrama Therapies in Nurses With Social Anxiety Disorder

Objectives: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and generates severe negative effects on patients' mental, individual, and social health. Decreased responsibility, absenteeism, and poor life quality can be the consequences of this disorder. Considering the effective empirical background of both therapeutic approaches in reducing social anxiety symptoms and the lack of research on combining both interventions to reduce anxiety, this study was performed to determine the effects of acceptance-commitment therapy (ACT) and psychodrama therapy on nurses' social anxiety. Methods: This randomized trial research was conducted at Torbat Heydarieh University of Medical Sciences in 2017 with a pre-test-post-test design. A total of 48 nurses with SAD who were referred to the university counseling center were chosen at random and entered into 4 equal groups (12 subjects) (an intervention group and 3 control groups). The intervention group received a combination of psychodrama and ACT therapies in twelve 90-minute treatment sessions (2 meetings every week). The control groups were provided with psychodrama therapy, ACT, and no treatment. The study data were collected by Connor's social anxiety questionnaire (2000). The collected data were analyzed by analyses of variance and covariance. Results: A decrease was observed in the social anxiety scores in the four groups of the study after psychological therapies. The Mean±SD of the social anxiety score in the treatment group based on psychodrama was 64.75±13.37 before the study period and 49.08±6.71 after that. While in the ACT group, it was 59.65±12.21 and 42.66±8.05 before and after the study, respectively, and in the group provided with a combination of both therapies, it was 62.75±13.49 before the study period and 35.75±7.19 after that. A lack of significant difference (P=0.86) could be detected in the mean anxiety score in the group of control. However, the social anxiety score of the group with a combination of both therapies significantly decreased (P<0.001) compared to other studied control groups.   Discussion: The data analysis showed that a combination of ACT and psychodrama therapies significantly reduced the social anxiety of nurses