What you need and can eat during Lent. Lent: meals by day with recipes and a complete list of lean foods

Orthodox fasting is those days when people are purified in spirit. But at the same time, the body is also cleansed, because everything in every person should be pure - soul, body, and thoughts. On fasting days, you need to be attentive to your psychophysical state. A person who has decided that he is ready to limit his diet, in principle, knows which foods are allowed to be consumed in a given period and which are not.

Basic canons of nutrition during fasting

You need to figure out what you can still eat on fasting days, and what foods you need to exclude from your diet. So, the following are subject to mandatory exclusion:

Meat products;
Milk as well as butter, cottage cheese and cheeses;
Eggs and mayonnaise;
Fatty sweets and baked goods;
Fish and vegetable oil (on strict fasting days);
Alcohol and tobacco.

These foods should not be eaten during Lent. There is an opinion that if a person does not eat meat, eggs, or drink milk, then he is deprived of protein, which is so necessary for the body. But when the right approach This is absolutely not the case with a lean diet.

There are many foods that are rich in protein. If you diversify your lean diet with mushrooms, eggplants, legumes and soybeans, you can get required amount squirrel. After all, even nutritionists have proven that soy can easily replace fish and meat.

And yet, before fasting, you should find out whether it will become dangerous for the body, because not everyone may benefit from abstaining from certain foods.

What is allowed to eat during strict fasting?

In Christianity, fasting days vary in severity. On one day one thing may be allowed, on the second - another. And there are days when you can’t eat at all. Most strict fast among Christians - the Great.

It lasts 40 days, during which any entertainment activities are prohibited. In addition, there are some canons that must be adhered to:

It is forbidden to eat any food on Fridays, as well as on the day of the beginning of Lent;
The first and last weeks are marked by the permission to eat vegetables, fruits and bread. Water is allowed as a drink.
On other days, you are allowed to eat honey, nuts and any plant foods.

What can you eat during fasting on non-strict days:

Eggplant;
Zucchini;
Fish;
Lentils;
Oatmeal;
Any fruit salads, of course, without dressing them with sour cream.

Plant products become the main food during fasting. These are mainly cereals (the best of course are buckwheat, wheat, barley and oatmeal, since these are native Russian types of cereals, and they are also rich in fiber and minerals).

Of course, you shouldn’t forget about the vitamins contained in vegetables and fruits. The main thing is that fasting does not cause a violation of the diet. You should not skip breakfast, and you also need to remember that it is advisable to snack more often during Lent.

Due to the fact that the lean diet lacks animal protein, which gives the feeling that a person is full for a long time, you want to eat something substantial, especially in the first days. But in this case, you can forget about cleansing.

The best option here is regular nutrition, as well as the inclusion of whole grains in the diet, and of course beans.

It is important to remember that you need to prepare your body for any food restriction. For him, it will be the most severe stress if a person overeats every day and suddenly suddenly stops eating. There will be no benefit from such an attempt at cleansing.

Features of nutrition after fasting

Some people think that if the fast is over, then they need to make up for all the days and eat everything at once, and even more.

At the same time, without thinking at all that in this case there will not only be no benefit from abstinence, but even, on the contrary, only harm. How to eat after the end of fasting?

The first days should be like a gradual “fading” of fasting. It is not recommended to eat these days:

Meat (except perhaps chicken, turkey or fish);
Mushrooms, especially pickled ones;
Don't get carried away with baking;
High-calorie sweets such as cake, pastry with butter or cream;
Sausages and smoked meats.

Since the body, during the period of fasting, becomes weaned from animal food, you need to start eating it little by little, as if re-accustoming yourself. You should not eat fried meat or fish. It is advisable that the food be boiled and should be eaten in small portions, little by little.

It is better to limit salt in the first days after fasting. Do not get carried away with flour products based on butter and eggs. Dishes made from cereals will be much healthier (rice, buckwheat, millet or oatmeal - no of great importance) with fruits, to which it is advisable to add more greens. After all, the body needs vitamins during this period.

The Sacrament of Communion - how to prepare for it, what can you eat?

The shortest duration of fasting before Communion is three days. It happens that a person cannot withstand these restrictions due to illness or even hard, exhausting work, while the body requires a lot of calories.

In this case, at confession, which necessarily takes place before communion, the priest must repent of this sin as well. What you cannot do is tell the priest that you have been fasting if the fast is not maintained.

So what can you eat during this fast? Almost the same things are allowed as on other fasting days:

You can eat vegetables and fruits;
Cereal porridge;
Boiled or baked fish;
Bread;
Nuts.

You can also eat sweets, such as dark chocolate, kozinaki, but it is better to limit the consumption of these products. The main thing is to remember that when consuming even those foods that are allowed, you need to know when to stop and not overeat.

The benefits of fasting for a person or “why fast”

Eating according to all the rules during fasting is very beneficial for human health. Allowed food will give the body necessary substances, and the absence of foods that are prohibited will not allow the body to waste energy fighting toxins, etc.

Lenten nutrition inherently normalizes the functioning of the entire body, but its main benefit is this:

Improved digestion;
Getting rid of dysbacteriosis;
Cleansing the liver and normalizing its work;
Complete cleansing of the body. Slags and toxins are completely removed;
Eating every day will prevent you from gaining excess weight.

Some people, fearing excess weight, do not touch, for example, pies with potatoes fried in oil, even vegetable oil. If you pay attention to fasting days, then on weekends this food is completely permissible and is not at all harmful to health.

Why is this happening? It's simple. Even if on a day off you allow yourself to enjoy your favorite pies, everything unnecessary for the body the substances will be eliminated from the body over the next five weekdays.

Little joys after fasting

Only those people who really held Lent, after its completion they can fully experience the pleasure of everyday food. In the first days, after forty days of abstinence, ordinary food tastes unusually “sweet.”

Those foods that seemed ordinary before fasting seem like the most delicate nectar. Not everyone can experience such sensations. Only those few who truly abstained from forbidden food are capable of this.

After all, you no longer need to ask yourself the question: can I do this today, now? After all, no matter how hard a person tries, there is not always enough time for cooking, and on fasting days tomorrow you won’t be able to eat what you ate today.

That’s why it turns out that all food often consists of water, nuts and dried fruits.

To fast or not?

In any case, regardless of whether a person fasts or not, one must know moderation in everything. After all, if you exhaust yourself constant hunger, the body will not receive the substances it needs and will use internal resources that are not endless.

But in the end, it will simply “get tired” of working and stop. Are there any benefits from such fasting? The answer is obvious - no. The same can be said about overeating. Excess will be deposited in the body, and as a result - obesity, heart disease and other internal organs.

So whether to fast or not is everyone’s business. The main thing is not to go to extremes.

The system of posts has existed in the world for a very long time. On fasting days, a person must take care of his soul, first of all, cleanse himself both from the burdens of eating meat and from bad thoughts, bad feelings and actions.

Of course, the second aspect, from the point of view of true Christianity, is more important and important. But today I propose to talk about the physical aspect of fasting, namely, about the peculiarities of nutrition during fasting. What you can eat during Lent and what you can’t. Are there any relaxations in the Lenten calendar in terms of nutrition? What is the benefit lean nutrition for a normally eating person?

Let's start with the last one.

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Nutrition during fasting - what does it do for our health?

What is the significance of the transition from meat to lean food? , Why is this important for the body during fasting?
Fasting, in our understanding, is a limitation, a renunciation of something. In terms of nutrition, this means, first of all, avoiding animal products. It is these products that give our taste buds maximum pleasure, but they also force our body to work with constant “overload”...

According to some studies, eating meat protein causes constant detoxification in the body, a kind of self-poisoning! Therefore, when we give up eating meat for a while, we begin to experience something like “drug withdrawal.”

From biologist researcher Yu.A. Frolov . there is even a whole theory about this. In short, the body, stupefied by a CONSTANT toxic release, when switching to natural food (in his research - to raw food, we are talking about a raw food diet) seems to “sober up”. The toxic release into our blood abruptly stops and the body begins to gradually “recover” from toxic shock... All these are not blatant statements, but the results of a study of blood cells during various types nutrition.

When consumed large quantity high-protein foods, such as meat, milk, cheeses, etc., the body does not have enough enzymes to completely digest it, as a result of which a process of constant rotting occurs in the large intestine. This process not only causes distensional (bursting) pain in the abdomen due to increased gas formation, but also causes the entry of rotting products (toxins) into the bloodstream, which is a serious burden for the liver and kidneys, which neutralize these substances.
What can we say about bad cholesterol, forming atherosclerotic plaques and deposits in blood vessels, at frequent use fatty animal foods.

And due to the fact that we have undoubtedly become more satisfying and richer in life than our ancestors lived some 100 years ago, such products are found in our diet almost every day and more than once a day.
It is from this influence that our body rests during the days of Lent! And it is extremely beneficial for the health of all organs and systems! Therefore, do not deny your body such a “diet” these days.

On the contrary, set yourself up for purification and lightness.

A similar attitude, as well as the awareness that you are not “doing nonsense in splendid isolation,” but are following the old Orthodox traditions together with thousands of other people at the same time, will give you the necessary determination and the necessary strength.
During fasting -

all body systems are cleansed
the functioning of internal organs improves
immunity increases, overall well-being improves

If this type of nutrition is new to you, then your health will not improve immediately; a possible crisis will pass within one to two weeks.

The seven weeks of Lent are quite a long period. If you have never restricted yourself in food, you may not need to fast all these days. As a test, start limiting your menu to Wednesdays and Fridays. Look at the body's reaction - are there any weaknesses or ailments these days?

If you are not feeling very well, return fish or dairy products to your diet. But still try to give up meat for the entire period of fasting.

If your health does not improve, try giving up one thing - either meat or dairy products.

But, as a rule, one or two weeks is enough for the body to make adjustments and your well-being will improve much over time.

Eat serious illnesses, in which fasting food must be introduced with caution, as advised by doctors. For example, diabetes, or stomach problems.

Meals during fasting and raw food diet - can they be combined?

Sometimes a person gets inspired by the idea of a lean diet and decides to switch not just to plant foods, but also to raw foods, without heat treatment. So to speak, get healthier “in full”, because so much tempting and interesting information is now being given out about the benefits of a raw food diet...

This is where problems with the gastrointestinal tract can appear and worsen quite unexpectedly.

I am writing based on my personal experience- that’s exactly what happened to me a year ago. I decided to combine fasting with the start of a raw food diet, and everything was done at once. Yesterday I still ate, relatively speaking, sausages in dough, and today I’m already sitting on nothing but apples... Not very good, I’ll tell you. After 2 weeks, my stomach began to hurt and “revolt” from such unceremonious treatment. Moreover, before that I didn’t even know where my stomach was located!

Therefore, my sincere advice is to do everything gradually and step by step, not to get carried away. You can eat some vegetables and fruits raw (salads, snacks between meals), and some - in the form of porridges, oven-baked vegetables, etc.

Any freshly squeezed juices from any vegetables and fruits are very good - excellent food and drink in one, no digestive problems, and only continuous vitamin and mineral benefits for the body!

Raw radishes, turnip radishes, and mushrooms in any form are heavy food for the stomach.

During fasting, it is better to eat in small portions, but more often.

Drink a lot of clean, raw water, but try to eliminate coffee and tea from your diet altogether - they drag with them the habit of eating it all with candy, cookies, cake, etc.

Why do you need to drink a lot of water? For enhanced removal of toxins, which are inevitable when switching from a regular meat-eating diet to vegetarianism. The body is cleansing itself - help it get it all out!

Excellent drinks other than water - vitamin teas with raspberries, rose hips, herbs.

And a special warning -

Easter holidays ending Lent

When fasting ends, you are allowed to eat so-called fast food. In practice, this means that you can eat everything, but also festively, that is, especially tasty, especially rich and “quite official.” Here a person can seriously suffer if he takes everything literally and one day suddenly attacks such foods as fatty sweet cottage cheese (Easter), rich baked goods (Easter cakes). wine, eggs, etc. You can even get simple indigestion!

Therefore, eat everything, but little by little, as if tasting it. Believe me, even after trying every dish with... festive table just a little bit at a time, you risk overeating for real. Just take care of yourself and everything will be fine.

Nutrition during Lent is limited to plant foods - grains, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and nuts. These are the permitted foods during fasting.
There are special days when you can eat fish and even red wine. There are special days when you cannot even consume vegetable oil, and on the strictest days - the first and last days of fasting - it is recommended not to eat any food at all.

If you are interested in strict adherence to Orthodox traditional nutritional recommendations on each day of Lent, you can use the special Fasting Calendar 2017, which contains all the restrictions and relaxations in the daily Lenten diet.

If you want to benefit from these fast days and weeks of restrictive eating, you need to remove all the “loopholes” in your head regarding those products that may technically be of plant origin, but at the same time be extremely harmful. We are talking about different chips, crackers, cakes, etc.

They definitely need to be removed from the menu.
Look how many delicious fruits, nuts, and dried fruits are at your disposal! Take the same dates - full set balanced beneficial micro and macro elements, vitamins, tasty glucose and fructose. They will help you not to become depressed about giving up regular sweets, they will cheer you up and prevent you from depleting your reserves of minerals and substances that are necessary and important for your health.

An important rule for any post(and not only fasting!) - do not abuse it! Even the healthiest and most wonderful plant food can have negative effects on your health if you consume too much of it!
Treat food not as a source of boundless pleasure, but as a kind of “fuel” for the body.

List of Lenten Products

Cereals. Any.
Vegetables and mushrooms. Also any.
Peas and all legumes.
Vegetable fats. It's about about any vegetable oils.
Fermentation products. From traditional cabbage to soaked grapes.
Greens in any form (fresh or dried) and in any quantity.
Soy and soy products.
Bread and pasta.
Olives and olives.
Desserts include jam and marmalade, dark chocolate, marmalade, halva and kozinaki.
Any fruit. Both ours and exotic ones, including dried fruits (raisins, candied fruits, etc.)

Orthodox Lent 2017 - Daily nutrition calendar

Days of fasting, from a nutritional point of view, are interpreted differently. There are particularly strict fasting days - days on which it is not recommended to eat at all. This is the first and penultimate day of the 40-day fast. Below, in another version of the Lenten calendar for 2018, these days are marked.

Some days they recommend eating, literally, “bread and water.” Apparently, these are the strictest recommendations of all possible. For ordinary person It is quite enough to simply not eat any products containing animal food. The same bread should be made without eggs and butter.

The concept of “dry eating” is also introduced - this is the consumption of bread, herbs, vegetables (raw or pickled), fruits and dried fruits, olives, honey, berry or fruit decoctions, kvass, herbal teas.

Here detailed calendar fast days 2018, where every day has its own nutritional characteristics. You can follow these recommendations if you want to more accurately reproduce Orthodox Christian traditions during this period.

Questions about individual products in the post

Bread. Often those who fast, especially those belonging to the older generation, completely refuse bread, explaining that it contains butter and eggs... Tell me, knowing the modern food industry, you also think that they put butter and real chicken eggs? However, there is an alternative - they are now producing a lot of bread. containing nothing of the kind by definition. They may well replace our usual bread, which, by the way, is not very healthy anyway and many advise giving it up altogether, regardless of the calendar..
Pasta. They contain only flour, water and salt. The composition should not contain egg powder. For lean nutrition - this is it. Only they will have to be flavored not with butter, but with sunflower or other vegetable oil.
Varenniki, Lenten dumplings. If you like such dishes, you can continue to eat them during Lent with appropriate changes: dough without eggs, filling without butter, meat, cottage cheese. Replace with cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes and similar vegetable fillings.
"Meat" products from soy. The idea itself is not bad. It seems that the rules have been followed and the usual piece of sausage can be eaten... But just think, how is the usual taste of meat achieved where the meat has never “spent the night”? Due to dyes, flavor enhancers and flavors, in short, due to chemistry.. Is it worth it? Decide for yourself.
Mayonnaise. Now they make the so-called “lenten mayonnaise”. Lenten, which means no eggs, which means they were replaced with something again and it’s unlikely to be something natural...
Lenten baked goods and sweets. Yes, now you can find one in our stores or. This probably has a right to exist. But I would better advise replacing this with natural sweets - the same, dried fruits, halva, marmalade, kozinaki.

Balancing your diet while fasting

How to balance your list of products during fasting so as not to get health problems due to a lack of any substances?

We replace animal protein with vegetable protein. On some days you can also eat fish, but this is an exception to the rule. The rest of the time - mushrooms, beans, peas, nuts, lentils.

Iron deficiency in the absence of meat, you can make up for it with apples, buckwheat, bananas, and cocoa.

Vitamins and minerals are perfectly absorbed from freshly prepared fruit and vegetable juices. Make it a rule to drink one glass fresh juice per day, and you will not suffer from vitamin deficiency.

Main - the right attitude! Don't take everything too seriously or even tragically. Thousands and even millions of people around the globe for years do not eat meat, do not drink milk, and do not even cook or fry any of their food. In order to get any harm from such a diet, for example, the same vitamin B12 deficiency that people love to scare raw foodists and vegans with, you need to live on such a diet continuously for more than one year! This is definitely not a threat to you and me.

And the only things that “threaten” us are vigor, slimness, excellent health, and even, perhaps, relief from certain diseases.

Are you fasting this year, 2017? What are you eating at this time? How do you feel mentally and health-wise? What do you think about the system in general? Orthodox posts specifically in terms of body health?

The decision to fast requires special attention to the diet. How to stay within the restrictions and prohibitions of this period and not harm your health?

How to fast correctly? Caring for the health of the spirit should not go to extremes that harm the health of the body, doctors are sure. If we ignore the religious component of fasting, then we, in fact, have something in between a low-protein diet, a raw food diet and pescetarianism - a type vegetarianism permitting the consumption of fish.

Who is allowed such a diet, even temporary? How not to turn nutrition during Lent into an unbalanced diet and make it harmonious from the point of view of those arriving nutrients, vitamins and microelements? Let's listen to the recommendations of doctors.

How is this post useful?

The temporary absence of animal proteins in the diet or their replacement with plant “analogs” normalizes the rate of metabolic processes in the body and facilitates the cleansing of the body from toxins - metabolic waste. This helps to improve well-being and tone, and prolong life.

A lean “diet” is especially useful for chronic cholecystitis or pancreatitis - only, of course, if you have these diseases, it is better to coordinate your decision to fast with your doctor.

Who should not fast?

Serious restrictions in the usual diet are not recommended:

pregnant and lactating women;
children;
patients with various chronic diseases (peptic ulcer stomach and duodenum, diabetes , chronic gastritis);
To old people;
people with poor health (for example, postoperative period or after a severe infectious disease).

Lenten menu: what is prohibited?

During Lent, the blacklist includes meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products, baked goods made from white flour, coffee, and alcohol. Vegetable oil is allowed with restrictions, lean fish, fish caviar and seafood.

Excluding animal products from the diet can cause a lack of iron, zinc, calcium, B vitamins, vitamin D, and amino acids. This, in turn, is dangerous for the development of vitamin deficiency, anemia, decreased immunity, deterioration of hair and nails, general weakness and even depression. How to minimize possible Negative consequences diet changes during Lent?

Rules for healthy fasting

Fractional meals
Strict church rules of fasting require one or two meals a day. However, it will be much more comfortable for your body to switch to a new diet if you maintain your usual four or five daily meals.

Beware, raw food diet!
You should not eat only raw foods, so as not to cause digestive problems, although fasting imposes restrictions on cooked foods. Vegetables can not only be boiled, but also baked, steamed, stewed, salted, fermented, adding variety to your diet.

How to replace animal proteins?
Proteins are also found in foods plant origin: soy and its derivatives (for example, soy meat or cottage cheese - tofu), lentils, peas, beans, peanuts, pine nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews. There are a lot of proteins in dried porcini mushrooms and boletus mushrooms. Rye, bran, cereal bread coarse richer in protein and B vitamins than white bread from wheat flour fine grinding.
Lenten dishes made from vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, and grains will help fill the temporary deficiency of animal protein.

How to replace animal fats?
Vegetable fats, including vital unsaturated fats fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6, which are not synthesized by the body and must be supplied with food, are abundant in avocados, pine and walnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, various cereals (it is better to cook porridge not from flakes, but from whole grains). In addition to sunflower oil, it is worth including Lenten menu olive, linseed, mustard, cedar and other types of vegetable oils.

How to compensate for calcium deficiency?
Your diet during fasting must include legumes, seeds, nuts, green vegetables and fresh herbs. This means that on your plate every day you should have soybeans, beans, sesame seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, basil, parsley, Savoy and White cabbage, watercress and other types lettuce. Also a source of calcium drinking water: depending on its degree of hardness it contains from 10% to 30% daily norm of this macronutrient.

How to replenish iron deficiency?
Buckwheat, yeast, and Rye bread, white and red cabbage, bitter (dark) chocolate.

How to deal with loss of strength?
Fast days It’s often not easy for residents of a metropolis. So as not to appear fast fatiguability, drowsiness, irritability, start the day with a hearty breakfast.
Be sure to include bananas, dates, peanuts, fresh herbs, buckwheat, brown rice, and lentils in your diet. These foods are rich in iron and contain the amino acid tryptophan, without which the body cannot produce serotonin, the hormone of joy.
Complex carbohydrates, which are abundant in porridges, pasta made from unrefined flour, potatoes, sprouted wheat grains - good source energy and vigor for the whole day.

Note for those with a sweet tooth
Allowed Lenten delicacies are marmalade, halva, kozinaki, dark chocolate without fillers, honey, dried fruits, baked goods without eggs, milk and butter.

If you decide to fast, consult your doctor, no
Do you have any contraindications for health reasons? If the doctor approves your
solution, consult with him also which vitamin-mineral complex
suits you and take it for the recommended period.

Lenten table recipes

Salad and appetizer recipes

Caramelized Brussels sprouts salad with strawberries

Soup Recipes

Recipes for main dishes and side dishes

Breakfast Recipes

According to church canons, during this period all Orthodox believers must exclude a number of foods from their daily diet and devote themselves to cleansing, repentance and the fight against their own sins. Food restrictions during Lent include a ban on eggs, meat and dairy foods. The Church also calls for giving up entertainment, vanity and bodily pleasures, thinking about God, devoting time to serving others and visiting church.

In Buryatia, everyone joins in fasting every year more people. And although many are frightened by the thought of such a long-term “gastronomic” abstinence, doctors assure that it has a positive effect on human health. The main thing is to know in moderation in everything and combine foods correctly so as not to harm the body. The priests remind: restriction in food is not the goal of fasting, but only a means. This is necessary so that the body does not interfere with the soul’s internal spiritual work. Therefore, fasting should be regarded as a “diet” and an opportunity to lose weight. excess weight not worth it.

The seven weeks of Lent consist of Pentecost - forty days from February 19 to March 30 and Holy Week - the last week before Easter (from April 2 to 7). It is dedicated to the memories of last days earthly life and the death on the cross of Christ.

Holy Week is preceded by Lazarus Saturday (March 31), when the church remembers the miracle of Jesus Christ's resurrection of righteous Lazarus, and Palm Sunday (April 1), the feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem. These days the fast is weakened.

Prohibited

Those who decide to fast should give up “meat food”, that is, products of animal origin - meat, dairy products, eggs, white bread, partly - fish, caviar and vegetable oil. In addition, baked goods, chocolate, sweets, fast food and everything are taboo alcoholic drinks- with the exception of red wine. It can be consumed on Saturdays and Sundays throughout Lent, but only in moderate doses.

The main components of the menu during this period are vegetables (fresh, salted or pickled), fruits and dried fruits, mushrooms, herbs, water porridge, soups (without meat), pasta, vegetable salads, black bread, honey, various spices, jelly, tea and kvass.

The first two and last two days of fasting impose the most strict restrictions: Believers are ordered to completely abstain from food. Lay people are encouraged to receive a blessing from their confessor in advance. First and last week(except weekends), as well as all Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from the second to the sixth week inclusive (from February 26 to April 1) - dry eating, when the church allows only cold food (not thermally processed): raw vegetables and fruits, unleavened bread ( without sugar and oil), pickles, pickles, nuts and honey.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays from the second to the sixth week of fasting, you can eat hot food without oil - soups and cereal porridges, boiled potatoes, boiled and stewed hot vegetables. On weekends (Saturday and Sunday), it is allowed to include alcohol in the menu, as well as hot food with butter - fried potatoes, cabbage or carrot cutlets, etc.

On Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday you can eat fish dishes, but on Annunciation you will have to give them up, because in 2018 it falls on Holy Saturday(April 7). On this day, for the sake of the holiday, the canons allow hot food with vegetable oil and wine. On Good (or Great) Friday, April 6, people abstain from food until Friday Vespers, the culminating moment of which is the removal of the shroud from the altar to the middle of the temple, where it remains until Saturday night - the Easter Midnight Office.

Who can not fast?

From a medical point of view, a sharp reduction in protein foods during fasting can lead to loss muscle tissue and weakened immunity. This primarily concerns young children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly and people with poor health, as well as those who suffer from anemia, stomach and heart diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and various inflammations.

Dietary restrictions are also dangerous for people with reduced level hemoglobin. The Church treats such situations with loyalty. To receive a blessing for a “softer” fast, it is enough to come to your confessor and explain the situation to him.

Healthy

According to nutritionists, regular refusal of food of animal origin and an increase in plant foods in the menu during fasting is very beneficial for the body: cholesterol and blood sugar levels are reduced, and blood levels are normalized. arterial pressure and intestinal microflora, liver and gallbladder function improves. But in order to endure fasting, it is important to approach this issue wisely and not rush to extremes. Otherwise, you may face serious complications.

If you decide to fast, consult your doctor: for some diseases, a fasting menu is strictly contraindicated.
While fasting, try to eat at least 4-5 times a day. Since plant-based foods have many fewer calories than meat-based foods, it will be much more difficult to get enough. It is advisable that the daily caloric intake remains at the usual level. For an adult, the norm is 1600-2000 kcal.
Follow your diet: it is better to sit down at the table at the same time every day.
Include cereals, lentils, beans, peas, nuts, mushrooms and soy products in your daily menu: this will help replenish the protein deficiency in the body.
Monitor your fluid intake. It’s better if it’s freshly squeezed juices diluted with water, mineral water without gas, green tea, cranberry and lingonberry fruit drinks or homemade compotes. But it’s better to avoid strong coffee or tea: these drinks overload nervous system. Try to drink at least 1.5-2 liters of fluid per day. By the way, the ideal option for quenching thirst is regular drinking water.
Plan your diet: Lent occurs in the spring, when the body already suffers from vitamin deficiency. Therefore, it is important not only to provide it essential vitamins and microelements, but also correctly combine them with each other. Deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins A, E, K and D can be compensated by taking appropriate vitamin complexes. Carbohydrates that give the body energy are found in bread, cereals, vegetables and potatoes. Don't forget about sources of iron and calcium - apples, buckwheat, walnuts and oatmeal.
You can add natural spices to your food that improve digestion: cardamom, anise, cumin, lemon balm, dill, rosemary, thyme, sage, flax seeds, mint, sesame. In between main meals, satisfy your hunger with nuts, dried fruits or fresh fruits.
Do not overuse pickles: this can lead to high blood pressure and exacerbation of various gastrointestinal diseases.
On the morning of Easter, you can eat about 200 g of Easter cake, one egg and a small piece of meat. It is recommended to drink a glass of water before starting your meal.
Fasting should not harm your health. If you feel unwell during the first week and your health worsens, you should loosen the restrictions (for example, include fish in your diet) or abandon them altogether. Plays an important role psychological attitude. To make it easier to survive the days of abstinence, get good sleep, walk more fresh air, and to relax, take baths with pine needles or soothing herbs- mint, oregano, valerian or motherwort.

The right way out

During fasting, the body gets used to working in “economy” mode. If you don't comply certain rules, getting out of this state will be quite problematic.

The “transition” period is usually 10-14 days, so you should not immediately after the end of Lent pounce on fatty and meat foods. This is fraught with exacerbation of gastritis or stomach ulcers. The fact is that the body, already accustomed to plant products, worse secretes the enzymes necessary for the breakdown of animal proteins. And abuse of fatty foods, cakes and pastries can result in the development of cholecystitis, pancreatitis or excess weight. You need to introduce such products into your daily diet gradually and little by little.

To begin with, include in your menu fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and microelements, low-fat dairy products(ryazhenka, cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt), then whole milk (milk, eggs and cottage cheese) and finally fish dishes. Meat products can be eaten on the fifth or sixth day: it is better if it is chicken, lean pork, veal or steamed cutlets.
Eat 5-6 times a day in small portions: this will protect your stomach from overload.
It is better to use potatoes as a side dish for meat dishes: they contain simple carbohydrates improve the absorption of animal protein.
At first, give up alcoholic drinks and foods " fast food» - sandwiches, sandwiches, crackers, chips and a variety of crackers.

Every Orthodox man sooner or later he thinks about how to organize his meals during fasting by day. He asks his friends, studies literature and is often frightened by the strict rules of eating and a monotonous diet. It's actually not that scary.

Refusal from certain types of food for a while is a spiritual feat

Among our compatriots there are many who not so long ago decided to make their bloodless sacrifice to the Creator. These people have discovered many products that were previously worldly life the menu consists largely of protein foods of animal origin. Fasting prohibits meat and dairy products, as well as eggs.

How to properly prepare for fasting?

What time and what to eat during fasting is not an idle question. The church allows seafood, vegetables, nuts, fruits, mushrooms and grains. They can be eaten throughout the entire period of abstinence, with the exception of a few special days, in which you can’t eat at all, in particular in Good Friday, on the day of Christmas Eve - Rozhdestvensky and Epiphany. Meals during fasting are scheduled for each day. Orthodox calendar. The degree of severity is regulated by the canons. However, regulations sometimes change. In every church, priests make sure to explain to parishioners what they can do during fasting and what they should abstain from. The most correct thing is to ask a priest for a blessing before fasting. He will clarify what is possible and when, and what will have to be refused. Some Christians quite rightly believe that the most exact rules the inhabitants of the monasteries know and carry out. Whether to copy their routine or not, each layman has the right to decide independently, having previously talked with his confessor of clergy.

Do lay people need to follow the monastic rules?

The diet of lay people and monks differs significantly. The monks fast according to all the rules - they eat only once a day, strictly observe dry eating on the prescribed days, and do not eat meat even outside of fasting. The main guideline for all Christians is the forty-day fast of Jesus Christ. Before accepting the mission entrusted by God the Father, the Lord retired to the desert, where he prayed and struggled with temptations, and physical body supported with wild honey and locusts. Christ commanded us that we can save our souls only by fasting and prayer. Any fast should be aimed primarily at the desire to comprehend and accept into your soul the commandment “Love one another.”

What foods are allowed during fasting?

Meals during fasting by day for the laity usually look like this. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, dry eating is accepted, that is, food cannot be cooked. These days, cereals soaked in water and soaked until soft, as well as dried fruits and water soaked in the same way are allowed.

On Tuesday and Thursday you can cook hot food. It can be porridge with water or vegetable broth, jelly, seafood, pasta. Do you often make jelly for yourself outside of fasting? But they are very good for health. Kissels can be made from fruits, berries, and cereal flakes.

What can be prepared from lean products?

You can cook very tasty soups from mushrooms, vegetables and sea creatures. Eating during fasting does not prohibit the use of seasonings and spices. And they are almost always not of animal origin. Lent is the time to master oriental cuisine. Soy sauces, Indian spices, domestic herbs, nuts, honey - these are all things that you can experiment with four days a week, and on Saturday and Sunday vegetable oil is also allowed. Eating daily while fasting will add variety to your life. At the end of the week you can bake strudels. These are a kind of rolls made from very thinly rolled stretch dough. To prepare it, only flour, water and a little salt are used. The filling for them can be sweet, for example, apple and apricot. Take fresh apples, dried apricots or apricot jam, flavor with cinnamon or vanilla, and so that the filling does not flow out, secure it with potato starch.

You can use fresh cabbage as a filling for a savory lean roll. To prevent it from becoming bitter, boil water and put crushed vegetables in it for 3-5 minutes. cabbage leaves, then drain in a colander. After the water has drained, use the cabbage in any dish. For the strudel filling, fry on vegetable oil onion and mix with cabbage, add one cardamom grain, salt and pepper to improve the taste.

Meals during Lent can be varied with jelly and jellied dishes on agar-agar. They can be made for future use, but whether they are allowed to be eaten on Monday, Wednesday and Friday will have to be checked with the priest of your church.

Benefits of fasting for physical health

Eating during fasting every day will not allow you to gain excess weight, but will allow you to eat those foods that you forbade yourself in everyday life. For example, potato pies fried in vegetable oil. Will you say: “Death to the figure”? Nothing happened! You can only afford this pleasure on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the days the weight will return to normal. In general, eating during fasting by day of the week is quite an exciting thing. You will not only greatly expand your culinary horizons by adding new dishes to your diet, but also get rid of dysbacteriosis and improve your work gastrointestinal tract, cleanse your body of waste and toxins. The nutrition calendar during Lent sets quite strict boundaries for believers, but it does not make their life dull and monotonous.

Fasts vary in length and severity. During the Apostolic, or Peter's, Fast, as well as during the Filippov Fast, that is, the Nativity Fast, fish is quite often allowed. Accordingly, the filling for baked goods, soups and main courses become even more interesting. Even during Lent you can treat yourself to fish for the Annunciation and Palm Sunday and fish caviar on Lazarus Saturday.

The joy of successfully overcoming carnal temptations

Only those who have endured a multi-day fast have the opportunity to feel the real joy of eating. Usually the first week after a multi-day fast is continuous. Foods that have been banned for several weeks are perceived in a new way. Fresh cottage cheese with rich sour cream and condensed milk tastes like the most delicate ambrosia. And if you spread it on a butter cake, the flesh of which is not white, but bright yellow from the eggs generously added to the dough?! Who can afford such luxury if not those who for a long time have deprived themselves of the joys of gluttony, abstinence from food and prayer?

The joy of the Incarnation of the Lord in the Only Begotten Son and His victory over death are celebrated very widely; no prohibitions overshadow these two holidays for those who properly prepare for them. At this time, believers completely freely indulge in the joys of life, without worrying about a slim figure, calories, eating hours, etc. A liberated and cleansed body works perfectly. All useful material are used to improve health and build tissue cells of all organs, and harmful ones are removed without delay.

You no longer have to wonder when and what to eat. During fasting, these issues had to be resolved every day, because it is no secret that, no matter how hard you try, fasts generally last a long time, and it is not always possible to cook food. Snacks on Snickers and cappuccino are not allowed. So Orthodox Christians most often eat water, nuts and dried fruits. Honestly, it's not easy.

What if you couldn’t cope with the prohibitions and regulations?

Attending worship services and reading prayers greatly help strengthen the will and spirit. And if you still couldn’t pass the test of fasting, don’t despair. It didn’t work out now, it will work out another time. The most important thing is that the Lord sees your efforts.