Fasting

[bogoliubtsy]

Are you going to pass this info onto Fr. Vasily so he can use it in one of his interviews? Hmmm?

[Mousethief]

If that were all I wanted, there would be no need for me to post here -- simply combing the threads more than suffices! Places like this, just by being what they are, give Fr. Vasiliy plenty to talk about.

No, this is for my own idle curiosity.

Not saying that Fr. Vasiliy won't say anything about drinking beer during a fast, mind you! Now that you've given me the idea....

[Methodius]

There are rumors of such being true and nowadays I have heard of many OCA members following this practice, but remember most Slavs only fast from olive oil and not all types of oils on fast days. Probably the same concept in play here.

[尼古拉前执事]

I have a question -- I heard from somebody that beer was not considered off-limits on a non-wine day by pious XIX Century Russians. Is this true? It seems kinda pharisaical to say "well it just says WINE not BEER...." when it seems like the intent was alcoholic beverages in general (shades of Monty Python?).

Thanks.

According to Anastasios, the only reason why it was done this way in some areas was because beer was the only potable drink available, so it had to be allowed. However since alcohol is a dehydrant, I wonder how well that would work?

[Liudmilla]

Copyright 2003 Heart Disease Weekly via NewsRx.com and NewsRx.net

Heart Disease Weekly / June 22, 2003

HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA: Orthodox Christianity lowers your cholesterol

Following the fasting regimens laid down by the Greek Orthodox Church could reduce your chances of suffering from heart disease.

A group of researchers from the University of Crete found that Greek Orthodox Christians who avoided specified foods three times a year had lower levels of cholesterol and lower levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), in their blood after "fasting," compared with other Christians who did not follow the fasting regimens. The levels of other cholesterol-binding proteins called high-density lipoproteins (HDL) did not change.

The findings were published in BMC Public Health.

"The Orthodox Christians' diet, which is based on vegetables, legumes, fruit, cereals, bread and olive oil, is a Mediterranean-type of diet with periodic abstinence from meat and other products during the fasting periods", wrote the authors.

There are three major recognized fasting periods in the Greek Orthodox Church: 40 days before Christmas, 48 days at Easter and 15 days in August for Assumption. Each of these is associated with a different regimen. For example, at Christmas the faithful are advised to avoid meat, eggs and dairy products and eating fish is not allowed on Wednesdays and Fridays.

The Crete study followed 120 Greek Orthodox Christians, half of whom followed the regimen to the letter. The researchers measured each of the participants at the beginning and end of each fast period, recording their height and weight, their waist and hip size and the level of cholesterol and lipoproteins in a blood sample.

There is a clear link between high levels of cholesterol and LDL in the blood and heart disease,
whereas HDL appears to be protective against heart disease. Greek orthodox "fasting" reduced the levels of total cholesterol in the blood by 9% and the levels of LDL by 12%. As the levels of HDL did not change significantly the HDL/LDL ratio increased, which is generally thought to be good for the heart.

Unfortunately, these levels rose again as the fasters resumed eating their normal diet, but not to the original levels, showing that regular fasting may give some long-term protection against heart disease (Sarri KO, Tzanakis NE, Linardakis MK, et al., Effects of Greek Orthodox Christian Church fasting on serum lipids and obesity. BMC Public Health, 2003;3:16).

This article was prepared by Heart Disease Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

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Then again we always knew the above to be true without the report!!! :

[Justin2]

I usually start my fast days with toast and peanut butter, or sometimes oatmeal (sans milk, with some honey and fruit and nuts in it). Around lunch time, it really depends, but a good failsafe is ramen noodles, strained like pasta, with Mongolian Fire Oil and Soy Sauce, and perhaps some blanched vegetables. Otherwise, it's whatever lenten leftovers are available or maybe some form of pasta or salad. For dinner, it's about the same drill, unless the wife and I have figured out some tasty lenten recipie for the evening (we both used to be vegans, so it's pretty easy to come up with something decent).

[Justin2]

I'm a brand-new soldier, in Monterey, at the Defense Language Institute, and it's extremely difficult to fast here short of not eating. Avoiding meat is easy enough, but after that, it gets very impossible. I suppose I should just ask my priest for advice, but until then, anyone?