Lent 2014 is already over. It consisted of 42 days as a memory of the fact that for 40 days Jesus fasted in the wilderness. These days, all believers have given up eggs, meat, milk and other animal products. Lent, which began on March 3, ended on April 19, and the next day, April 20, all Orthodox people celebrated Holy Pascha. If this year, for some reason, you didn’t manage to be restrained in food these days, but for the future you want to know how to eat right in fasting, this article is for you. Time flies quickly, we will not have time to notice how 2015 will come, and again there will be an opportunity to cleanse the soul and body. In the coming year, Lent will last from February 23 to April 11 and end on April 12 with Easter. Let's start preparing for it today and right now we will learn how to eat in fasting.
Food by day
According to the church charter, on the days of abstinence, it is completely forbidden to consume "fast" foods: eggs, meat, cheese, milk, butter, cottage cheese, sour cream. Those who keep a strict fast also refuse to eat fish. The first day of fasting is called Clean Monday - on this day it is impossiblethere is nothing at all. It is forbidden to eat on Good Friday - the penultimate day of fasting. At all other times, food is allowed, but according to certain rules. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you can eat only once a day (in the evening) and only raw cold food: fruits, bread, vegetables. This is called dry eating. On Tuesday and Thursday, boiled hot food is allowed, but without oil, and also only once a day (in the evening).
On Saturday and Sunday it is allowed to use grape wine and vegetable oil in cooking. But on Saturday of Holy Week (the last day of Lent, it is also called Great Saturday), this rule does not apply: oil cannot be used. And you can eat twice a day - in the afternoon and in the evening. It is worth saying that on Holy Saturday, many believers prefer not to eat at all.
Some people on the menu for Lent exclude fish completely. In fact, you can eat it, but only on the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin and on Palm Sunday - the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem. And on Lazarus Saturday, it is allowed to eat caviar.
Holy Week
This is the name of the last six days of fasting, dedicated to the remembrance of the Way of the Cross of Jesus to Golgotha, as well as the Resurrection. At this time, you need to be even more restrained in food, and therefore believers completely switch to dry eating. It should be noted that in Great Lent it is necessary to limit oneself not only in food, but also in emotions. You need to get out of the stream of everyday fuss, read the Gospel, confess,attend the liturgy. Before Holy Week, you should make peace with those who have been offended, visit relatives.
What to eat in fasting? Menu
Proper nutrition is the basis of he alth. The human diet should be rich in fats, proteins, carbohydrates, trace elements, vitamins and be varied. The menu during the days of Great Lent must meet all of the above requirements. But how can this be achieved? What foods can help you balance your diet? We’ll talk about this a little lower, and now we’ll talk about how to eat during Great Lent so as not to harm yourself, because the most important task of abstinence is to gain physical and spiritual he alth.
So, for starters, measure your strength. If you are not a deeply religious person, it is not necessary to strictly follow the instructions regarding the number of meals per day. Those who want to simply cleanse their body should continue to eat regularly, four to five times a day. Frequent meals will make it easier to endure a change in diet. The total calorie content of the products that make up the daily menu for Lent should not change in comparison with the energy value of the dishes consumed on ordinary days. The number of calories received per day should vary between 1600-2000. Do not forget to consume fluid - one and a half to two liters daily. Green tea, freshly squeezed juices, still mineral water will be useful.
Balance of fats, carbohydrates, proteins
During fasting, the consumption of carbohydrates inevitably increases, and, as you know, their excess is oneof the main causes of metabolic disorders, which leads to the development of a number of diseases, including diabetes, obesity. In addition, high-carbohydrate nutrition increases the body's susceptibility to allergens and infectious pathologies. That's why it's so important to know how to eat right in the fast.
You should not forget about the need to include in your diet foods rich in proteins and fats, but only of plant origin. You can replenish the menu with proteins at the expense of legumes, peas, buckwheat, soy, seitan, mung bean, chickpeas. Fats are found in pumpkin and sunflower seeds, nuts, all types of oils: sesame, cedar, linseed, pumpkin. On days of abstinence, the consumption of alkaline foods increases. Want to know how to eat during fasting to maintain an optimal acid-base balance? It's simple: you need to eat more various pickles, sbitney, jelly.
Meat substitute
And meat lovers what to eat in fasting? The menu can be supplemented with soy products, because they exceed meat products by forty percent in protein content. Soybean oil is a good source of vitamins P, PP, B1, B2, A, lecithin, which lowers blood cholesterol levels and nourishes nerve tissues. It would seem that everything is fine - a wonderful meat substitute has been found, but our task is to tell you how to eat right in fasting, which means that it is impossible not to say that soy in large quantities is very harmful. Vegetable protein is absorbed by the body much worse, so you should not get carried away with it. And one more thing: when buying soyproducts, carefully study the etiquette - many products are made from genetically modified products.
You can make up for the lack of meat by eating nuts. They contain up to fifteen percent protein, as well as eight of the ten essential amino acids. It is enough to eat ten to twenty nuts a day - do not forget that they are very high in calories (one hundred grams of seven hundred kilocalories).
What can you eat in fasting to strengthen your strength
Vitamin B12 plays an important role in strengthening the immune system. As you know, most of it is found in veal and beef liver, but such products are prohibited in fasting. Nevertheless, there is a way out: you can also get cyanocobalamin from sprouted wheat, greens. The body needs iron for normal operation, we all know that its main sources are fish and meat, but not everyone is aware that it is also found in cereals, fruits, and vegetables. Vitamin A can also be found in fruits and orange and red vegetables, and it is noteworthy that it is best absorbed if the foods consumed have been pre-cooked.
Why fast at all?
Abstaining from heavy food of animal origin allows you to cleanse many organs and systems (lungs, liver, blood, kidneys), remove excess fluid from cells, which helps to renew the body, reduce blood cholesterol levels and due to this strengthen the walls of blood vessels. In vegetables and fruitscontains many useful fibers, so the transition to plant foods helps to normalize the intestinal microflora. As a rule, during fasting, people do not purchase products containing flavor enhancers, preservatives, flavors, which, of course, also has a positive effect on he alth.
Can everyone fast?
Of course, the decision to fast is commendable, but priests and doctors warn that not everyone is allowed to fast from certain foods. For some people, the refusal of animal products for age or medical reasons is strictly contraindicated. Therefore, before you think about how to eat right in fasting, go for a consultation with a specialist and find out if you can fast at all. For example, children under the age of seven and adolescent girls during puberty should not be limited in animal products - they need to eat well for development and growth. It is also forbidden to exclude meat and fish from the diet of the elderly. Moreover, they should increase the amount of protein in the menu, because in old age the reproduction of cells is much slower, and much more protein is required to maintain their viability.
Fasting is not harmful
In addition to the listed categories of persons, pregnant and lactating women, people with gastrointestinal diseases (ulcers, cholecystitis, enteritis, gastritis, pancreatitis), diabetes mellitus, gout should be exempted from fasting. Also, emaciated citizens should not fast,who have just recovered from an illness or have undergone surgery, because they have a weakened immune system. It is allowed not to abstain from animal food for people engaged in strenuous physical labor, and travelers on the road. If you have contraindications to fasting, but still want to keep it, coordinate the diet with the doctor, specifying the necessary indulgences. For example, you can not exclude cottage cheese and eggs from the menu as products that contain high-grade proteins.
