Proper nutrition for lunch during Lent. How to eat healthy while fasting: tips and tricks

Fasting for a believer - special time, a time of prayer and deep thoughts.

During this period, a person’s diet also changes greatly, and serious restrictions are imposed on him. When wrong organized meals Possible deterioration during fasting general condition and even exacerbation of certain diseases. On the other hand, fasting is a time of cleansing, including physical cleansing. Therefore, from a medical point of view, fasting is a completely reasonable event, only with the caveat that you need to approach it thoughtfully.

Let me make a reservation right away that spiritual sense You can find out about fasting by contacting your spiritual mentor. Here I want to look at the post from a nutritionist's point of view.

Basic principles of proper nutrition during fasting

The main rule is the exclusion of all animal foods: meat, fish, poultry, milk and dairy products, eggs. Respectively, the basis of the diet will be herbal products – cereals, legume products, vegetables, fruits, nuts, mushrooms.
Try not to let your diet. Don't skip breakfast, don't forget about snacks.
In the absence of animal food, which is rich in protein and promotes a long-term feeling of fullness, it is possible frequent attacks hunger. During this period, there is a great temptation to overeat baked goods and sweets. However, there is no talk of any cleansing in this case. To avoid hunger, eat regularly, include in your daily diet foods rich in complex carbohydrates and containing vegetable protein - whole grains and legumes.
Particular attention should be paid during the period of fasting soy products. There are a great many of them now - soy milk, cheese-tofu, all this should be included in your diet.
Sometimes it's not so difficult to start a post correctly as to end it. It would seem that everything is over, the prohibitions have been lifted, you can eat forbidden foods. However, I want to warn you against overeating after fasting. Gradually begin to include animal foods in your diet after fasting. and be sure to combine it with plant foods - vegetables and grain products.

Lenten menu for the week

MONDAY

Nutritionist's comment:

Begin Lenten menu I want a traditional breakfast with an unusual twist. Oatmeal contains complex carbohydrates, alimentary fiber, vegetable proteins, B vitamins.

To maintain health, an adult should consume at least 400 g of vegetables daily (preferably more). Unfortunately, few people can boast of such a diet. One way to enrich your menu with vegetables is light vegetable salads. These salads are “light” both in execution and in terms of calorie content.

In addition to vegetable protein, lentils contain folic acid and iron.

In the green beans recipe butter must be replaced with olive oil.

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

How you should eat and what you can eat during Lent is very important point, as spring begins and the body is reconstructed to new conditions. At such moments, he needs vitamins, so recipes for dishes that will be served during fasting must be carefully selected.

Pros and cons of fasting

The most important disadvantage is that it is forbidden to consume meat, fat, fish, chicken and quail eggs, milk, cottage cheese, butter and so on. It is these products that can supply our body with useful substances and vitamins. In addition, along with fish, vitamin D enters the body, which makes our bones stronger. Of course, during fasting a person receives much less calcium, but it can be easily replenished.

Fasting eliminates the possibility of consuming protein, so certain time a person is deprived of tryptophan and some amino acids. This can affect mood, immunity and activity.

It is not necessary to strictly observe fasting; this is the privilege of the ministers of the Church; for others, it is enough for others to adhere to less strict rules for a certain time, because spiritual cleansing comes first.

Of course, there are also advantages, the diet helps cleanse the body of toxins, this is a reason to diversify your diet natural products. Eating vegetables, mushrooms, nuts, various cereals, berries, honey is encouraged; all this is very useful for humans, especially for those who live in big cities. Plant food rich in potassium, vitamin C, B, practically free of cholesterol and fat, which is why it is so necessary for residents of megacities who are accustomed to eating fried and baked foods.

What foods to include in your diet during Lent

Since any source of protein is excluded from the diet, it can be replaced. Now there are many substitute products in stores, such as soy milk, meat, yoghurt. In addition, you can eat beans, nuts, and various cereals; they are capable of short time replenish protein deficiency in the body.
The most important foods that help replenish energy are porridge with water and potatoes. Every housewife should have recipes for lean porridges, because they are very healthy and easy to prepare.
Vegetable oils are no less important. They can be added to any dishes or salads.
During fasting, you are allowed to eat fruits and vegetables, so you can safely consume 500 grams at least every day.
In order for the mood to always be at its best and to avoid spring depression, excellent option Breakfast will be boiled brown rice with fruit, lentils or bananas.
Spare no expense and go to the pharmacy for a vitamin-mineral complex. It will help strengthen health and immunity.
And of course, we can’t forget about water. Daily use several glasses clean water will help avoid digestive problems that may arise during Lent.
The range of permitted sweets will be much smaller than usual. You can limit yourself to nuts, dried fruits and honey.
It is better to have recipes for the first and second on hand, since you will need to eat at least 4 times a day. It is important to chew food thoroughly and reduce portions slightly. This way we can monitor our figure while dieting.
If you don't like some certain products, which are allowed during fasting, then you should not force yourself.
After the fast has ended, you need to be as careful as possible when eating meat, fish, dairy and fermented milk products, since the body has already gotten used to it. You need to approach your usual diet more carefully. It is important to remember that for children, the elderly and people with digestive problems it will be very difficult to start fasting, so the diet can be slightly simplified. Now we will look at the recipes various dishes, which will become the main decoration of the table during Lent.

The most important thing on the table is the first course, so you need to prepare it according to all the rules, observing the nuances.

Ingredients:

290 gr. homemade sauerkraut
240 gr. fresh mushrooms
some black peppercorns
90 gr. fresh carrots
90 gr. fresh onion
20 ml. tomato paste
bay leaf
greens to taste
salt, seasonings if desired
290 gr. young potatoes

Preparation:

Can be used vegetable broth or water, also prepare the base on a cube, it all depends on taste preferences.
Wash the potatoes, peel and cut into not very thick strips. Transfer it to boiling, salted water.
While the potatoes are boiling, chop the onion and carrots and lightly fry in vegetable oil until they are golden brown.
Chop the mushrooms, you can leave them in large pieces if desired, and send them for frying. After a few minutes, add the cabbage, after squeezing out the liquid from it.
When the vegetables and mushrooms are cooked, add them with a small amount of good quality tomato paste into the broth with potatoes and cook until full readiness cabbage soup
If desired, you can add spices, Bay leaf, black ground pepper taste.

Of course, the preparation of this dish has its own nuances. Mushrooms are known to have a richer flavor when added to soup in their dried form, so don’t be afraid to substitute fresh mushrooms. The cooking process will also change a little: before you put them in the broth, you need to pour warm water for a few hours until they soften slightly.

Meals during fasting - no less important aspect, than spiritual cleansing, therefore, a lot of time and attention need to be given to this.

Solyanka Lenten

Recipes for dishes that can be eaten during Lent can be found on the Internet, but in this article we have collected the most delicious and simple dishes.

Ingredients:

180 gr. pickled cucumbers
180 gr. fresh tomatoes
10 gr. flour
60 gr. black olives
90 gr. white onion
90 gr. fresh carrots
180 gr. fresh or dried mushrooms
salt, black pepper to taste
greens if desired

Preparation:

Put the broth on the fire, add salt and bring to a boil. While the water is heating, prepare the remaining ingredients.
Cut the pickled cucumbers into strips, preferably thin, but so that they hold their shape and do not fall apart.
Finely chop the onion, grate the carrots and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
Soak the mushrooms first, if using dried ones, then add them to the vegetables and fry for about 5-10 minutes.
Add chopped pickled cucumbers to the frying pan and simmer a little, then add to the broth along with the olives cut into rings.
Pour a little flour into a dry frying pan and heat it until soft, creamy and the appearance of a lung nutty aroma, then sift and pour into hodgepodge, cook for another 10 minutes until fully cooked. If desired, add black pepper, herbs and seasonings.

Having considered the soups that can be consumed during Lent, you can move on to the main courses. It is in the first week that it is especially difficult for those on a diet, because the body is not accustomed to being deprived of meat or dairy products, so it is important to take a thorough approach to nutrition during fasting and try to prepare food that will be rich in vitamins and nutrients.

Carrots with honey

Surely, this combination will seem strange to you, but in fact, carrots baked with honey are very tasty dish, especially if you prepare it correctly.

Ingredients:

690 gr. fresh carrots
290 ml. natural orange juice (can be replaced with store-bought)
30 ml. natural honey
50 gr. leek
1 clove of garlic
a little spice to taste
carnation
salt, sugar, ground black pepper

Preparation:

Peel the carrots and cook until done or half done in salted water. Cool, cut into not very thin rings.
Prepare the sauce by mixing honey, Orange juice and finely grated garlic.
Chop the leek into thin strips and add to the sauce. You can also send chopped herbs and spices there to taste.
Pour the prepared mixture over the carrots, mix thoroughly and transfer to a baking tray.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the dish for 20 minutes until fully cooked.

It must be said right away that carrots with honey are a rather unusual dish, so only lovers of such exquisite combinations will like it, but it is definitely worth the effort and time spent. If you like to bake vegetables in a sleeve, then you can slightly change the cooking method and thereby save time. In this case, you won’t have to cook the carrots, you just need to chop them, mix them with the sauce and bake them in a sleeve.

You can also find recipes on the Internet for cooking carrots in a slow cooker; this will be needed if you have digestive problems. This method will help preserve more vitamins and useful substances in the product. Of course, recipes for main courses during Lent are very important, but it’s time to move on to desserts. The list of sweets will be much smaller, because the products from which the dessert will be made can be counted on one hand, but if you show your imagination, you can pleasantly surprise your family and guests.

This dessert is worthy of attention; do not hesitate to prepare it during Lent.

Ingredients:

handful of hazelnuts
75 gr. dried apricots
75 gr. prunes
75 gr. any dried fruits
sugar if desired
water if necessary

Preparation:

Cut prunes and dried apricots into thin strips and add a small amount warm water, mix, add granulated sugar if desired and leave to soak.
Heat a frying pan and lightly fry the nuts, then remove the skins.
Place the prunes, dried apricots and dried fruits into the bowl of a blender and grind.
Divide the mass into as many pieces as there are nuts, then press each nut into the mass and give the candy a neat, round shape.

Of course, recipes can be changed at your discretion, you can add fruits, berries, it all depends only on your imagination. Instead of hazelnuts, you can use almonds, ordinary peanuts or cashews, but they must be roasted first so that you can easily remove the skin later.

Recipes for making classic apple strudel usually include butter and eggs, but all this is missing, so you can safely call this dish lean and eat it during Lent.

Ingredients:

380 gr. wheat flour
140 ml. water
a little olive oil
a little vinegar
4 medium apples
60 gr. raisins
some walnuts
some almonds
1 banana
cinnamon
some cranberries if desired

Preparation:

Stir water, salt and vinegar. Sift the flour through a sieve several times, then add it to the water, knead the dough, gradually adding olive oil.
The dough should be left for some time while the remaining ingredients are prepared. Peel the apples and cut into pieces.
Grind the nuts, rinse the raisins thoroughly, mix everything in one container, add cinnamon.
Roll out the dough very thin layer, lay out the filling and pinch the edges. Bake until fully cooked.
While the strudel is in the oven, you need to prepare the syrup.
Mix cranberries with banana, if desired, you can add any sweet syrup to taste, transfer the mixture to a blender and grind until smooth.
Place the saucepan on the fire along with the syrup, bring it to a boil, after which you can serve it with strudel.

It is very important that there are no seeds or any lumps in the sweet syrup, so before serving, you need to rub it through a sieve several times. In addition, instead of cranberries or bananas, you can use any other fruits and berries, in any case it will turn out very tasty.

All these recipes are great for Lent; the dishes will delight your family and friends.

Most people either stop fasting halfway or misinterpret its meaning. All this forces those who want to fast to find as much information as possible about it. The purpose of religious fasting is spiritual purification and abstinence from worldly pleasures. For 40 days, a person disciplines his mind and body in order to grow spiritually and free himself from earthly habits. Nutrition during fasting is the first necessity. It may seem quite strict, especially for beginners. If you don't understand how to comply Lent, this material will tell you how to adhere to it correctly.

Starvation and physical exhaustion are not the purpose of fasting. If you correctly plan your nutrition schedule by day and week, you will be very surprised how varied and healthy lean foods can be.

List of permitted products

Fruits:

Grape

Pomegranate

Apples

Cranberry

Citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, tangerines, grapefruits)

All these fruits are eaten raw during Lent, and desserts and various snacks are also prepared with them. fresh salads and other dishes.

Dried fruits:
Pineapples
Bananas
Cherry
Pears
Dried apricots
Dates
Prunes
Apples

Dried fruits can not only be eaten during Lent, but they are necessary. During times of limited nutrition, they will enrich the diet valuable vitamins and strengthen the immune system. They can be combined with others Lenten dishes, cook compotes and jelly from them.

Vegetables:

Carrot

Potato

Beet

Celery

Bell pepper

Cabbage (white cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts)

Sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers are also welcome on the Lenten table.

Greenery

Parsley

Basil
Leaf salad

Spinach
Sorrel

Champignons, oyster mushrooms and other types of mushrooms are rich in protein, which is sorely lacking during the fasting period. Mushrooms will become a great alternative meat. You can use them to make delicious and healthy casseroles with vegetables, soups, pies, roasts and snacks. They are also convenient to combine with cereals and pancakes. Don't neglect mushrooms in your diet.

Legumes

Popular legumes: beans and peas will also become irreplaceable sources of protein during Lent. They are ideal for those losing weight, athletes and anyone who does heavy lifting. physical labor. Legumes are used to make excellent purees and dishes with vegetables. The menu of these products will be satisfying, healthy and at the same time simple. Sports nutrition During fasting, it must be accompanied by vegetable protein.

Cereals

Porridges such as rice, buckwheat, oatmeal and other cereals should become the basis lean nutrition. With the exception of days where complete abstinence from food is recommended, porridge can be eaten every day during Lent. They should be cooked only in water, without oil. Optional, different kinds cereals can be combined with each other and added vegetables, mushrooms, nuts and dried fruits. This diversifies the dietary menu.

Fish

You can eat fish only according to a strict canon. During religious fasting, it is consumed on the day of the Annunciation and Palm Sunday.

Beverages:

Compote

Kissel

Animal milk is prohibited during fasting. However, almond milk, coconut milk, and soy milk are excellent substitutes.

The spring season is not rich in fresh vegetables, fruits and berries. You have to buy them in stores, or stock up on them in advance for fasting. Some preparations will be an excellent addition to the main menu:

Beans (can be in tomato)

Green pea

Corn

Lentils

Frozen vegetables, but especially berries and fruits, will come in handy in fast days. You can make wonderful tea treats from them.

Sweets:

Marmalade

Lenten marshmallows

Oat cookies

Kazinaki

Dark chocolate (bitter only)
Lollipops

Turkish Delight

In addition to these products, you can include the following in your post:

Nuts and seeds;

Pasta (without eggs);

Lenten sauces and dressings (soy, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, etc.);

Lenten bread (Borodinsky, grain, capital);

Unleavened bread and pita bread;

Flour (rice, corn, oatmeal, buckwheat and coarse wheat);

Seaweed.

During Lent, seafood (squid, shrimp) remains controversial. Some people believe that you should not eat such food during Lent. However, less conservative fans of fasting do not agree with this opinion and believe that seafood is acceptable in strict days.

What not to eat during Lent

Meat (sausages, frankfurters, balyki, lard, etc.);

Fish (except on non-strict days);

Milk, cheese and any dairy products;

Alcohol (except on non-strict days);

Sweets and baked goods containing butter, eggs and milk;

Pork fat and meat broths;

Fast food.

In addition, it is necessary to exclude spices that are too hot, salty, sour and heavy food stimulating an unhealthy appetite. This is everything that cannot be eaten during Lent.

Lent is considered the longest and most demanding season of the year. First and the last week before Easter are considered the toughest. Some lay people follow strict rules for eating.

It is advisable to spend Clean Monday (the first day of fasting) and Great Friday (the penultimate day) without food.

On other days, the consumption of permitted products follows the schedule:

Contraindications to fasting

The Orthodox Church does not force all Christians to observe strict fast. Before you comply dietary ration, it is important to consult your doctor. Pregnant and breastfeeding women can eat some prohibited foods during fasting.

The main contraindications to fasting are:

Small and sick children;

Elderly people burdened with physical ailments;

People who have undergone surgery;

People suffering from serious illnesses.

fast ,

Orthodox fast These are the days when people are cleansed 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 careful about 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. The strictest fast for Christians is Lent.

It lasts 40 days, during which any entertainment activities. 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, honey, nuts and any plant foods are allowed.

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.

Best option here regular meals, 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. Don't get carried away flour products in butter and egg. 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 gain 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 actually observed Lent, after its end, 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 Charter of the Church teaches what one should abstain from during fasting - “all those who fast piously must strictly observe the regulations on the quality of food, that is, abstain during fasting from certain foodstuffs [that is, food, food. - Ed.], not as from bad ones (let this not be), but as from indecent fasting and prohibited by the Church. The foodstuffs from which one must abstain during fasting are: meat, cheese, cow’s butter, milk, eggs, and sometimes fish, depending on the difference in the holy fasts.”

The rules of abstinence prescribed by the Church during the Nativity Fast are as strict as the Peter's Fast. In addition, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the Nativity Fast, the charter prohibits fish, wine and oil and it is allowed to eat food without oil (dry eating) only after Vespers. On other days - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday - it is allowed to eat from vegetable oil. Fish during the Nativity Fast is allowed on Saturdays and Sundays and great holidays, for example, the Feast of Entry into the Temple Holy Mother of God, on temple holidays and on the days of great saints, if these days fall on Tuesday or Thursday. If holidays fall on Wednesday or Friday, then fasting is permitted only for wine and oil.

From December 20 to December 25 (old style), fasting intensifies, and on these days, even on Saturday and Sunday, fish are not blessed. Meanwhile, it is on these days that the civil New Year is celebrated, and we, Orthodox Christians, need to be especially concentrated so that by having fun, drinking wine and eating food we do not violate the strictness of fasting.

The Nativity fast is sometimes called cereal fasting. The mistress of the table at this time is porridge.

Porridge is one of the oldest dishes of humanity. There is an opinion that bread originated from porridge - thick, overcooked porridge was the prototype of unleavened flatbread. Gradually, they began to grind the grains for such flatbread, and flour appeared, and with it unleavened bread.

In Rus', porridge was one of the most important dishes. However, porridge in Ancient Rus' They called not only cereal dishes, but in general all dishes cooked from chopped products. Ancient sources mention bread porridges made from crackers, fish porridge and so on.

Porridge was cooked from millet, oats, barley, buckwheat and other cereals. The most revered porridge in Russia was buckwheat.

While we fast physically, at the same time we need to fast spiritually. “By fasting, brethren, physically, let us also fast spiritually, let us resolve every union of unrighteousness,” commands the Holy Church.
Physical fasting, without spiritual fasting, does not bring anything to the salvation of the soul; on the contrary, it can be spiritually harmful if a person, abstaining from food, becomes imbued with the consciousness of his own superiority from the knowledge that he is fasting. True fasting is associated with prayer, repentance, abstinence from passions and vices, the eradication of evil deeds, forgiveness of insults, abstinence from married life, the exclusion of entertainment and entertainment events, and watching television. Fasting is not a goal, but a means - a means to humble your flesh and cleanse yourself of sins. Without prayer and repentance, fasting becomes just a diet.

The essence of fasting is expressed in the following church song: “Fasting from food, my soul, and not being cleansed from passions, we are in vain consoled by non-eating: for if fasting does not bring you correction, then you will be hated by God as false, and will become like evil demons, We never poison."