Fasting in Orthodoxy implies various forms of abstinence from worldly pleasures, including restrictions on food. What is the right way to fast, you need to know when and what foods should be consumed.
Before you start fasting, you need to understand the very meaning of abstaining from food. Fasting is not just about giving up meat or a weight loss diet. This is a spiritual experience, the receipt of which is associated with a whole range of restrictions. During this period, food should not arouse the sinful desires of a person, and also should not be entertainment. Therefore, you should not spend a lot of time preparing delicacies, even from permitted products. It is best to devote the freed minutes and hours to spiritual meditation and prayer.
In the Orthodox fast, the consumption of meat is traditionally prohibited. Also, the list of unauthorized products includes milk and all its derivatives, as well as eggs.
The permission or prohibition of fish depends on the particular day of the fast. For example, it is allowed on some days of Christmas and Peter's Lent, usually on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends.
On the main fasting days, the diet is vegetable food. The role of a source of protein is played by mushrooms, which are actively used in Russian lean cuisine. They can be stewed, fried, boiled, baked, or canned. The best source of fat is vegetable oil, which was also called lean oil in pre-revolutionary times.
The question of whether it is possible to eat sweets during fasting can be considered completely unresolved. In pre-revolutionary Russia, sugar was often also removed from the lean table, since it was believed that it was purified with bovine blood. Today, with the understanding that, for example, chocolate consists entirely of plant components, the question remains about its acceptability. Still, it is advisable to give up sweets primarily because it does not correspond to the very idea of fasting - it is not needed to maintain vitality, and its use can be attributed to entertainment.
On some days, even stricter restrictions are implied. For example, on Good Friday, the penultimate day of Great Lent, it is advisable not to eat at all.
