What can you eat in a post? Can you eat soy meat while fasting? Soy milk during fasting

Approaching great post which helps to cleanse the body and soul of a person. During it, believers consume only lean foods. Before you start fasting, consider the following tips.

What not to eat while fasting

The main condition that fasting people must observe is to refuse meat products (pork, chicken, beef, fish, lamb). And also you can not include in your diet the following components:

Candies;

Dairy cheeses, butter, sour-milk and, in fact, milk).

So, what should be the food and what lean foods are best used in the diet during Lent?

Grocery list

As you know, products of animal origin cannot be consumed during fasting, but only on the shelves of supermarkets, markets, you can find a large assortment of such products. Before you go shopping, bring a list of lean foods with you:

Groats (oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, bulgur, barley, corn, wheat, barley);

Vegetables (beets, spinach, potatoes, asparagus, carrots, peppers, cabbage, garlic, onions);

Mushrooms (porcini, champignons, mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, chanterelles) can be consumed in any form - fresh, dried, and frozen.

Legumes (peas, asparagus and green beans, lentils, mung beans, chickpeas);

Vegetable fats olive, linseed, sunflower, pumpkin);

Pickles (cucumbers, apples, cabbage, tomatoes);

Greens (basil, dill, mint, leek, parsley) are used in dried and fresh or as a spice;

Dried fruits (raisins, candied fruits, dried apricots, figs, prunes);

Nuts (cashews, walnuts, forest, hazelnuts);

Fruit can be any, even exotic;

Sweets (jams, kozinaki, preserves, halva, honey);

Black and green olives;

From durum wheat;

Bread malt and bran;

Drinks (green tea, fruit drink, cocoa, compote, juices, jelly);

Soy products (milk, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream).

These are the foods you can eat. The list is quite wide. We advise you to stick to it during fasting.

Soy Lean Products

The stores still sell ready-made meat and dairy products that are made from soy. They are enriched with vitamins, Omega-3 acids, trace elements, isoflavones. These lean products have many advantages:

1. They do not need to be stored in the refrigerator.

2. They cook quickly.

3. Soy can be attributed to a complete source of protein.

4. Reduce the risk of breast tumors and cardiovascular disease.

5. Regulate blood cholesterol.

6. Improve brain activity.

But doctors still advise to be careful with these products. After all, most of the soybeans are grown using transgenic technologies. When choosing soy products, consider whether these simulants are necessary.

Lenten menu example

Before you start cooking, get provisions. As mentioned above, lean products for fasting can be bought in supermarkets, markets. So, here are a couple of menu options where components that are prohibited in the post are excluded.

For breakfast: wheat porridge cooked exclusively in water. Add finely chopped pumpkin to it. The drink is green tea.

Lunch: vegetarian borscht, light fresh cabbage salad with finely grated carrots.

Afternoon snack: cook potato rolls with mushrooms in the oven. Drink - compote from apples.

Dinner: stew a turnip with carrots. As a dessert - cranberries, which are mixed with honey.

Here is another option.

Breakfast: potato pancakes, radish salad. The drink is green tea.

Lunch: broccoli soup, celery root salad, apples, swede.

Afternoon snack: vegetable stew. Drink - apple-cranberry mousse.

Dinner: stewed cabbage rolls with rice and carrots. Drink - tea with jam. Dessert - candied fruits.

Now you are convinced that it can be varied and, most importantly, useful. All dishes are balanced and include a sufficient amount of vitamins, proteins, trace elements.

Benefits and contraindications

For some people, dietary restrictions are extremely contraindicated. The following categories of persons are released from office:

Anyone who has recently undergone a complex operation or a serious illness;

Aged people;

Pregnant women, nursing mothers;

Patients with diabetes;

Suffering from high blood pressure, kidney failure, serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, stomach ulcers, gastritis;

People who are engaged in heavy physical labor.

As for the rest, doctors welcome their desire to fast. After all, at least once a week you need to arrange a fasting day.

Fasting is also beneficial for the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. When eating lean food, harmful toxins and slags are removed from the body. The intestinal microflora is restored. The level of cholesterol and sugar decreases, excess fluid is excreted. During fasting, many lose weight. Many people dream about it. After all excess weight exerts a load on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. The lenten menu is rich in fruits and vegetables, which saturate the body with vitamins.

Fasting Mistakes

In no case should you eat once or twice a day. The body ceases to receive a sufficient amount of energy sources. As a result, performance may deteriorate. immune system and hormonal imbalance. In the diet, be sure to include not only carbohydrate foods, but also protein. Otherwise, it will lead to the accumulation of adipose tissue. Abundant consumption of raw fruits and vegetables, nuts can provoke colic, bloating, and even exacerbation of intestinal disease. Be sure to include the first course in the lenten menu for every day.

The main thing in fasting is not limiting oneself in food, but a complete purification of the soul. And do not go to extremes and make your menu only from water and bread.

Doctors do not advise entering a multi-week fast without preparation. This can lead to nervous breakdowns and health problems. All this arises from the feeling of hunger. It is best to prepare yourself throughout the year. Arrange once a week unloading. Meals should be frequent and fractional. Eat five times a day. Avoid fried foods. Steam, boil, stew and bake.

After reading the article, we hope you understand that lean foods are nutritious, healthy and appetizing, and not at all tasteless.

Why are there so many restrictions on pleasures, food, and sexual relations in Orthodoxy? It seems that no harm is done to others, the commandment to love one's neighbor is not violated. Why is it necessary to “kill your body”, your desires? Why such lack of freedom?

- Our body is not killed by restrictions on food and other pleasures, but by excess in them. And besides, even if we do not harm others and do not violate the commandment to love our neighbor, we still need to love God. This is where certain restrictions on pleasure come from, because love, when it exists, is manifested in action, in our actions.

For example, it's easy to say, "I don't love myself," but our deeds show that we love ourselves exactly as we should love God. And you can say with the same ease: "I love God", but only there is nothing easier than words - love is known from deeds. And if we want to love God, then we will limit ourselves to that which removes us from Him. There is no such goal - neither in worldly life, nor in spiritual life - for the sake of which we would not sacrifice something else. Those who do not want to sacrifice anything are left with nothing. They do not acquire anything worthwhile, and at the same time they lose what they had.

Priest Mikhail Nemnonov
priest Alexy Chumakov answers (Los Angeles)
How is it different from normal time? I already try to lead a strict spiritual life ... how and what to change during fasting? Ksenia

Hello, Xenia!

God bless you to create a strong and happy family!

Sincerely, Priest Alexander Ilyashenko

HOW TO FAST FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN?

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, Rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior in Moscow,father of 12 children, chairman of the editorial board of the portal "Orthodoxy and the world

— Father Alexander, one of the questions that readers asked us is this: it is often said that a mother’s fast can have a beneficial effect on the spiritual life of a child. Will a child get better from an uneaten piece of meat?

The point is that fasting is a sacrifice to God. If mommy fasts, wanting her feasible to make a fast as a sacrifice to God, then it is pleasing to Him and the baby will feel the grace of God, as well as when visiting a temple, as when praying parents.

“Mother made a vow to God: if I remain alive, then she will go with me to a pilgrimage to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. And, thank God, he recovered ... ... By the way, she “monday” for the children (she observed the fast on Monday), but she always hid it from us. Actually, she raised and trained all six children (three in higher educational institutions, and three in secondary schools). God save her!" Metropolitan Veniamin Fedchenkov. God's work in my life

- And in the old days they fasted strictly?

Of course, but then there was a different environment and different food. In one work of the tsarist era, an unbelieving nephew said to his aunt: “What difference does it make whether I eat ham or sturgeon balyk during fasting?” Or another case is known when a foreigner was advised to come to Russia during Lent, when the table was the most exquisite. After all, lean food can be both tasty and nutritious and healthy.

But we are very different from our ancestors in both physical and spiritual health, we have a different ecology, pace of life, overload. We are different. Therefore, one cannot literally adopt those traditions that were natural even not so long ago, even at the beginning of the twentieth century. There was a migration from the village to the cities, the peasantry was destroyed in our country, in our modern language there is no word that can be called a farmer. Life has changed dramatically. Therefore, now the question of the forms of physical fasting is so acute: earlier people had a greater margin of safety. People ate differently: milk was not from a bag, but from under a cow, bread from the oven, spring water, clean air. The peasant actively owned 10,000 operations. Imagine - we will be offered to harness a horse. Repair the plow, fold the hut. How amazingly they wielded an ax!

“And if fasting is perceived even by a believer not as a sacrifice to God, but simply as a restriction established by the Church, November 28th has come and that’s it, now it’s a month of neither meat nor milk.

“Of course, even if a person relates to fasting without due depth, but fasts out of obedience to the Mother Church, then he renders obedience, and obedience is virtue itself. And if you fast unconsciously, then the Lord fills and grants a deep understanding of fasting.

- Father, is it right for pregnant women to limit themselves to their favorite food, and eat less tasty, albeit fast food? In particular, readers remember the 8th canon of St. Timothy of Alexandria: “The woman who gave birth on Easter fortecost orders not to observe the legal fast, but to strengthen herself as much as possible with the use of wine and moderate food, for fasting was invented to curb the body, and when it is weak, it does not need curbing, but in help to recover and collect the former strength.

In this rule, everything is said in accordance with the high Greek learning: reinforce yourself in food limited. If food should be eaten as a medicine - eat it, or maybe fasting and there is no need to be treated? Moreover, this rule does not cancel fasting, the reason why we fast is also indicated here: we fast in order to be able to limit our desires. But disease itself is a limitation.

Of course, with toxicosis - a painful condition, with poor health, you need to eat what the body requires. But I would like to rely on an authority that is quite far from pregnancy: Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov: “That soldier who does not want to be a general is bad. Every soldier must understand his maneuver."

What are you fasting for? If you are a mom, your task is to give birth to a healthy baby: you need to eat right, and your state should be peaceful, joyful, and it should be transmitted to your child. If you feel bad, then eat what the body requires. And we begin to grind - otherwise it’s possible, but this? So, either you set yourself the task of giving birth to a baby and more than one, or you turn fasting into Pharisaic literalism. If your heart is peaceful, joyful, then the feat is right, but if you treat God like a bookkeeper who counts for you what you ate, then you are mistaken. But at the same time, it is very easy for a person to relax and give himself unnecessary indulgences. This requires both self-control, and church life, and reliance on the advice of a confessor and people who already have experience in this area.

- That is, a fasting person needs to go between Scylla and Charybdis in order not to lose strength and to offer sacrifice to God?

Fasting is not a referral to the hospital! We must fast as strictly as we can.

Often believers begin to fast excessively: jealousy not according to reason, in my opinion, is associated with the loss of traditions. After all, the issues of fasting, in fact, should be decided not so much by the priest as by the traditions of the family. In a large patriarchal family, where grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts fasted, a child from childhood saw before him all kinds of fasting, how adults fasted, how the pregnant wives of older brothers fasted, whether the sick fasted.

Limit yourself, especially pregnant women, should be reasonable. For example, to limit from negative external impressions, the main source of which is the TV, from the habit of judging, washing each other's bones. The apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). If your condition is like this, your fast is pleasing to God. If you are unable to keep such joy, then you are not fulfilling the main task of fasting. But even if you somehow limit yourself, the Lord will reward it, He kisses the intention.

Fast not for your own glory, but for the glory of God

Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev , clergyman of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.

It seems to me that fasting depends on the spiritual and physical strength of the woman herself. For a woman who is churched, carrying, perhaps not her first child, living in an Orthodox family during a normal pregnancy, it is probably possible to fast according to the charter (but with the prudence that is expected from a normally churched person).

People with little church, who do not have sufficient experience of Christian life, should probably have a different measure of fasting. To begin with, we should think about the basics - about faith in Christ and about knowing the gospel. Otherwise, many people want to fast (or not to fast) for their own glory, and not for the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul says, “I eat, I eat for the glory of God, I don’t eat, I don’t eat for the glory of God.” Do not indulge your desires in general, but also do not sew up your mouth - feel like a baby.

There is no need to ask for a blessing as a sanction for fasting or for its resolution. Before fasting, ask for blessings from the confessor or parish priest. Just a blessing. It is not necessary for the confessor to approve a list of what is and what is not (and in what quantity) - this is simply unworthy of our church life.

From the questions asked, we see that often the problem of fasting is, first of all, a problem of nutrition, but (as you know) fasting is not only abstinence from food. The mind fasts, the human heart fasts, the tongue fasts. The patristic teaching calls for fasting to do deeds of mercy and kindness, learn from the Holy Scriptures, repent of sins, pray harder than usual, attend divine services (if possible), partake of the Holy Mysteries. And vice versa - to move away from unnecessary entertainment, vanity of the mind, idle talk and other evil. All this is more important than gastronomy and much more important in general for the mother and her unborn baby.

Always rejoice!

Matushka Inna Viktorovna Asmus , mother of 9 children, wife of Archpriest Valentin Asmus

As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, eat what you want, just don’t eat each other. This is our main problem. I think that pregnant women should eat according to science and there is nothing wrong with a pregnant woman being drawn to a certain product and she eats it. Fasting is a purely personal matter for each person. One should not only forget about the words of the holy Apostle Paul: “Always rejoice, give thanks to God for everything”, there is no need to try to turn Christianity into something mournful.

The measure of fasting is individual

Olga Dmitrievna Getmanova, raised 9 children. In 2006, she was awarded the Patriarchal Badge of Motherhood by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy. The wife of Roman Nikolaevich Getmanov, a well-known obstetrician-gynecologist.

Fasting during pregnancy is undoubtedly individual: if you want, eat meat, if you don’t want, don’t eat. If you do not eat meat for a month and a half, nothing will happen to you or your child. You won't be fasting all year. I myself love potatoes - I feel good with them in fasting. If you can't live without kebabs, then eat them. And if you need dairy, eat it. Just don't eat.

I don’t ask the confessor how specifically I should fast during pregnancy, but I know that he allows his parishioners to fast during dairy fasting during pregnancy.

In fact, protein consumption is no longer during pregnancy, but during feeding - that's when it's tight without milk. You fast for a week and you feel that the milk has become noticeably less.

Another well-known fact: during the blockade of Leningrad, completely emaciated women gave birth to full-weight children. This means that everything they need, they themselves take from the mother's body. It’s the mother’s teeth that can then break and hair fall out ... (Smiles)“

Refrain from what you are addicted to

Mother Elena Karpenko , mother of three children, wife of priest Dmitry Karpenko.

For a woman, pregnancy is her feat, that small sacrifice to God that she can make. You need to fast according to your strength, because, unfortunately, modern women are not so strong physically, and spiritually, I think, too. If there was a short break between pregnancies, fasting is very difficult, I know from my own experience.

You need to eat whatever you want and limit yourself only to what is not particularly necessary. Each woman must determine her diet for herself, find the "golden mean". For me, for example, abstinence from sweets has become such a limitation - to admit, this is my weakness. I know cases when women fasted throughout their pregnancy, strictly observed fasting and gave birth to strong men. That is, if you feel strength in yourself and your health allows, then you can fast.

Fasting is a purely personal matter for everyone ... The most important thing is not to get angry at others. It is necessary to abstain during pregnancy not from meat and yogurt, but from what you have an addiction to. You can limit yourself from watching TV, idle talk. After all, try not to judge, which is much harder than not eating a piece of meat.

Questions about nutrition during pregnancy are more appropriate to ask the doctor you are seeing. Still, it is worth going to confession not with questions about food, but with spiritual problems and experiences.

Lent implies the rejection of food of animal origin. You can not eat meat, fish, eggs, as well as milk and dairy products. On the one hand, temporarily abstaining from milk is not at all difficult. On the other hand, if you are used to this product, the question arises - what can replace milk in fasting? There are many alternatives to cow's and goat's milk in stores that fit into the category of plant-based products. And they, of course, are allowed during fasting.

Can you drink milk while fasting?

Milk and its derivatives are products of animal origin, which means food that is unacceptable during Lent. An exception is not made even for Saturdays and Sundays - days when fasting people can eat dishes with vegetable oil. Permission to consume dairy products can be asked from a priest if a person is seriously ill or very old. Also, relief is made in relation to people on the way. The church also allows pregnant and lactating women to drink milk, because the health of the child depends on it.

As for children, they are not required to fast at the age of seven. In the future, this remains at the discretion of the parents. Remember that a strict fast for a child can result in poor performance at school - in order to study well, you need to eat well. If a child is accustomed to eating meat, eggs and dairy products, a sharp rejection of them will lead to a decrease in activity and concentration.

Having decided to fast, you must be aware that the refusal of cow's milk is your voluntary desire. Fasting is only a period of time, but at the same time it is an opportunity to experience the strength of the spirit and humility. Fasting is not a restriction in food - it is a way to purify the soul and thoughts.

If you are wondering if milk is allowed during fasting, a list of products that can replace animal milk can help you.

What can replace milk during fasting

The foods listed below do not contain animal fats and are considered lean. They can be eaten throughout Lent.

Soy milk

It is a plant-based product made from soybean, a leguminous plant widely distributed in Asia. The composition of soy milk may vary, depending on the manufacturer and the market where it is sold. So, as a rule, soy products with a sufficient content of protein and fat are imported to Russia. This allows, if not completely, then very effectively to replace goat or cow's milk with this product. Soy milk during fasting is added to coffee, porridge and other dishes are cooked on it, and they are also drunk in its pure form - it is tasty and perfectly quenches thirst. Some priests are ambivalent about the use of soy products, because they are some kind of illusion of food that is forbidden to eat. Thus, everyone makes a choice for himself - whether to keep himself in strictness or afford such a replacement.

Coconut milk

In terms of taste, this drink is not similar to cow's milk - it is more watery and, of course, contains significantly less protein. You can drink coconut milk during Lent. In addition, it is used to make soups and other Asian dishes.

nut milk

Milk made from nuts is a plant food. It tastes similar to soy and has a higher protein content than coconut. It also contains calcium, which is useful at any age. You can make desserts, smoothies, pancakes and more with it. The most popular is almond milk, it is suitable for dietary nutrition and intolerance to cow and soy milk. The shops also sell milk made from cedar and hazelnuts.

Other types of vegetable milk are also presented on the shelves of supermarkets: rice, oatmeal, poppy, etc. All of these drinks are lean.

What can not replace milk in fasting:

  1. Condensed milk. This product should not be consumed by fasting people, as it is made on the basis of cow's milk.
  2. Whole milk powder or skimmed milk powder. Powdered milk is based on animal protein. Even fat-free, it is not suitable for a lean table. There is a plant-based milk powder, but it is less common.
  3. lactose free milk. Its difference from the usual one is the absence of milk sugar. In other respects, it is identical to the usual cow's milk. Thus, it is a product of animal origin.

How to make your own lean milk

Plant-based milk can be prepared at home. The technology is simple, the main thing is not to forget that homemade milk is stored for no more than 5-7 days in the refrigerator.

Soy Milk Recipe:

  1. Rinse thoroughly with 100 g of peeled soybeans (the water should become clear). Soak them in cold water for 24 hours.
  2. Mash the swollen beans with a little water. You should get a homogeneous mixture, similar in consistency to liquid sour cream.
  3. Take a large saucepan, put the mixture into it and pour four liters of cold water. Add 2-3 teaspoons of sugar and a pinch of salt, stir. Cover the pot and leave for 4 hours. During this time, stir the mixture occasionally.
  4. Strain the milk, squeeze out the cake and boil the drink for 10-15 minutes.

Almond Milk Recipe:

  1. Soak 1 cup raw almonds in cold water overnight. If you use unshelled nuts, the milk will turn out beige. By cleaning them, you will achieve a lighter shade.
  2. After the night, drain the remaining water, place the nuts in a container suitable for making milk and add three glasses of cold water.
  3. Beat the mixture with a blender until smooth. Strain and pour into a bottle or jar with a lid.


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About Great Lent
Great Lent: Priests' Answers to Questions About Lent

Is it possible to eat soy products in fasting?
– The use of soy products in fasting is quite acceptable. However, here, too, a certain caution should be observed: with what feelings, with what mood do we eat them? We refrain from fasting not because it is "bad" or "bad", but for the sake of acquiring the habit of obedience to the Church and self-control - therefore, with regard to soy products, abstinence must be observed both in terms of quantity and quality, avoiding delicacy or self-pleasing . - Priest Alexy Kolosov.

- Is it allowed to eat seafood in Lent? And these include shrimp, squid, oysters?
- To the fullest extent, during Great Lent, seafood should be consumed, like fish, that is, on the feasts of the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday. Shrimp, squid and oysters are non-vegetarian foods. However, issues of personal measures of fasting must be agreed with the confessor. - Priest Alexander Ilyashenko.

Father, I'm ashamed to admit; I can’t stand fasting by the monastic charter, I’m at war with myself for a year, but nothing good comes of it: I break down, suffer from guilt, fear, or fall into grumbling and protest. I was not able to get clear advice and an answer to the question about the measure of fasting from my parish priest, unfortunately, on your website the answer to the question about the monastic charter of fasting and the charter for the laity is also evasive. It's not that I'm looking for indulgence for myself, it's that I can't go straight up. I need help with advice on how to curb my belly and fight with it not to miss everything else.
- Try to start small - observe the established fast on Wednesdays and Fridays: do not eat meat and dairy products, and eggs on these days. Observe the indicated restrictions during Lent, and also refrain from fish dishes on Wednesdays and Fridays. Lenten table can be hearty and tasty, recipes for lean dishes are published on our website.

Ask the Lord for strength to fast. Also pay more attention to spiritual fasting: go to church more often, devote more time to prayer, exclude watching entertainment programs and films during fasting. Be kind and merciful to your loved ones, try not to judge anyone, not to quarrel with anyone, to avoid irritability. - Priest Alexander Ilyashenko.

- Will I break the fast if I take protein isolated from milk?
- Lenten food is considered only that which is of plant origin. Milk or milk protein is of animal origin, not vegetable. In case of illness, they take a blessing to weaken the fast. - Priest Pavel Ilyinsky.

- Is it possible to eat puff pastry products (purchased pies, cookies) on fasting days?
- If the composition is indicated on the product, and there are no quick products in it, then it is possible. - Priest Mikhail Nemnonov.

– Some fasting people are not averse to having a snack on hastily so-called snack food - chips, crackers. Can you use them every day?
- Of course, it is impossible, there is a lot of salt there. Somehow, an experiment was shown on TV: these crackers were soaked in water, and then evaporated. Try it yourself and see what's left? And chips that are fried in rancid oil? Goodbye liver, goodbye stomach, hello gastritis and pancreatitis.

In general, in everything you need to know the measure. If you drink one bottle of soda a week, then probably nothing bad will happen, but if you drink a day, anything can develop, because it also has very aggressive components. - Hieromonk Oleg Osipov), doctor of the Ascension Caves Monastery

What to do if it is difficult to fast, if by the end of the fast there is no appetite, although you want to eat? In our family, everyone fasts, but after fasting, problems with food begin. Everyone is too lazy to cook (me too), and it turns out that all the time pasta, potatoes with salad, and cookies with chocolate. At the beginning of the post, I feel normal and physically endure the post normally, but by the end I can barely stand it. When I fasted for the first time on the Nativity Fast, I got a stomach ache, so I broke the fast. How to eat in fasting if you get sick during fasting?
- Yes, if there are serious health problems, then fasting can be weakened (with the blessing of the priest), but you don’t need to bring yourself to such a state. After all, judging by your letter, your problems are not because of your health, but because you are too lazy to cook for Lent. Lenten table can be varied, tasty, and healthy. For a sick stomach, by the way, oatmeal boiled in water is very useful - what's non-lean here? On our site there are recipes for Lenten dishes, there are even special cookbooks, there would be a desire to cook! - Priest Alexander Ilyashenko.

http://www.k-istine.ru/base_faith/fast/fast_great_questions.htm