From our Russian correspondent…
Orthodox Easter diet tips in Russia
April 19, 2018
By ALINA BURMISTROVA
The Mirror reporter
On April 8 all Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians celebrated Orthodox Easter which is one of the greatest holidays of the year and fasting is pretty important part before celebration. At first, you not only get closer to God observing these customs but also you cleanse your own soul because during pre-Easter fasting you are not allowed to use obscene language and do forbidden acts. Most of all fasting participants want to lose weight so it is good motivation for them!
But now I would like to tell how many Orthodox do fasting before celebration day.
On the first day of fasting and on the last Friday before Easter, people should completely give up eating. That’s such a custom!
It is forbidden to eat products of animal origin which includes any kind of meat (even everyone’s favorite fried chicken), fish and seafood (only during special days), eggs, milk and dairy, as well as baked pastry, alcohol (only during special days) and vegetable oil (only during special days).
But do not get upset, you can eat another delicious, and most importantly, healthy food. Products that religious people are allowed to use for cooking and eating are potatoes, carrots, eggplants, pumpkins, turnips, different kinds of cabbage, asparagus, peas, corn, fresh greens (you also can boil, stew and bake these veggies). Besides that, you are able to eat mushrooms, also buckwheat and rice and other types of groats cooked on the water without vegetable oil.
Traditionally you can, on Monday, on Wednesday and on Friday eat bread, fruits and veggies. On Tuesday and on Thursday you can have hot food of plant origin without oil. On Saturday and on Sunday (besides final week before Easter) you can eat food of plant origin with special oil for fasting.
But growing organisms ( I mean kids and teens) along with pregnant women are not recommended to do fasting because it could harm.
So, bon appetit!
Manuel Lupercio • Apr 24, 2018 at 12:33 PM
Ive heard about this before, fasting is a great dietary method if done correctly. I wouldve like to know a little more about the origin but otherwise this was a very well written article.
Kara • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:56 PM
Very cool to learn about what other countries do during their special times! Great job going into depth about the topic, I learned a lot!
Dylan Konicek • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:55 PM
This is very interesting, I have never heard of this before. I don’t think i would be able to give up eating meat
Will • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:49 PM
I really appreciate the knowledge shared in this article that I wouldn’t have been able to find. Cultures different to the standard American culture are always very interesting to learn about and appreciate.
Kacey Koch • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:35 PM
I always find Alina’s articles really interesting! I always learn new things from her articles.
Hannah Gibbons • Apr 23, 2018 at 10:24 AM
I really enjoyed reading this article about a custom Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians all partake in. It takes a lot of dedication to participate in this and I admire the participants strength. I thought this was a really cool topic to do a story on!
Hannah Siegel • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:56 PM
I did not know about this custom, it was cool to learn about it. All the food options sound great too.
Alyssa Schroeckenthaler • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:55 PM
I love learning more about the culture. It’s interesting because for Lent before Easter, we “fast,” but for us that is just not eating meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday. The fasting is like five times more strict!
Tony Ludwig • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:49 PM
It’s nice to read about foreign countries from a primary source, it’s eye opening
Merita Mehmedi • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:42 PM
I did not know much about this custom before reading this article. I admire the strength and dedication it takes for someone to complete this custom. At first, the options for what you could eat during fasting time seemed limited, but you told us about many foods you could eat that sound very good!
Dylan Trigg • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:20 PM
Very interesting. I would never have heard about that, cool to learn something new.