This topic is dedicated to the Christian tradition of fasting. It is worth noting that this is not so much a tradition as a duty of every person who wants to come to the Kingdom of Heaven after death.
Any food, any kind of product that is excluded during fasting, is called “fast food”.
What about fast food
Every Orthodox believer knows that you can’t eat any meat, drink milk and dairy products, or use eggs of any kind in fasting. It would seem that you can tolerate one day or several, not to eat chicken or beef. It's no secret that modern meat processing plants sausages, sausages are most often made from soy and other products that are little related to real meat. So, sausages - not a fast food? On the one hand - yes, on the other - no. Later we will try to understand why.
If in addition to water, flour and sunflower oil, eggs, milk, kefir, yogurt are added to baking, then we can safely answer that it is quick. They do not use it in fasting.
The same goes for chocolate, for example. As a rule, milk is added to it, albeit milk powder. Various biscuits, white bread - these are all fast-moving foods.
What then to eat
Often, especially with the beginning of Lent, people begin to fuss instead of prayer, they look for those foods that can be consumed during a meal. This is the wrong approach. It is better to make a menu in advance, see what you can eat and what not, so as not to think about food in fasting, but to pray earnestly, spend time in repentance, go quietly to church services. What does junk food mean and how not to mix it up?
Let's start with bread. He is present on the table with every Christian. The Lord blessed the bread. If you are embarrassed by the “Cut” loaf or “Borodinsky” bread, for example, then you can buy Armenian pita bread: it contains only water, flour, yeast and salt. There is not a gram of milk.
Homemade pies made from flour, water, sunflower oil and yeast will perfectly replace the frying pastry. After all, as a filling, you can add raisins, prunes, poppy seeds, cinnamon or an apple.
What drink
Of course, you can’t drink dairy products in fasting, which ones:
- milk;
- yogurt;
- kefir;
- yogurt;
- fermented baked milk.
You can’t add milk to coffee or tea. And you can drink these drinks themselves, but not in large quantities.
Modest food: cocktails, wine, beer, carbonated drinks, such as Fanta, Duchesse, and so on. Remember that during fasting you should not drink vodka or wine. Ideally, there should be only water, juice, fruit drink, compote.
Why is alcohol not allowed, because it is not milk, not from eggs or meat? It is not a matter of physical food, but spiritual. After drinking alcohol, a person relaxes, worst of all - loses his mind. And drunkenness is a grave sin. In order to relax or dilate blood vessels in fasting, such things should not be used. As the holy fathers explain: temptation and sin.
The meaning of the post
Now let's talk about why fasting and abstinence from fast food are needed. It is both difficult and simple here. Simplicity lies in the fact that you can refuse meat, milk and eggs for a while, most importantly you want to. But the difficulty is that a person does not immediately understand the spiritual meaning. He cannot refuse his beloved food, dish, dessert for the sake of the Lord, for the sake of his salvation and the kingdom of heaven.
It is important to understand that favorite food, a drink without which it is impossible to live fully, can be attributed to fast food. For example, you are very fond of coffee, although you do not add milk to it. It is worth abandoning him during fasting for the sake of rapprochement with God. Now let's talk about the meaning of fasting.
A man is attached to earthly goods, it is difficult for him to abandon what he likes. But when he dies, his soul will be freed from this world. What will happen? She will be constantly hungry, but not because she wants a piece of meat or a cup of coffee (there is no body), there will be spiritual hunger. Such a soul wants to return to the joys of earthly life, rather than striving for God. But alas, this will not happen. As a result, such a soul will fall to the demons who tempted it. And fasting is a rapprochement with God and a distance from the devil.
Lenten Alternative
Often, contemporaries want to make concessions for themselves: they buy sausages, soy, bacon-flavored chips, marmalade. What can be said about this? If you fast, do it properly. After all, you need to break the habit of your favorite sensations, familiar tastes. No need to look for a substitute. Otherwise, it will not be your post, but the usual game with the name “find an alternative”. The same applies to those who think that fasting, but in fact follows a diet.
Any search for a replacement, concessions, reasons is better left and not waste time. Fasting should be from the heart, a free choice. What does fast food mean for a fasting Christian? As a rule, a voluntary desire to give up your favorite foods for the sake of communication with God. Those who really fasted probably noticed that after a meal it becomes easy, joyful, not sleepy, and there remains strength for prayer and other useful things.
How much to consume
The Orthodox Church always says that food should be eaten in small portions. There is such a sin of unification. That is, when a person overeats. As a rule, it becomes difficult, sleepy, I want to eat another meal. Often this meal ends with pain in the stomach, liver colic. We can say that in this case a person punished himself.
On the contrary, after eating quite a bit, you can feel full a few minutes after lunch or dinner. And it doesn’t matter if you have fast food or lean, but you need to eat in moderation.
It is worth noting that the abundance of vegetable salads on the table, fruits and boiled potatoes with mushrooms - this does not mean a lean table. Nutrition should be scarce and far from varied.
How to prepare for fasting
People often ask priests, believers: “What is it like: a quick meal without meat? What it is?". Let's take a closer look at this point.
There is a meat-packing week before Lent: you can eat everything except meat products. And when fast comes, then you can’t eat the rest.
Let your table be boiled potatoes, rice or buckwheat, millet or hekrules porridge on the water. In the morning you can drink tea / juice, pita bread or a lean bun.
For lunch, mushroom soup, for example, or on vegetable broth, is suitable. On the second, you can drink compote, eat nuts or dried fruits.
Various salads, Korean carrots, pickles, sauerkraut, greens - all this will become a source of vitamins, vitality, strengthen immunity.
Unfortunately, modern agricultural companies add nitrates to vegetables and fruits, process herbs to keep them stored for a long time. Buy all products better from trusted sellers.