Science and fasting

I was wasting a little time and searching for topics within the scholarly database at one of the universities where I teach, and found some interesting information.

One study, conducted in 2007, found that

Conclusions: The periodic vegetarianism recommended by the Greek Orthodox Church contributes to the favourable profiles of several biomarkers of health among this sample of monks. The fasting rituals described are an important component of the traditional diet of Crete and should be emphasised in nutrition education programmes promoting this Mediterranean eating pattern.


Papadaki, A., Vardavas, C., Hatzis, C., & Kafatos, A. (2008). Calcium, nutrient and food intake of Greek Orthodox Christian monks during a fasting and non-fasting week. Public Health Nutrition, 11(10), 1022-1029.

 And

The Orthodox Christian diet is unique in regularly interchanging from an omnivore to a vegetarian-type diet, and no study to date has focused on the impact of this on Fe status….

Adherence to the Orthodox Christian dietary guidelines does not have a major impact on Fe status and is not associated with a significantly greater degree of Fe deficiency.

Sarri, K. O., Kafatos, A. G., &; Higgins, S. (2005). Is religious fasting related to iron status in Greek Orthodox Christians?. The British Journal Of Nutrition, 94(2), 198-203.


Sounds like the regimen is good for us. Not surprised.

Happy New Year

Forgive this newbie for my Church New Year greetings being a day late.

I had started reading The Year of Grace of the Lord this past  Lent, picking it up and reading it from that point. So I have just now come to its beginning and I wanted to share some of the monk's observations about the significance of the liturgical year. 

In addition to the cycle of feasts that bear directly on our Lord, the liturgical year includes the cycle of feasts of the saints. These two cycles, however, should not be thought of as two strands that run parallel to, or separate from, each other, for the saints are the glorified members of the body of Christ. Their sanctity is but an aspect, a shining ray of the holiness of Christ himself. To celebrate the feast of a saint is to celebrate a special grace that flows from Christ to that saint and so to us: it is to celebrate that aspect of our Lord which is specially evidenced by the saint, it is to enter (for our profit) into the relationship of prayer which unites that saint to Christ. It is still more. In the same way that the feasts of our Lord in a mysterious way renew the events of his life, so the feasts of the saints make their lives, their merits and their deaths mysteriously actual, in as much as they participate in the life, the merits and death of the Lord Jesus. ... The liturgical year has but one and the same object, Jesus Christ; whether we contemplate him directly, or whether we contemplate him through the members of his body.

Good stuff!