What does fast food mean? Abstention from fast food

This topic is dedicated to the Christian tradition of fasting. It is worth noting that this is not so much a tradition as the duty of every person who wishes 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 concerns the fast food

Every Orthodox believer knows that in the fast you can not eat any meat, drink milk and dairy products, eat eggs in any form. It would seem that you can tolerate one day or several, not to eat chicken or beef. It's not a secret that modern meat-packing plants are sausages, sausages are made mostly from soy and other products that have little to do with real meat. So sausages are not quick food? On the one hand - yes, on the other - no. Later we will try to understand why.

If eggs, milk, yogurt, yogurt are added to pastries other than water, flour and sunflower oil, then you can safely say that it is a scoop. In the post it is not used.

The same goes for chocolate, for example. As a rule, even dry milk is added to it. Various cookies, white bread - it's all fast food.

What then to eat

Often, especially with the beginning of Lent, people start fussing instead of prayer, they are looking for those foods that can be eaten during a meal. This is a wrong approach. It is better to make a menu in advance, see what you can eat and what not, so that you do not think about food in the fast, but pray diligently, spend time repenting, go quietly to services in the temple. What does fast food mean and how not to confuse?

Let's start with bread. It is on the table for every Christian. The Lord Himself blessed the bread. If you are confused by the loaf "Rifled" or bread "Borodino", for example, you can buy lavash Armenian: in its composition only water, flour, yeast and salt. There is not a single gram of milk.

Homemade pies from flour, water, sunflower oil and yeast will perfectly replace a bun cake. After all, as a filling, you can add raisins, prunes, poppies, cinnamon or an apple.

What drink

Of course, you can not drink dairy products in a post, which ones:

• milk;
• yogurt;
• kefir;
• Yogurt;
• Fermented woman.

You can not add milk to coffee or tea. And these drinks can be drunk, but not in large quantities.

Fast food: cocktails, wine, beer, carbonated drinks, for example, "Fanta", "Duchess" and so on. Remember that during fasting you can not drink vodka or wine. Ideally, there should be only water, juice, fruit juice, compote.

Why can not alcohol, because it is not dairy, not eggs or meat? The point here is not in physical nutrition, 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 expand the vessels in the post, these things should not be used. How does this explain the holy fathers: temptation and sin.

The Meaning of Fasting

And now let's talk, why fasting and abstinence from fast food are needed. It is both difficult and simple at the same time. Simplicity lies in the fact that you can refuse for a while from meat, milk and eggs, the main thing to want. And the difficulty is that people understand spiritual meaning far from immediately. He can not give up his beloved food, food, dessert for the Lord, for his salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is important to understand that the fast food can include the favorite food, drink, without which it is impossible to live fully. For example, you are very fond of coffee, although it does not add milk. It is worth to abandon him for the time of fasting for the sake of rapprochement with God. And now let's talk about the meaning of fasting.

Man is attached to earthly goods, it is hard for him to give up what he likes. But when he dies, his soul will be free from this world. What will happen? She will be constantly hungry, but not because you want a piece of meat or drink coffee (there is no body), there will be spiritual hunger. Such a soul wants to return to the joys of earthly life, and not to strive for God. But, alas, this will not happen. As a result, such a soul will get to the demons who tempted her. A fast is a rapprochement with God and a distance from the devil.

Alternative to lean food

Often contemporaries want to make themselves indulgences: they buy sausages, soy, chips with bacon flavor, marmalade. What can be said about this? If you are fasting, then do it right. After all, you need to get out of your favorite feelings, habitual tastes. No need to look for substitution. Otherwise, you will not have a post, but an ordinary game called "find an alternative." The same applies to those who think that they fast, but in fact follow a diet.

Any search for replacement, indulgence, reasons is better left and not wasting 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 abandon your favorite dishes for the sake of communicating with God. Those who fasted truly, probably, noticed that after a meal it becomes easy, joyful, does not pull into sleep, there are forces for prayer and other useful things.

How much should I consume?

The Orthodox Church always says that you need to eat food in small portions. There is such a sin of delicacy. That is, when a person overeats. As a rule, it gets hard, pulls you into a dream, you want to have a snack. Quite often ends such a meal with pains in the stomach, liver colic. You can say that a person in this case punished himself.

On the contrary, after eating a little, you can feel satiety a few minutes after lunch or dinner. And it does not matter, 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. Meals should be meager and not diverse.

How to prepare for fasting

People often ask priests, believers: "What is she: fast food without meat? What it is?". Let's take a closer look at this point.

There is a meaty week before the Great Lent: you can eat everything, except meat products. And when the fast comes, you can not eat the rest.

Let your table have boiled potatoes, rice or buckwheat, millet or raspberry porridge on the water. In the morning, you can drink tea / juice, pita bread or a lean bun.

For lunch, a mushroom soup, for example, or on vegetable broth, is suitable. On the second you can drink compote, eat nuts or dried fruits.

Various salads, carrots in Korean, pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut, greens - all this will become a source of vitamins, vitality, strengthening immunity.

Unfortunately, modern agrofirms add nitrates to vegetables and fruits, process greens to keep for a long time. Buy all the products better from trusted sellers.