How long does Easter last? Why can't you dye eggs until they're a year old? - Can an unbaptized person participate in the religious procession?

there is no need to eat dozens of eggs, and meat food is allowed only on the fourth day

May 1st ends: its duration is traditionally 48 days. Compliance with all the rules of fasting is quite a heavy burden for a person, both psychologically and physiologically. To give up your usual diet, which includes many pleasant treats, you need to show patience, perseverance, and willpower. Believers are returning to their usual menu. However, this happy event there are pitfalls.

The first day after Lent was called Clean Monday, a day when women worked only on the ritual washing of ships, which they then climbed into the attics of houses. This ritual had a prophylactic and apotropaic purpose of protecting future crops from bird attack. On the first Saturday, St. John the Great celebrated the Day of the Connoisseurs, a saint who was canonized Orthodox Church because of his actions, but in accordance with folk tradition for the punishment imposed on all who disrespect him.

They guarded the Sun to avoid its escape to the north and save humanity from eternal night. On Sabbath Saturday, before dawn, the girls went into the forest in clean places, “where the chickens don’t eat and the dogs don’t hear,” and they looked for roots from the big grass or whine. When they dug up these plants, they placed salt, flour or other products into their roots. Returning home, the girls boiled these roots, and as a result the lye washed their heads with the fact that their beautiful and beautiful hair will grow.

Mikhail Lomonosov in his treatise “On the Preservation and Reproduction of the Russian People” wrote that “ Most people die in the first two weeks after Easter" And it’s not surprising: after a long period of gastronomic abstinence, people broke out and ate everything at once and in large quantities. In some wealthy families, the Easter table consisted of 48 dishes (!) - according to the number of days of fasting. And each dish had to be tried...

Modern people are not far behind. After observing all the canons of fasting on the day of breaking the fast, they make an all-out raid on the refrigerator. As a consequence - exacerbation of gastritis, stomach ulcers, volvulus, problems with the liver and pancreas. This is just a small fraction of the problems that can present to the gastrointestinal tract overloaded with heavy food.

The reason for these consequences is quite obvious: during fasting, the metabolism changes somewhat, the size of the stomach decreases, the amount of enzymes produced decreases, the digestive system works “idle”, without overload. The process of “tuning” the body to lean food occurs gradually; accordingly, the reverse effect - a return to fast food - should also be carried out in stages. It will take 7-10 days to break the fast correctly.

So, here are some tips that will allow you to return to your usual diet without unpleasant consequences.

On Easter - on the day of breaking the fast– You shouldn’t eat a lot of quick meals. Despite the temptation to learn more and more of everything (after all, this is already allowed by the church), it is worth making a little more effort, being patient and not turning the holiday into a gluttonous feast. You can afford to eat 1 (and not a dozen, as is customary), a small piece of Easter cake. On the day of breaking the fast, it is allowed to consume a small amount of fermented milk products (kefir, fermented baked milk). Note that it is better to include meat in the diet a little later, when the stomach “warms up” and begins to get used to changes in the operating mode. Meals should be small but frequent (5-6 times a day).

On second or third day You can include cottage cheese, fish and seafood in your diet. In this case, it is better to steam the fish rather than fry it.

WITH fourth or fifth Meat food is allowed per day. However, don’t overdo it here either: leave the leg of lamb, dripping with fat, for later, and now eat a few pieces of lean veal, chicken, and turkey fillet. You can use boiled vegetables or potatoes as side dishes.

IN subsequent days Gradually you can add heavier foods and increase portions.

Particular attention should be paid to drinking. In the first days after fasting, it is recommended to drink water, decoctions of dried fruits, fruit drinks and fresh juices. Regular tea and coffee will have to be left aside for a couple of days. The same applies to store-bought juices and carbonated drinks. acceptable in very small symbolic doses.

By the way, long-term abstinence from junk food and drinks may well form into a good habit, so think: perhaps there is no point in returning to some items from your previous menu?

As for the time when you can start eating fast food, the clergy report the following: breaking the fast on Easter takes place after. If you attended the Liturgy at night, then after the night service you can begin the festive meal. If you came to the Liturgy in the morning, then you can break your fast in the same way - after communion. If for some reason you cannot celebrate Easter in church, you can begin to break your fast around the time when the festive Liturgy ends in churches.

Happy holidays and bon appetit!

Among the most common reasons: inadequate assessment of one’s health status, unbalanced diet while fasting. However, a special place is occupied by the inability to break the fast correctly.

Even healthy person, this is fraught with malfunctions in some internal organs, not to mention those who already have health problems!

In almost 100% of cases, the wrong way out of fasting ends in the exacerbation of a number of diseases, among which there may be long-forgotten and treated ones. The reason for this point is a number of adaptation mechanisms that occur as a result of a low-calorie seven-week carbohydrate-vegetable diet.

What does fast food affect?

The composition and amount of bile and gastric juice changes, and the production of enzymes that break down fats and proteins is significantly reduced as unnecessary: the digestive system completely adapts to a plant-based diet.

Plant foods change the water-electrolyte composition of your blood (concentration of potassium, sodium, chlorides, etc.), which creates additional stress on the kidneys.

Changes in electrolyte and water balance entail changes in the functioning of the vascular system and heart. For a healthy person, everything will go very unnoticed, but problems may arise with blood pressure in the presence of pathology or progression of heart failure. This may be especially relevant when leaving fasting; in order to replenish energy, the body’s fat depots are consumed, and the molecular mechanisms for obtaining energy change.

The best food after fasting

So that during fasting the efforts expended do not go in vain, and even more so do not turn into serious troubles, pay all your attention to breaking the fast.

Any changes in lifestyle can have a drastic and adverse effect on our health. Remember your condition during a sudden change in time zones. The body experiences much more serious stress when suddenly returning to traditional food from a lean diet.

So, the main principle when leaving fasting is gradualism.

The amount of food to break your fast can be as simple as one boiled egg and a small good piece of Easter cake. Despite the fact that all restrictions imposed by Lent have been lifted, do not immediately pounce on everything that was prepared for the Easter holiday table.

If your appetite has worked up in earnest, after 1.5-2 hours, eat some low-fat yogurt, vinaigrette or stewed vegetables.

Diet. During fasting, the digestive system not only had a rest, but also had enough time to become lazy. Eating frequently in small portions will help to smoothly return it to an active state.

In the first couple of days, keep the daily amount of food the same as when Holy Week, but it’s better to eat at intervals of two to three hours.

If there were no previous problems with the gastrointestinal tract, then by the end of Easter week you can bring both the one-time and daily amount of food to your usual volume, but be sure to keep five or six meals a day. In other situations, a smoother return to your usual diet will be required - the process should take about 2 weeks. If heaviness or certain unpleasant sensations in the epigastrium appear after eating, you can take one or two mezim tablets.

Diet expansion. In the first week, it should be based on the foods you ate during fasting, with the addition of low-fat meat broths, baked or boiled meat, and fermented milk products. No matter how much you crave something “tasty,” nothing spicy, fried, or smoked!

All kinds of semi-finished products, sausages, salads with mayonnaise, baked goods, milk, and spices are prohibited. You can return to these products no earlier than 10-14 days after you break the fast; also start with a small amount of food. For people with pathologies of the digestive organs, it is better to completely exclude them from the diet.

Drinking regime. It is better to immediately give preference to compotes from dried fruits, fresh fruits and berries, and jelly. Strong coffee, tea. Eliminate milk, freshly squeezed juices and carbonated drinks for a while.

Alcohol restrictions. At the Easter table it is better to limit yourself to 150 ml of Cahors or even less. Alcohol provokes dehydration in the body, sharply increases appetite and puts a strain on the cardiovascular system!