All about Lent: what – and who – is and is not allowed

Is tea with sugar allowed during Lent?

During Lent, which in 2021 is observed from March 15 to May 1, believers limit their diet, refusing to consume animal products, including milk, cream, kefir, yogurt and other fermented milk drinks.

Alcohol, including cocktails based on it, is also prohibited. Is it possible to drink tea with sugar during fasting, what can replace such a drink? This is what our story will be about.

Is it possible to drink tea during Lent 2021?

First of all, it is worth saying that a lot depends on the degree of fasting you decide to adhere to. Strict restrictions, according to the church charter, are observed by monks, but this is not necessary for laity. In addition, recommendations for fasting vary on different days.

Is it permissible to drink tea on the first day of Lent? In the first and last weeks, when the strictest fast is observed, you should limit the consumption of sugar and sweets, or better yet, completely eliminate them from the diet.

On Clean Monday, clergy and some lay people completely abstain from food and drink only water. Of course, if your health allows, you can have a fasting day. However, the ban on drinking tea at this time is not mandatory for everyone, and if you wish, you can indulge in a cup of this drink.

Some clergy advise completely eliminating other drinks from the diet at this time, including sweet juices and fruit compotes.

Even with a less strict degree of fasting, you cannot drink coffee during this period, since this drink is considered a decoction, and this preparation method contradicts the basic principle of dry eating.

Tea is an infusion, so its use is permissible even on days when only thermally unprocessed foods are allowed, for example, fresh vegetables and fruits, previously baked bread, nuts, sauerkraut, etc.

When can you drink tea during Lent?

This drink is allowed to be consumed from the second to the sixth week inclusive.

Tea, which contains many beneficial substances, has proven itself to be an effective remedy for the prevention of many diseases. It improves digestion, kidney, liver, pancreas function, neutralizes free radicals and cleanses the body of waste and toxins.

As for sugar, it also does not belong to ingredients of animal origin that are prohibited during this period, and you can add a spoon or two of this product to your tea.

In addition, you can drink various fruit drinks, compotes, jelly, homemade lemonade and kvass. The Typikon (the liturgical Charter that regulates church fasts) even allows for the consumption of a little wine on some days.

What can you drink tea with during fasting?

It can be used with honey or jam, candied fruits, candied fruits, fruit-based marshmallows, kozinaki made from seeds and any lean, that is, not containing butter, milk and eggs, baked goods, for example, with bread, lean biscuits, etc.

You can sometimes afford caramel, marmalade with agar-agar (a substance of plant origin, as opposed to gelatin).

However, you shouldn’t treat yourself to sweets too often, otherwise the meaning of fasting will be lost. It is better to limit the number of cups of sweet tea to one or two per day.

Believe me, there will be no harm to your health from this. Let us remind you that refined sugar is not a healthy product. It is 99% a simple carbohydrate, devoid of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other beneficial substances, while at the same time it contains a lot of calories.

Sugar causes the development of many diseases, including cardiovascular and endocrine diseases, weight gain, decreased memory and attention, impaired protein metabolism and, as a result, weakened immunity.

If desired, you can replace sugar with sweet fruits, dried fruits and honey. Honey contains a large amount of vitamins (C, K, E, P, group B), minerals (potassium, sodium, nickel, calcium, manganese, chromium, iron, copper, silicon, magnesium, silver, etc.), enzymes, organic acids and proteins.

This sweet product increases the body's resistance to various infections and has a general strengthening effect, which is especially necessary for us in the spring.

Whether it is necessary not to drink sweet tea during Lent, everyone decides for themselves. If you decide to fast strictly, then it is better to limit any goodies, even completely lean ones, or completely exclude them from your diet.

You can diversify the menu with herbal teas. Fragrant and tasty drinks are prepared from linden, fireweed, chamomile, berries, leaves and twigs of rowan, raspberry, lingonberry, etc. In a thermos, such tea will not lose its properties for two days. A strained drink in a tightly closed glass container can be stored in the refrigerator for three days.

Healthy drinks are prepared from rose hips, which contain more vitamin C than lemons and black currants. Rosehip prevents the development of inflammatory processes, has a general strengthening and tonic effect on the body, and improves metabolism.

To make wild rosehip tea you will need:

• dried rose hips 10 pcs.,
• water 400 ml.

How to prepare this tea:

1. Peel the berries from hairs and chop.
2. Pour cold water over the rose hips, bring to a boil, then remove from heat. There is no need to boil the drink for a long time, since prolonged heating destroys vitamin C in rose hips.
3. Infuse the tea, closing the lid, for 15-20 minutes.

Here are recipes for other drinks that you can drink on fasting days.

Chamomile and mint tea

Chamomile flowers are used in the treatment of colds, kidney and liver diseases, stomach and intestines. Teas and infusions from it have anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic and choleretic effects. Chamomile is also used as an analgesic and antispasmodic.

Ingredients:

• tea 1 teaspoon,
• chamomile flowers 1 teaspoon,
• mint 1 teaspoon,
• water 100 ml.

Preparation:

1. Pour boiling water over chamomile, tea and mint and leave covered for 10 minutes.
2. Strain the infusion.
3. When serving, you can add honey to the tea.

Lingonberry tea

Lingonberry has a tonic and restorative effect on the human body. It is used as an antipyretic and antiseptic. It is also known that lingonberry fruits increase visual acuity.

Ingredients:

• dry tea 1 tbsp. spoon,
• dried lingonberry leaf 3 tbsp. spoons,
• water 1 l,
• honey.

Preparation:

1. Mix lingonberry leaves with tea, add boiling water and leave covered for 5 minutes.
2. Pour the hot drink into cups, add honey to taste.

How to keep an Orthodox fast?

Fasting in the monastery and in the world

We figured out what you can eat during Lent and what to abstain from, and how to properly distribute your diet over the days. You understand that monastic food differs significantly from secular food, since the monastery has a special charter and the most serious restrictions on food. We are ordinary people, strict fasting is not for us, we can observe fasting days at our own discretion, because everyone has different opportunities. Thus, by eating right, you will be able to maintain and increase your health.

Leaving the post

It is important not only to start Lent correctly, but also to complete it with dignity. Everyone asks when they can eat after fasting. Typically, all Orthodox Christians begin to eat normally at the onset of Easter. Ideally, after the Liturgy there is a rich meal. It is important not to overeat, but to switch to your usual diet gradually. Having completed your fast, you need to go to the Easter service. Before communion, Orthodox Christians experience special religious feelings, and after this sacrament they are overcome with enormous, indescribable joy, compensating for all the efforts made earlier.

Lenten recipes may be of interest to you; we will describe them below.

Recipes for meatless dishes without animal ingredients

Lenten first course - tomato soup

Components:

• water - liter;
• chopped tomatoes - 450 grams and tomato paste - 4 tablespoons;
• canned white beans - 420 grams;
• onions - 1-2 pieces;
• olive oil - 2 large spoons;
• chili pepper - a quarter of a small spoon;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• wine vinegar - 1-2 large spoons;
• Provençal herbs - 2 small spoons;
• sugar - 1-2 large spoons, as much pepper and salt as you like;
• for croutons - ciabatta or baguette, salt, garlic - 3 cloves, olive oil - 3 large spoons.

In the oil heated at the bottom of the pan, saute the onion for about 5 minutes, add pepper, garlic, fry for a couple of minutes, add tomato paste, fry for another minute. Next, add herbs and tomatoes, then pour in water and wait until it boils. Add the beans, draining the water from them, after cooking for a quarter of an hour, add black pepper, salt, sugar, vinegar. Cook covered for 10 minutes. Cook croutons with garlic in the oven - fry the bread in butter with garlic.

Lenten second course - stewed cabbage and mushrooms

Components:

• cabbage - up to 1 kg;
• champignons - 400 grams;
• vegetable oil - about 3 large spoons;
• salt, pepper, lemon juice - 2 small spoons.

Chop the cabbage and mushrooms as desired and heat the oil in a frying pan. First, the mushrooms are fried, then cabbage is added to them. After pouring a small amount of water, simmer the dish under the lid until the food softens. If necessary, add water. Cooking time for mature white cabbage is about an hour; if it is Chinese or young cabbage, 20 minutes is enough. Season the finished dish with pepper, salt, lemon juice, leave on the fire without a lid for 3 minutes to evaporate the moisture.

Second courses for Lent can be prepared quickly and tasty on those days when it is necessary, and with the correct selection of products, the impression of an incomplete diet will not be created.

Lenten salad

Components:

• carrots - 2 pieces;
• tomatoes - 2 pieces;
• cucumber - 1 piece;
• apple - 1 piece;
• onion - 1 piece;
• lemon - half;
• vegetable oil - large spoon;
• herbs, salt, sugar.

Grate the carrots with a Korean or simple grater. We cut onions, tomatoes, cucumber. Chop the greens, cut the apple, removing the skin. Butter, salt and sugar, squeezed lemon juice - make a dressing from these products, mix everything.

Lenten cookies

Components:

• water - 200 ml;
• flour - up to 400 grams;
• baking powder - half a small spoon;
• salt, sugar, nuts, dried fruits, basil or other herbs;
• vegetable oil - 70 ml.

Pour oil into water. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, gradually combine the liquid with the dry component. Keep the resulting dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. From a layer of dough with a thickness of 2 to 4 mm, make any shapes - round, diamond-shaped, square, triangular. To make the cookies sweet, dip them in sugar with chopped dried fruits and nuts. For salted cookies, use basil and salt. Bake the cookies, pierced with a fork, in the oven for 15 to 25 minutes at 200 degrees.

Oatmeal cutlets

Components:

• oatmeal - a glass;
• onion - 1 piece;
• potatoes - 1 piece;
• carrot - 1 piece;
• spices, garlic and herbs.

Lenten cutlets are easy to prepare. Soak the flakes in hot water for about 20 minutes. Grate the onions, potatoes, carrots, crush the garlic with a garlic press, chop the greens. Mix vegetables, garlic gruel and herbs with oatmeal, add salt and pepper (you can add any spices). Using a spoon, fry the cutlets on both sides. We also recommend including mushrooms in this recipe and eggs on non-fasting days.

Lenten nutrition is unthinkable without potato dishes and pureed soups. For lunch you can cook hearty cabbage soup, for dinner you can serve pancakes, pilaf, pancakes without animal ingredients. To make your dishes more interesting, you can make lean mayonnaise or various sauces. To feel the holiday on ordinary days, the best solution is a Lenten cake or Lenten pizza.

So, we talked about all the generally accepted features of the diet and the preparation of lean dishes. Let there always be light, healthy, tasty lean food on your tables. Don’t forget to attend church services, come to church not only with your troubles and problems, but at any free time. It is not difficult for Christians to observe Lent, the main thing is to properly tune in to it.