Orthodox Health Fasting Towards the Feast: An Orthodox Response to "Sacred Diets"
Fasting isn’t a diet challenge or a biohack... it’s ascetical medicine inside the life of the Church.
In this episode of the Orthodox Health Podcast, Dr. Michael Christian & John pull together everything we’ve been tracing through the "Sacred Diets" arc... from Adventist “health reform” & occult kitchen rituals to Zen minimalism & macro-tracking... & answer the real question: How do I actually fast toward the Feast without wrecking my body, my mood, or my family?
We lay out a simple, livable 7-day “Rule of the Kitchen” for the Nativity Fast, then walk line-by-line through the usual snags: fasting with kids without becoming the food police, therapeutic diets (PCOS, insulin resistance, AIP, gluten-free), heavy labor & shift work, & what to do when “Sunday blows up my macros.”
From there, we connect the dots with the 5R Orthodox Health framework: Reorient, Rebuild, Resensitize, Refine, Return.
If you’ve ever tried to keep the Church’s fasts & ended up edgy, scrupulous, isolated from parish meals, or just flat-out exhausted, this episode will give you merciful guardrails: clinic, not courtroom; altar, not lab bench. We keep the mind of the Fathers while staying brutally practical for real Orthodox families in the modern world.
Takeaways:
Fasting is ascetical medicine, not a diet challenge: it must move you toward Christ and neighbor.
Think clinic, not courtroom: you confess, adjust, & begin again at the next meal.
Prayer before protocol: timing, macros, & hacks are good only when they serve repentance and Eucharist.
Aim for “calm, strong, & charitable”: roughly 1.0–1.6 g protein/kg plus steady salt & potassium.
Keep one simple family table; adapt for kids, heavy labor, & illness with a priest’s blessing.
Let the Church’s calendar, not influencers, set your rhythm: fast simply, feast gratefully, give alms.
Sound Bytes:
- “When prayer leaves, control rushes in. The fast becomes a god you’re trying to appease.”
- “Fasting is a clinic, not a courtroom. You don’t get sentenced for every stumble, you begin again at the next meal.”
- “The table is meant to be an altar, not a lab bench. People matter more than your plate.”
- “If the fast turns you into a jerk, you’re doing it wrong... no matter how ‘perfect’ your compliance is.”
- “Time, not technique, is the Church’s answer. The calendar forms desire better than any hack.”
- “One warm carb, a pinch of salt, & a short walk often fix more ‘fasting problems’ than a new app.”
“We’re not chasing heroics; we’re building availability to God & to the people in front of us.”
Chapters:
00:00 Opener
01:30 Introduction to the Orthodox Response to the Sacred Diets
08:46 Fasting as an Ascetical Medicine & Not a Punishment
13:11 Lessons from the Fathers About Fasting
18:50 The 7-Day Rule of the Kitchen
25:57 Dealing with Physical & Social Exceptions to the Rule
28:55 Dietary Defaults During the Fast
32:49 "But What About My Protein?"
42:16 Some Quick Housekeeping About Shellfish Concerns
44:03 When is it Time to Supplement Protein?
44:52 Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?
45:56 Solutions for Specific Conditions
48:50 What About Pregnant or Nursing Women?
52:08 Fasting Physiology: The Orthodox Health Five R's
01:03:55 60-Second Saves
01:05:13 Closing Thoughts & Looking Ahead
01:09:39 Outro
Support the Show with a One-Time or Recurring donation
Work with Dr. Mike: OrthodoxHealth.com
Signed Copies of Orthodoxy & The Medicine of the Future, with digital bonuses: OrthodoxHealth.com/Book
Order Orthodoxy & the Medicine of the Future on Amazon
Intro & Outro Music: St. John of Chicago Orthodox Church Choir (Arkansas) - Please support their building fund by buying the whole album here
Orthodox Health Instagram
Orthodox Health Telegram