Orthodox fasting food: calories in Lenten dishes

Orthodox fasting food isn't automatically light. A 250 g serving of prebranac, Serbian baked beans with onion, has about 400 calories and a piece of potato burek about 575, while a bowl of fish soup is about 210 and a serving of sataraš, a pepper and tomato stew, about 175. What makes the difference is how much oil went into the pan and how much bread comes with it.

The Nativity Fast, the forty days before Christmas, starts in November. Churches on the Revised Julian calendar, like the Greek Orthodox, keep it from 15 November to 24 December; churches on the Julian calendar, like the Serbian and Russian, from 28 November to 6 January. The usual rule is no meat, dairy or eggs, with fish, wine and oil allowed on some days. This post isn't about how to fast; for what is allowed when, ask your priest or parish. I only deal with the calories.

Is Orthodox fasting food lower in calories?

Orthodox fasting food is sometimes lower in calories and sometimes not. A fasting meal has no fatty meat, kajmak, cheese or eggs, which are calorie-dense, but fasting cooking makes up for them with oil, dough and bread. Every year I hear both "you always lose weight during the fast" and "you eat nothing but bread and potatoes", and both are partly true.

Prebranac is a good example: it's baked with plenty of onion and oil, so a serving has about 400 kcal. That's more than a 350 g plate of bean stew with smoked meat, at about 385.

How many calories are in fasting dishes?

Orthodox fasting dishes range from about 175 kcal for a serving of sataraš to about 575 for a piece of potato burek, lightest first:

Dish	Serving	kcal	Protein
White bread	slice (40 g)	105	3.6 g
Sataraš	250 g	175	3.8 g
Hake, baked	150 g	175	35 g
Fish soup	bowl (350 g)	210	21 g
Lentils, boiled	200 g	230	18 g
Djuvec	300 g	330	15 g
Grilled trout	fish (250 g)	375	53 g
Prebranac	250 g	400	18 g
Lepinja	150 g	405	13 g
Potato burek	piece (250 g)	575	13 g

Source: my regional food table; cooked dishes are estimates for a typical home recipe, lentils and hake are USDA values. Rounded.

Fish is in the table for the days it's allowed. Djuvec, baked vegetables with rice, is a fasting dish when made without meat. Potato burek is fasting when the dough has oil and no eggs or milk, so ask at the bakery. Bread and lepinja are in the table on purpose: during the fast many people eat more of them, because "something has to fill you up", and that's where extra calories hide.

How many calories does oil add?

A tablespoon of olive oil (13.5 g) adds about 120 kcal, according to USDA, and a 14 g tablespoon of canola or high-oleic sunflower oil about 125.

If six tablespoons of olive oil go into a tray of prebranac for four, that's about 715 kcal in the tray, or about 180 per serving. Half the oil saves about 90 kcal per serving, and the taste barely changes, because the onion and peppers carry the dish. So during the fast I measure oil with a spoon instead of pouring from the bottle.

What should a fasting plate look like?

A fasting plate that works for me is half vegetables, a quarter protein and a quarter bread or potatoes. The WHO recommends at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day, and the fast is a good time to reach it.

Protein is the hard part, because meat, dairy and eggs are out. Beans, lentils and, on the days it's allowed, fish are the main sources: a 200 g serving of lentils has about 18 g protein and 150 g of baked hake about 35 g. A few combinations from the table:

• Sataraš and grilled trout, on a fish day: about 550 kcal and 56 g protein.
• Fish soup and a slice of bread: about 315 kcal, a light dinner.
• Lentils and a slice of bread: about 340 kcal and 22 g protein.
• Prebranac and two slices of bread: about 610 kcal, a lunch that lasts until evening.

Can you lose weight during the fast?

You can lose weight during the Orthodox fast if it creates a calorie deficit. For some people that happens on its own, because kajmak, cheese and cured meat drop out. For others it doesn't, because they're replaced by potato burek and bread.

If losing weight is your goal, the same rules apply as outside the fast: a moderate deficit, not starving. The CDC notes that people who lose weight at a gradual, steady pace are more likely to keep it off. If you fast strictly, on water or very little food, and you have diabetes or blood pressure problems, are pregnant, or take medication, talk to your doctor first.

How do I track calories during the fast?

To track calories during the fast, weigh what varies most, oil and bread, and estimate the rest. Home-made dishes differ: my prebranac and my aunt's don't have the same amount of oil, so my table's values are estimates for a typical recipe.

In Calorko, the Android app I'm building, you photograph a fasting meal or describe it in words, "prebranac and two slices of bread", and get an estimate with a range you can correct.

In short

• Fasting doesn't mean light: prebranac is about 400 kcal a serving, potato burek about 575 a piece.
• The lightest fasting dishes are vegetable stews, soups and baked fish; the heaviest are pies and oily bakes.
• A tablespoon of oil is about 120 kcal; measure it with a spoon.
• Half the plate vegetables, a quarter protein, a quarter bread or potatoes.