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While it doesn’t require you to spend your days in reflective prayer, the latest diet regime to hit the spotlight does recommend that followers mirror the eating habits of the Greek Orthodox monks of Mount Athos.The religious men eat a Mediterranean diet made up almost exclusively of unprocessed, fresh, low-fat foods, and also engage in days of fasting where they drastically reduce their calorie intake to clear their minds.
The monks are obviously doing something right as they have been found to live an astonishing 10 years longer than the average Greek person and also tend to be slim and youthful.
The monasteries of Athos are among the world's healthiest communities. The monks live very long lives, largely free of cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's
Outlined in a new book, The Mount Athos Diet by Richard Storey, Sue Todd and Lottie Storey, the plan aims to eliminate the concept of ‘dieting’ and instead splits the week into three types of day; three moderation days, three fasting days and one feasting, which can be moved around each week to adapt to lifestyle.
During the three fasting days you cut out all dairy, fish, meat, alcohol, eggs and oil, sticking to small portions of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and beans.
As well as promising a host of health benefits the Monk Diet claims to produce weight loss without a feeling of deprivation
The moderation days allow you a healthy, fresh, low-fat, Mediterranean diet.
Dairy, olive oil, fish, chicken and eggs can all be included, although sugar, processed foods and red meat are still off the menu.
Alcohol is even allowed on these three days - though only red wine in moderation (2 units a day) is allowed.
The feast day is, as it sounds, a free-for-all, where anything from red meat to cake, mojitos and chocolate is allowed - though the diet does recommend a modicum of restraint in terms of portion size.
The Mount Athos Diet: Example Menus
Moderation day
Breakfast: Bircher muesli breakfast potLunch: Chicken soup with toasted wholemeal pitta
Dinner: Baked sweet potato with olives and feta and green salad
Snacks: An apple, a handful of nuts or seeds
Fast day
Breakfast: Grilled grapefruitLunch: Vegetable soup with a small piece of wholemeal bread
Dinner: Baked butter beans with fresh tomatoes and lettuce
Snacks: Unlimited vegetable sticks
Moderation day
Breakfast: Grilled peaches with Greek yogurtLunch: Carrot and coriander soup
Dinner: Chicken salad with Greek yogurt dressing and a glass of red wine
Snacks: Square of dark chocolate, fruit and vegetable sticks
Fast day
Breakfast: MuesliLunch: Lentil soup
Dinner: Jacket potato with kale and carrots
Snacks: Small bowl of berries, nuts and seeds
Feast day
Whatever you want – within reason!The three days can be placed in any order to make your life easier.
The book explains: ‘Studies have shown that the monasteries of Athos are among the world’s healthiest communities. The monks live very long lives, largely free of cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Their way of eating also carries with it an enticing by-product: natural weight loss.
‘The monks don’t count calories, nor do they suffer any of the deprivation commonly associated with the ‘fad’ diets of the Western world. Theirs is not really a ‘diet’, more a way of life.
'They eat good food and drink good wine, and by following age-old principles of using wholesome ingredients, eating in moderation and exercising regularly, they are among the fittest and healthiest people on earth.
‘Each monastery is largely self-sufficient and very little produce is bought in from the mainland. The monasteries are surrounded by kitchen gardens, orchards, vineyards, beehives and olive groves, and everything produced is organic and seasonal; much time-consuming effort is required to nurture crops and maintain the maximum possible output from the land.
'Monastery meals are an extension of the daily religious observance, occurring twice a day – morning and evening.
'Meals are consumed in silence, as the monks listen to the daily readings from the scriptures (with occasional interruptions from the Abbot).’
Richard Storey, one of the authors of The Mount Athos Diet, who has visited the monks every year for 15 years, spoke to MailOnline about how he came to the conclusion that their eating regime would be beneficial for everyone.
'The monks are deemed to be amongst the healthiest group of people in the world, with very low cancer rates and almost no Alzheimer’s and after years of living among them I recognised their diet had a large part to play in this,' Storey told MailOnline.
'I always came back feeling fitter, healthier and having lost weight, but I never felt like I had been deprived.
'We recruit numerous people to test out the monk’s diet to see if it was applicable in a normal Western life. I lost 22lb everybody lost weight
'A key thing we found was that the lack of calorie counting was a large relief.
'We also found that somewhere along the way, usually at the three or four week mark, you realise that, without any pressure being placed on exactly calories, you are eating differently and what you crave on the feast day changes.
‘Most people no longer even want the highly-processed, high-sugar foods they did at the beginning.’
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