Research
Macro partitioning
Greek Orthodox Christian fasting periods, which function as variants of vegetarianism involving abstention from animal products and olive oil, are associated with decreased body mass, total cholesterol, and LDL-C levels.
Adopting a plant-forward diet similar to Greek Orthodox fasting rules (avoiding meat, dairy, and olive oil on certain days) may help lower cholesterol and body mass, though results on blood pressure are inconsistent.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Some of the more favorable effects of these fasts include the lowering of body mass, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio.
Why this rating
Based on multiple observational studies with heterogeneous findings regarding blood pressure and HDL-C.
Source
The impact of religious fasting on human health
John F. Trepanowski et al. · Nutrition Journal · 2010
DOI 10.1186/1475-2891-9-57
narrative_reviewCited 432×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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