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Rodopaios NE, Poulios E, Papadopoulou SK, Alexatou O, Koulouri AA, Kafatos AG, Papaliagkas V, Psara E, Giannakoula A, Tsourouflis G, Antasouras G, Giaginis C. Association of Christian Orthodox Fasting with Sociodemographic, Anthropometric and Lifestyle Factors and Serum Biochemical Indices: A Cross-Sectional Study on Patients with Metabolic Diseases. Metabolites 2024; 14:67. [PMID: 38276302 PMCID: PMC10821505 DOI: 10.3390/metabo14010067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Christian Orthodox fasting, a type of time-restricted diet, which presents some similarities to the Mediterranean Diet, also including certain similarities with periodic vegetarianism or other time-restricted diets (e.g., intermittent diet and Ramadan fasting), may cumulatively be related to the same or even better beneficial healthy effects as these well-recognized dietary patterns. The present study aimed to explore the potential beneficial impact of Christian Orthodox fasting in patients with metabolic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus type 2, excessive obesity, hypothyroidism and osteoporosis. This was a cross-sectional study, including 135 patients with metabolic disorders (67 fasters and 68 non-fasters). The enrolled fasters had adapted Christian Orthodox fasting recommendations for at least twelve consecutive years or even from childhood. Relevant questionnaires were used to record sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle data of the study population through face-to-face interviews between the enrolled individuals and qualified personnel during a non-fasting period. Christian Orthodox fasting patients showed a significantly and independently lower prevalence of overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity, which is highly associated with cardiometabolic disease risks, as well as a significantly and independently lower incidence of hypertension, including separately lower systolic and diastolic pressure, than non-fasting patients. Fasters also had a significantly and independently increased prevalence of an advanced educational level and no smoking history, as well as a lower incidence of sedentary behavior, and a trend of a correlation with reduced c-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation, compared to non-fasters. Fasters also exhibited higher serum albumin and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, as well as lower glucose levels, than non-fasters. This is one of the few cross-sectional studies demonstrating that Christian Orthodox fasting may promote metabolic health by improving several aspects of metabolic disorders, being associated with specific sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle factors. Further studies conducted on larger sample sizes from different countries and different ethnicities that include Christian Orthodox fasters are recommended to evaluate the impact of long-term religious fasting effects on human health, either as a preventative factor reducing the risk of chronic diseases and especially cardiometabolic disorders or as a nutritional intervention to ameliorate symptom severity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos E. Rodopaios
- Department of Social Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Nutrition, Medical School, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece; (N.E.R.); (A.-A.K.); (A.G.K.)
| | - Efthymios Poulios
- Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, Greece; (E.P.); (O.A.); (E.P.); (G.A.)
| | - Sousana K. Papadopoulou
- Department of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, International Hellenic University, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Olga Alexatou
- Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, Greece; (E.P.); (O.A.); (E.P.); (G.A.)
| | - Alexandra-Aikaterini Koulouri
- Department of Social Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Nutrition, Medical School, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece; (N.E.R.); (A.-A.K.); (A.G.K.)
| | - Anthony G. Kafatos
- Department of Social Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Nutrition, Medical School, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece; (N.E.R.); (A.-A.K.); (A.G.K.)
| | - Vasileios Papaliagkas
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, International Hellenic University, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Evmorfia Psara
- Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, Greece; (E.P.); (O.A.); (E.P.); (G.A.)
| | - Anastasia Giannakoula
- Department of Agriculture, International Hellenic University, Sindos, 54700 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Gerasimos Tsourouflis
- Second Department of Propaedeutic Surgery, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece;
| | - Georgios Antasouras
- Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, Greece; (E.P.); (O.A.); (E.P.); (G.A.)
| | - Constantinos Giaginis
- Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, Greece; (E.P.); (O.A.); (E.P.); (G.A.)
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