photo by hv: market in Thessaloniki

The Mount Athos diet

“Moderation in all things,” my grandfather always used to tell my mother, and my mother said it to me. It’s one reason he lived to be over 90; and so may you, if you are able to follow the regimen in the Guardian and Observer’s latest weekend giveaway – the “Mount Athos Diet”.

These two special reports are quite fun, in a pop science kind of way. Their stated aim is to give some insight into the lives of the “world’s healthiest people” – in this case, the monks at Mount Athos, the male-only, semi-autonomous religious community in Greece. Thanks to their diet – regular fasting, home-grown vegetables, simple wine and occasional fish, never any meat – these monks have one of the lowest incidences of cancer in the world. It’s a Mediterranean diet, but without a souvlaki in sight. What could be healthier than that?

I have visited Mount Athos, about eight or nine years ago now, and I can concur about one thing: a trip to the Holy Mountain does help you lose weight. When I was there I lost half a stone or more. But as the Guardian points out, the diet can’t take all the credit. There are lifestyle factors too – and the trouble is, the lifestyle isn’t exactly transferable to life in the Big Smoke.
Read here the complete article.

Potatoes, feta and wine in the refectory of Lavra. Photo by hv may 2007.
hv