Easter and the “Cholesterol Festival”

Easter and the “Cholesterol Festival”

The abuses of Easter at the Traditional Greek Table

Easter has unfortunately been combined with overeating. The lambs clearly have their place of honor these days. The temperance that supposedly symbolizes Lent becomes a feast of food and the benefits of fasting for the body go for a walk. Excessive consumption of meat as fatty as lamb leads to excessive consumption of saturated fatty acids, cholesterol and calories.

Holy Saturday

Unfortunately, the decline begins early on the night of the resurrection, turning the three days of Easter into a “Cholesterol Festival”. Returning from the church to all the Greek houses, he waits for the table of the brilliant, where for an inexplicable reason there is the “saturated soup” or otherwise our well-known cook that we all consider normal to consume so late… Of course it is accompanied by even more sources saturated such as various salads (ointments: hot cheese, Russian, etc.), red eggs and alcohol. For dessert there is a bun…. The Greek croissant (empty nutrients calories)…

Easter Day

On Easter day in all Greek yards a pandemonium prevails and the “Cholesterol Festival” is at its peak. The lambs turn mercilessly on the skewers and the wonderful smell of sulfur compounds, that is, of the cooked meat, prevails everywhere. Everyone has the impression that they had a wonderful Easter and boast that they ate at least half a kilo of lamb and drank a lot of alcohol.

2nd Easter Day

The “Festival” ends on the 2nd day of Easter, where there are all the above at all Greek tables. That is, a cook that was left over from Saturday night (if it has not been consumed for breakfast on Sunday), plenty of roast lamb, red eggs, bun, ointments, etc.

What can we do about it all?

First of all, we must keep in mind that this is not the first time we eat, and clearly not the last…! It is not necessary to overconsume food to have a good time. We had a great time because these days we spend with our family and with people we love. We had a good time because we realize that we are lucky to have people and love in our lives. In other words, we disconnect food consumption with our emotional state.
For those who want, of course, there are some tips for these days .

  • Initially for Holy Saturday and the Resurrection. Since we know that we will consume a lot of calories at night, we make sure to consume less food during the day than usual. Choose a salad with a little olive oil or something light.

  • There is a solution even for the cook. Have you tried making a cookie by replacing the entrails with mushrooms? Sounds weird to you, maybe even drawn, I get it. But you have nothing to lose. Make it as usual with the only difference being mushrooms and you will find that it tastes exactly the same as the… authentic “saturated soup”.

  • Choose a kid instead of a lamb at your Easter table. It has significantly fewer calories and tastes similar. It may be a little more expensive than lamb, but it’s worth it.

  • Reduce your calorie and saturated fat intake by adding a variety of salads with fresh vegetables and eggplant salad or tzatziki ointments (consider in essence it is yogurt).

  • If you eat an egg, get free-range eggs that have better fat, also reducing the meat you eat at the table!

  • Finally, avoid french fries , prefer grilled or potato salad with a little lemon and olive oil.

The festive days of Easter are days full of love and hope. I wholeheartedly wish the message of the Resurrection of the Lord to bring the best to all people! And don’t forget, diet means health!