Zero Alzheimer´s - Mount Athos Healthy Living Plan - Pescatarian, Vegetarian, Vegan and Xerophagic Alternation - theguardian TheObserver Mount Athos plan .7 Lifestyle secrets of the world's healthiest people - since

 Zero Alzheimer´s - Mount Athos Healthy Living Plan - Pescatarian, Vegetarian, Vegan and Xerophagic Alternation - theguardian TheObserver

Mount

Athos plan

.7

Lifestyle secrets of the world's healthiest people

 

INTRODUCTION  

It has long been a spiritual retreat for the rich and famous — from Vladimir Putin to Prince Charles — but now Mount Athos and its community of Greek Orthodox monks are being hailed as a medical miracle.

Their pared-down, rustic Mediterranean diet, together with a reliance on home-grown seasonal produce, has led to an extraordinarily low rate of cancers, heart disease and Alzheimer's among the monks. So what can we learn from an all-male bastion whose lifestyle has barely evolved since 923AD? We went in search of the secrets of the Mount Athos regime, from cooking principles to philosophies, to see what we could bring back home.

Here, in the first of a two-part series, we analyse the monks' nutrition and lifestyle. In tomorrow's Observer, Stephen Moss samples the monastic routine; plus five exclusive Athos recipes.

Reports by Helena Smith in Athens and Stephen Moss on Mount Athos. Photography by Mark Read

Exclusive recipes from Mount

Athos, free with the Observer

Secrets of the Mount Athos diet

 The monks' exceptionally healthy diet is governed by a series of rules and principles, much of it centred on a philosophy of strict moderation. Helena Smith reports on a land without butter

 

or the Mount Athos monks, meals are sacred affairs — an extension of their communion with God. Fasting is as important as prayer and it governs not only the way they eat but how their food is prepared. Meat is never eaten (it rouses the passions and feeds carnality) and fish is restricted. The monks allow their digestive systems to "rest" by alternating oil-based cooking with water-based cooking and by abstaining from dairy, wine and olive oil on around three days each week. Rice, pulses and vegetables form the mainstays of monks' diet, cooked in copious quantities of lemon juice, flavoured with cumin, or fried in tahini (sesame seed paste) when oil is not allowed. Everything is home-grown, homeharvested, or home-brewed. Essentially, the diet has changed very little since Mount Athos first became a monastic republic in 923 AD.

"If there is one secret to cooking," says Brother Epifanios, the Mount's most celebrated chef, "it is simplicity and having the best, that is to say, the freshest, ingredients.

Mood and place is also very important. When we eat we are very calm, there is total silence except for the elder who may read from the scriptures or say a prayer." The cook's mood, he says, is similarly important. "I love cooking not because I want to please or be flattered but because I love the people I am cooking for."

Feasting and fasting

More than 200 days of the year are designated as "abstention days", including Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week and lengthier religious holidays. On these days, the monks eat only one meal, usually at sunset. Dairy products, wine and olive oil are forbidden. That leaves fruit, veg, bread, and lots of lentils. Only in very special circumstances can fasts be flouted, for example when a monk is so ill that he has been "blessed" on his sickbed.

On non-fast (or feast) days — Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays — the monks eat two meals with wine: one after

 

MOUNT ATHOS

church at around 9am and one after vespers at around 4.30pm. The portions are small by western standards — the monks can have top-ups from the containers on the table, but they rarely do. Plus, eating time is limited to around 20 minutes, and once the abbot rings a bell the monks have to stop. In a community that sees immoderation as the cause of disease, the luxury of enjoying a second plate is permitted rarely.

"With the exception of one or two tubby monks, they show great self-restraint," observed writer Stephen Moss, who visited Mount Athos. "They know how much they need to get by and they don't eat a sliver of broccoli more."

The monks believe that fasting brings them closer to God. Abstaining from rich, oily foods for more than half of the year is regarded as the ultimate form of self-control.

"Too much food, like too much sleep, is not only bad for the body but the mind," says Brother Moisis, a leading spiritual figure on the Mount. "On fasting days a monk prays more because he is filled with enthusiasm and has a higher purpose. Monks don't fast because they care about their physical health, or worry about getting cancer, or want to live long and good lives. The frugality and simplicity of the food they eat, naturally, has a good effect on their health and helps keep physical damage at bay. But they do it because they reject everything that is superfluous in life, and in cutting out their own desires, they come closer to God."

Purity of produce

All the vegetables and fruit eaten on Mount Athos is home-grown in the monastery gardens, which means that not only is the monks' diet organic (no pesticides are used) it is also entirely seasonal. Vegetables are cultivated in flat plots close to monasteries and cells. Depending on the season of the year, the gardens are brimming with beans, aubergines, courgettes, cauliflowers, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, beetroot and

All vegetables are seasonal and grown in the monasteries' gardens without the use of chemicals

MOUNT ATHOS

 

cabbage. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides were abandoned long ago. Salads, greens and other legumes grace the monks' table every day of the week, although on fast days they cannot be garnished with oil. Special importance is given to fruit. During the winter, oranges and apples are widely consumed, While watermelons and grapes are eaten in the summer. A wide range of forest fruits — wild berries, mushrooms and chestnuts — are eaten throughout the year.

"The variety is delightful," says Moss, who sampled Athonite food for a week. "A fish soup with a bowl of broccoli or cauliflower, a small piece of cheese, bread rolls (but no butter), a kiwi fruit, an orange, a glass of acrid but welcome monastery-produced wine "

Oil one day water the next

 

On fast days, when olive oil is precluded from their diet, the monks eat food that is cooked in water. Meals usually include boiled pulses (mainly lentils), greens, vegetables, pasta and rice, washed down with a glass of water from the local springs.

The monks believe that by abstaining from oily foods they not only purge their system but give their stomachs a rest. Many say this enables them to enjoy a sense of freedom and lightness.

During extended fasts — such as during Advent, Lent and Easter holy week — "bloodless fish" such as octopus, cuttlefish and calamari are eaten. Bread, which is baked by each of the monasteries in giant wood ovens once a week, is also allowed on fast days. A favourite fasting-day meal is rice with boiled greens and leeks, or pasta in tomato sauce.

On non-fast days, dairy products are also allowed (including various locally made cheeses), feta, eggs (used in homemade pies) and the odd yoghurt, but never cream or butter. To fortify their systems after a prolonged fast, the monks eat large amounts of cheese and eggs.

The range of the Mount's oil-based cuisine is vast and chef monk Epifanios says he is constantly experimenting to expand his menu. Among the monks' favourite oily dishes are beans with oil, briam toulou (aubergine, tomato and potato stew), or chickpea patties (for the recipe, see tomorrow's Observer).

Fresh fish for feast days is caught off the

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peninsula by fishermen-monks and eaten stewed, fried or grilled.

A little or what you fancy...

Alcohol is readily available on the Mount because it is all home-brewed, and the monks do not turn their noses up at it. The consumption of wine remains an important part of the liturgy in church services and many view it as an essential aid to digestion. In earlier times, when winemaking was widespread, stories of drunk monks were legendary. However, the philosophy of moderation is observed by most of the monks, particularly the younger generation, who often alternate it with raki, the local firewater. At meals, monks rarely drink more than one glass of red wine.

Most days on Mount Athos will start with a cup of mountain or sage tea, both made from indigenous plants. Turkish-style cups of sweet, grainy coffee are also allowed and monks will frequently savour one in the afternoon, or before going to work. On fast days, however, most try to abstain from tea and coffee. Sweets are a much enjoyed part of the Athos diet, from the traditional Greek sesame flour and honey confection, halva, to loukoumi — a kind of sticky turkish delight. Most meals end with a cake, baklava or oat-style biscuit of some kind

Preparation Is key

For the most part, food is cooked in huge cauldrons, pans and trays in wood-burning ovens. On fast days, when olive oil is forbidden, ingredients are often stewed or fried in tahini instead. "But butter is out," says Brother Epifanios, "and so are margarines, rich cream and sauces like bechamel. In 35 years of cooking I've never once put them in any of my dishes."

Spices are used abundantly. Brother Epifanios is particularly fond of cumin whose merits he first discovered at St Catherine's monastery in the Sinai. "It does wonders for the digestion," says the chef, who on feast days has to cater for up to 3,000 people at a time. "I include cumin in nearly everything I cook now and the monks seem to like it."

Parsley, celery, dill, fennel, onion, garlic, oregano and mint are likewise liberally used to season foods.

'In today's world people want to eat and eat. They have made a living of eating, whereas we should only eat what we need'

Food as a holy ritual

No talking is permitted during meals, even a whispered request for the salt to be passed. Instead, everyone listens to a monk reading from The Lives of the Saints. The monks explain that the meal is an integral part of the service: the refectory faces the church across a courtyard and monks pass from one to the other.

Is the food there to be enjoyed? "No, it's not there to be enjoyed," says Father Philaretos, the cook at Iviron. "With monks, that's the way it is. We take a more practical view. It's like refuelling your car." His fellow monk at Iviron, Father Jeremiah, takes a more worldly view. "It should taste nice," he says, "but I don't think you should go to the other extreme." The other extreme being making a god of food, consumption, personal pleasure.

A layman called Christos, an air traffic controller in Thessaloniki who has visited the Mount, noted: "Just two meals seems to work. They are the right portions, so you don't feel overstuffed. The food is a bit cold, but actually I don't care too much about this. I like the whole atmosphere when we're eating — the order, people coming in all together, the prayer, listening to a monk giving a reading."

"Eat to live, don't live to eat," says Brother Ephraim at the Skete of St Andrew. "In today's society, people want to eat and eat . They've made a living of eating, whereas we should only eat what we need, which is about a tenth of what we eat anyway. "

What Stephen Moss didn't do on Athos was experience monastic cooking on a fast day. "I was there at the end of Christmas — calculated according to the Julian calendar, which is two weeks behind those of us who adopted the Gregorian version a couple of centuries ago. Usually, they fast on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and on those days they abjure fish, all dairy products, eggs, wine and olive oil — though, oddly, they are allowed to eat olives. "

Additional reporting by Stephen Moss

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Miracle on the mountain

Studies have revealed that the Mount Athos monks are among the healthiest people on earth. Helena Smith reports from Athens on scientists' extraordinary findings

 

esearch shows that both physically and mentally, the monks of Mount Athos are extraordinarily diseasefree. The most striking aspect of recent studies into the monks' lifestyle has been the effect of their dietary habits on the incidence of cancer. Urologists at Thessaloniki University in northern Greece have reported an unusually low rate of prostate cancer among the all-male community. Cancers of the bladder, bowel, stomach, intestines, oesophagus and digestive tract were also unusually low.

The 10-year study examined 460 monks who complained of difficulties urinating, a discomfort often associated with prostate disorders. A decade later, 11 had developed prostate cancer — four times lower than the international average. "The monks were aged between 50 and 104, which made the findings even more remarkable, " says Professor Haris Aidonopoulos, the urologist who headed the research.

While this is clearly the result of the very special conditions in which they live and a diet that, free from meat, colourants and preservatives, follows old-fashioned rules. For example, the monks would never, with the exception of pulses, eat vegetables that are out of season.

"Alternating oily with non-oily foods allows the bowel to work one day and rest the next. Empirically it has been proven that a dietary intake of proteins from fish, lentils and beans prevents the absorption of toxins, which is also very important."

In many ways the monastic diet is similar to the traditional Greek peasant diet. "Essentially, the monks have perfected the typical Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruit, vegetables, olive oil, bread, cereals and legumes and low in meat," says Maria Hassapidou, a professor in nutrition and dietetics in northern Greece.

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Since the 1960s, studies have shown that the Mediterranean diet can play a central role in increased longevity and lower rates of cardiovascular disease. "On Mount Athos, they have gone one step further by forfeiting meat and only occasionally eating fish, which means they have a very low intake of saturated fats and a high intake of Omega-3 fatty acids — both of which help further to prevent the incidence of cardiovascular disease," says Hassapidou. Monks speak of "an incredible feeling of lightness and freedom".

Records show that heart disease, cardiac arrests and strokes are virtually nonexistent among the monks. The absence of stress, competitiveness and anxiety around social and economic insecurity has also been linked to their mental wellbeing. Instead, monks derive pleasure from the knowledge that they have nothing and will have nothing.

This partly accounts for the astonishing absence of Alzheimer's disease also discovered on the Mount. After subjecting more than 2,000 monks to repeated tests over a fiveyear period, European neurologists were so startled to discover a "zero-incidence" of the disease that they extended their study to monasteries and nunneries around Greece. The results were equally surprising: only two nuns, both well into their 80s, showed signs of vascular dementia, and no monk outside the peninsula appeared afflicted with the disease at all.

"We had to ask why, and the answer clearly lay in the lack of worldly concerns — their spiritual life, serenity and diet," says Professor Stavros Baloyannis, the pre-eminent Greek neurologist who led the study. "For Athonite monks, in particular, there is no such thing as existential anxiety. These men do not fear death. Instead, they face it with the expectation of eternal life which is why, when it does come, they are totally euphoric."

 

MOUNT ATHOS

Moderation in all things

The Athos diet is essentially 'Mediterranean lite': lots of fruit, vegetables and pulses, all of it seasonal and fresh — and in dainty portions.

Here are five lessons to bring home from the Mount

 

1. The Mediterranean diet, with its reliance on olive oil, is not actually a low-fat diet — it's a "moderate fat" diet. But it is traditionally associated with a lower incidence of heart disease (olive oil being a "good" fat). The monks' system of alternating oil-based cookery with water-based cuisine reduces their intake of fats, making the Athos model particularly useful for western waistlines. Their high intake of fruit and vegetables, all of it seasonal and home-grown (and zero salt-ridden ready-meals) makes the monks' diet cancer-beating.

However, it's not all top marks. Claire

Williamson, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, analysed the monks' diet and cooking regime to separate the elements that are fabulously healthy from the ones that are overly ascetic.

"The monks get most of the things that are recommended for a healthy, balanced diet. They are just not getting them every day. For example, they only eat fish and dairy products on non-fast days," says Williamson. "Using pulses as a source of protein is something we could all learn from. We tend to rely more on meat, fish, eggs and dairy for protein. Pulses are great for variety, and they provide lots of fibre and iron."

Williamson is cautious about any system of fasting or reducing the number of meals in a day, however. "We wouldn't recommend having just one meal a day," she says. "It's better to have three or four small meals through the day than one or two large ones."

So what lessons can we learn from one of the healthiest communities in the world? Here are some principles to incorporate into your own lifestyle:

Eat pulses

Lentils and beans are a fabulous source of protein and fibre, and also provide iron and folate. They are also a useful low-fat source of protein.

Eat fresh The single biggest factor in reducing the monks' cancer rates is likely to be their high intake of plant foods, particularly the wide variety of seasonal, home-grown fruit and

According to the recent World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) report on the prevention of cancer, diets rich in fruits, vegetables and pulses are protective  against a number of different types of cancer. For example, lycopene is a bio-active compound — or phytochemical — thought to help reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men. It is found in vegetables, but particularly tomatoes and tomato products.

Diets rich in fruit and vegetables may also help reduce the risk of other chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease. Fruit and vegetables provide nutrients such as vitamin C and folate as well as fibre, which maintains the health of the digestive system. The monks were found to have unusually low levels Of cancer in the bladder, bowel, stomach, intestines, oesophagus and digestive tract.

Eat small The monks have about 20 minutes in which to eat their meals — after which a bell rings and it's back to praying. This inevitably limits their intake. "Twenty minutes might seem a bit short for most of us, but it could be helpful for those of us trying to lose weight," says Williamson. "Clear up and leave the table after you have finished eating to reduce the temptation to keep eating what's left over. Leaving the table after a suitable time period may be a useful tip for some people."

In general, we could all do with watching our portion sizes and saying no to second helpings. The monks do this by observing a philosophy ofrnoderation in all things. Worth remembering when ordering that takeaway.

Eat light Alternating oil-based cooking with water-based techniques (steaming/ boiling/baking foods) is an instant way to cut down on fat. The monks use a lot of olive oil, but they never use butter or cream, which are high in saturated fat, associated with raised cholesterol levels.

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Watch your salt The monks do not consume any processed food — often a source of "hidden" salt in western diets. The absence of ready-meals means the monks know exactly what's in their food and how much seasoning has been added. They also use spices for seasoning, or add herbs such as parsley, dill, oregano and mint. This is a good way to add flavour and means you don't have to add much salt when cooking. The recent WCRF report confirms that salt (and salt-preserved foods) are probably a cause of stomach cancer.

It's not just diet that makes the monks so healthy: lack of stress, an outdoor life and the support of a caring brotherhood all play their part

 

Stress and work

 

Father Jeremiah thinks lack of stress among monks on Athos is the crucial reason why the incidence of cancer is low. And scientists agree with him about its importance. When they found zero incidence of Alzheimer's disease

"we had to ask why, " says Professor Stavros Baloyannis, a pre-eminent Greek neurologist. "And the answer clearly lay in the lack of worldly concerns. For Athonite monks there is no such thing as existential anxiety."

"There's not a lot of stress in our lives," admits Father Jeremiah- "People in the world are concerned with making money, getting material things and worrying about what other people think of them. We have to do what we have to do as human beings; God will supply the rest. " Father Matthew agrees. "We deal with stress differently from people in the outside world. We get rid of it; we don't carry it round."

Without the strains of employment (or unemployment), nor anxiety about career status, the monks are free to work short — but creative — days. Most of the work is undertaken between loam and 2pm. The abbot decides which "obediences" the monks will undertake, and they have a changeover at the beginning of each year, though some monks will do the same job for a number of years. One monk, a huge man with a jet-black beard called Father Ioannis, heroically manages to combine fishing, winemaking and beekeeping.

Live the Mount Athos way

Neil Shah, director of the Stress Management Society, likes to use the analogy of a bridge taking the weight of cars and trucks thundering over it. Keep increasing the freight, he says, and eventually the bridge will buckle. When we deal with stress there are two options: we can either reduce the weight on our bridge, or we can fortify our bridge so it can take the strain. "For people who don't

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want any weight on their bridge, this is the perfect life," Shah says of the monks. "There is virtually no weight on their bridge. Virtually all their decisions are made for them. "

But the monks have also fortified themselves with an excellent support network in their brotherhood. And, of course, the support of their faith.

Clearly, it's not easy to replicate the stress free monastic lifestyle. But there are principles for dealing with stress that the monks have unconsciously adopted: 1) Simplify your life. If you simplify it, you're less likely to buckle under the weight of it. 2) If you can't simplify it, get some support: send the kids off to the grandparents; delegate to a colleague; relieve the burden by talking to a professional; have a massage to give yourself some time out.

3) Rev up your support mechanism: the monks derive huge succour from their friendships. "Most people don't have a support mechanism in place so they try to manage too much by themselves," says Shah.

There are no gyms on Athos. The monks don't need them, because many are doing physical work — fishing, working in the fields, doing odd jobs in the monasteries — and the ones that aren't are likely to be doing a fair amount of walking. Minibuses to the capital Karyes are infrequent, leaving monks with a two- or three-hour walk to get into town.

Get into the habit

Fitness expert Joanna Hall says the fact that• the monks do not pound away on treadmills or pay crippling gym membership is proof that you can "walk fit and walk firm at any age and any stage of life". So, instead of pledging to adopt a punishing fitness regime, incorporate gentle, consistent exercise into your daily life. 1) Walk the kids to school and/or walk part of your commute.

2) Walk up stairs instead of taking the lift.

3) Put your back into hoeing the garden: much Of the monks' work is outdoor labour. Absorb

MOUNT ATHOS

yourself in the garden or allotment and you won't notice the sweat on your brow. 4) Don't make a fetish of it. Leading an active life will give you more energy and raise your spirits, but you're more likely to maintain it if it's part of your routine rather than a chore.

The monks are laconic when it comes to talking about sex. "Some people have a problem, some people have no problem at all," says Father Isidore, a young US-born monk.

Women are not allowed to enter Athos.

There is a story, possibly apocryphal, about a 19th-century foundling child who had lived all his life on Athos, had seen no woman other than the Virgin Mary, and was shocked late in life to discover that not all women had halos.

"Physical separation helps us to concentrate," says Father Isidore. "Like a scientist who sits in his laboratory and doesn't go to bars or discos, or like a sportsman who goes off to isolated training camps."

Father Jeremiah adds: "Someone who has decided to become a monk has decided he's not really interested in being married or having a family. There's nothing wrong with that."

The health benefits of celibacy Dr Luisa Dillner writes: The monks' health and longevity is interesting from a relationship point of view because it flies in the face of the usual statistics.

Figures from National Statistics show that single men aged between 30 and 59 are more than twice as likely to die as those who are married. Studies consistently show that married men are less likely than single men to have heart disease, get depressed, develop cancer, catch pneumonia, or develop chronic bronchitis. The monks, however, are not living the "single life" in that they are not alone: they get succour from a supportive brotherhood.

By contrast, stressful marriages raise blood pressure (men's in particular) and lower some biochemical markers of immunity.

Does celibacy confer any health benefits?

Quite the opposite. A study in the British

Medical Journal of over 100 men between 45 and 59 found that those who had the most orgasms (two or more a week) had half the death rate of those with the least (less than one a month).

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Zero Alzheimer´s - Mount Athos Healthy Living Plan - Pescetarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, Xerophagic and Total Fast Alternation - with adjustments for individual medical requirements -  

Zero Alzheimer´s - Mount Athos Healthy Living Plan - Pescetarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, Xerophagic and Total Fast Alternation - with adjustments for individual medical requirements -  

INTRODUCTION

he monks of Mount Athos have long been known for their quiet, austere lifestyle on an all-male Greek peninsula where little has changed since 923AD. While the austerity — not to mention the male-only environment — might not be to everybody's taste, scientists have found that the monks could hold the key to a diseasefree life. A 10-year study has revealed extraordinarily low rates of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's among the brotherhood thanks to a diet rich in seasonal, home-grown produce and an existence free of worry and strife.

Here, in the second part of our examination of the Mount Athos lifestyle, Stephen Moss lives among the brothers and samples their rustic, seasonal cuisine. Plus, five exclusive recipes straight from the monastic kitchens for you to cook at home.

Photographs by Mark Read

yourr ATHOS  The llfe ascetic

Does the secret of the Athos monks' longevity lie in relentless self-discipline, or in their rustic cuisine?

Stephen Moss travels to the Mount— steeping himself in lentils and liturgy — to find out .. .

 

he morning is grey and wet when I present myself at the Holy

Executive of the Holy Mount Athos — Pilgrims' Bureau (big name, small office) in Ouranopolis. I am here for a permit to visit Athos, an monastic state in north-eastern

Greece. The peninsula on which the 20 historic Athonite monasteries are set is 50km long and 10km wide, none of it accessible from mainland Greece by road, and the combination of isolation and government by monks has locked it, give or take the odd 4x4, somewhere in the middle ages. The 2,500 rugged, heavily bearded monks who live here are leading a 14th-century existence, in a land where women are forbidden, and I have come to unlock its health-giving secrets.

There is a certain absurdity at the heart of my mission: I want to know how the monks live for so long and in such rude health, with startlingly low levels of cancer, virtually no heart disease and zero Alzheimer's; yet what preoccupies the monks of Mount Athos is their own transience. They wear black to remind themselves of their own mortality. While death is my mortal enemy, to them it is a welcome friend, a true beginning.

At Iviron — a magnificent, fortress-like monastery — I am greeted at by a soft-voiced Australian-born monk called Father Jeremiah, who directs me to a room on the second floor of the guest wing. It is small but perfect: bed, tiny desk, bedside table, two straight-backed chairs, plastic wastepaper bin, pair of plastic sandals tucked under the bed. Two grey-blue doors open on to a wooden balcony, with a view of the monastery gardens directly below.

It's 7.45pm and I'm already on monastic time — falling asleep, ready for bed. Monastic time differs from conventional time in several ways. The day, for example, is deemed to start at sunset rather than midnight. In winter the monks' first service, called midnight office, is at 2.30am. It runs into matins between 3am and 4am and the liturgy from 4.30am to 6am, forming what is, in effect, an unbroken three and a half hour service through the night. I am encouraged to attend the liturgy. The monks assume midnight office will be beyond me. The monks are proved correct.

MOUNT ATHOS

Father Jeremiah, a kindly 52-year-old who came to Athos in 1981, tells me he usually sleeps from llpm to 2am, attends the nighttime service, then rests again before the morning meal at 9.30am. That is followed by four hours' work (each monk has a specific "obedience", such as cooking, carpentry or agriculture), vespers at 3pm, the evening meal at 4.30pm, and compline, the post-meal service, at 5pm. I attend vespers soon after arriving and, while the chanting has a certain hypnotic quality, I find it tough going. A middle-aged pilgrim in a leather jacket tells me off for crossing my legs during the service.

After vespers it is time for the evening meal — 4.30pm counts as evening. The monks and lay pilgrims, who number around 20, eat together in the refectory but at separate tables. The meals — strictly two a day — are treated as part of the service, with monks processing back and forth from church to refectory. No talking is permitted during the meal; instead a monk reads from The Lives of the Saints. The abbot, at the head of the table, keeps an eye on how the diners are progressing, and when he reckons the pace of eating is slowing he dings a little bell, the reading ends, grace is said and everyone files out. You have to eat relatively quickly, as the bell can sound unexpectedly. It was four meals before I'd worked out the correct pace.

This first supper comprises a lukewarm but not unpleasant fish and rice soup, brown bread (no butter — dairy is the devil), a small piece of pasta bake, a small piece of fish, a small piece of feta, a small glass of monastery produced wine (thin-bodied, slightly sour but perfectly serviceable), an apple and a piece of cake. I've only just started on the cake and haven't even been tempted by the apple when the abbot sounds time. I know I'll be peckish later, yet I also know it is enough. The meal, Father Jeremiah tells me later, was made with leftovers from that morning's special New Year's Day meal. The aim is that nothing should be wasted.

The monks usually fast on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, though because I am there during a religious festival — a feast period — there is no fasting (thank God). The monks never eat meat, regardless of the day, but on fast days they also avoid fish, all dairy products, eggs, olive oil and wine. That leaves them with rice, pasta, bread, fruit, vegetables and lentils; I sense they eat a lot of lentils. They also fast for 40 days before Easter and Christmas, and for the first fortnight in August, in honour of the Virgin Mary. That means that for half of the year the monks are fasting. They are convinced this is good for them, expelling impurities from their bodies.

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When the abbot reckons the pace of eating is slowing he dings a little bell and everyone files out. You have to eat relatively quickly — it was four meals before I'd worked out the correct pace

There is not much to do in the evening — no monkish Scrabble or charades. I sleep for a while between 9pm and llpm, wake up, read for an hour or so, then fall asleep again before rising for the service at 4am. These sleeping patterns would take some getting used to.

During the early-morning liturgy, I am overwhelmed by a sense of my own mortality and start to calculate how many hours the average person can expect to live. I am horrified to find that, even if you live as long as an Athonian monk, this number is well short of a million. The brevity makes me wonder about these two hours I'm spending listening to the liturgy in Greek. [n reality, it's not quite two hours because halfway through I feel faint — a combination of lack of sleep and the smell of incense — and slump forward in my seat. I feel I'm going to be sick, and wonder how the monks would react. I go and sit outside for a while, and eventually revive.

The morning meal is a delight: lentil soup served in a shallow aluminium dish, a piece of oily fish, a green salad with olive oil, a piece of feta, brown bread, a glass of wine, a delicious oatcake, an orange and a handful of crushed almonds — served to mark some special saint's day. I have only just started the orange when the bell goes. I think about smuggling out some extra oatcakes, but decide not to risk it.

It is the most glorious morning. My incense-induced headache vanishes while I'm soaking myself in cold water in the communal bathroom. The meal leaves me feeling satisfied but not over-full, and where else would I get to drink red wine at nine in the morning and be told it was good for me?

The following day I move up the coast to Vatopedi, the largest monastery on Athos, at which Prince Charles has stayed on several occasions. You can understand the appeal to Charles of the Orthodox church and monastic life, with its rejection of the 21st century, sense of community, natural food, love of ritual, submission to God's will, men-only environment, delight in obscurantism and feeling that everything since the Renaissance has been a ghastly mistake.

Almost as soon as I arrive, it's time for vespers, which is more formal than at Iviron.

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Near the end of the service, in a glorious coup de theatre, the abbot and four priest-monks enter in glittering red robes. Again I am chastised: a Serbian pilgrim tells me to take my hands out of my pockets as we're leaving the church.

We eat at 4.30pm: broad beans, spinach, monastery-baked bread, home-grown kiwi fruits and oranges, and delicious oatcakes (the sad-looking man next to me scoffs three), but no cheese and, worse, no wine (though I am told later there should have been a flask on the table). After compline, the post-meal service, Father Matthew and I talk for three-quarters of an hour. Then a bell tolls and he says he has to dash. It is just after 6pm and the evening stretches ahead of me. Perhaps 700,000 hours is enough after all. I go to sleep at llpm after a marathon read; I like the fact there is no TV, radio or internet, and that you have to fall back on books and self-interrogation.

A monk thoughtfully calls at 3am to tell me the service is starting. I'm not sure whether attendance is obligatory and go back to bed, but I can't sleep, so wash, shave and head across the pitch-black courtyard to the church. I'm there just before 4am, ahead of most of the other pilgrims. My bushy-bearded Serbian tormentor doesn't show until just after 5am.

I give him a smug look.

I assume the service will end, as at Iviron, at 6am and look forward to going back to bed. It does appear to be winding down around then, and I prepare to leave. But it is only evolving to some other, more exalted phase, and it doesn't finish until 9am — an hour longer than usual because today the monks are venerating 13 of their predecessors at Vatopedi, martyred in the 13th century. The morning meal is also more elaborate than usual because of this. Spaghetti, roasted parsnips in olive oil, broccoli, feta, tomato, kiwi fruit, an orange, cake with a hint

For half of the year the monks are fasting. They are convinced this is good for them, expelling impurities from their bodies

Monks at Iviron prepare a simple supper of fish and rice soup — to be washed down with a home-brewed glass of red wine

of chocolate on top, and a sizeable helping of crushed almonds. Still no wine, though.

Five hours in church is a long haul, and

I hide the following morning when I get the 2.30am call. I have to leave on the 9.30am bus, and need some sleep. I've enjoyed the food and the tranquillity, but getting up at 2.30 every morning and spending eight hours a day in church would be too much for me. The monks have somehow learned to transcend boredom; with God on your side, anything is possible.

I head back to the port of Dafni. With an hour to wait for the boat back to the Greek mainland and the influence of the Holy Mountain perhaps receding, I have a Nescafé and a pastry filled with spinach — a kind of Greek Cornish pasty. I feel a touch guilty about this until I spot a young monk at a nearby table eating a pastry and drinking a large bottle of Amstel beer. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

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Artichokes with potatoes

Serves 8

10 fairly large artichokes (frozen or tinned can also be used)

0.5kg potatoes

10 srnpll ppions, peeled and chopped

1-2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 handful dill

1 handful Of parsley

3-4 springs fresh oregano salt and black pepper

Lemon juice to taste

Carefully clean the artichokes, removing their hard surfaces and hairy "choke". Place them in a bowl of water with the juice of two freshly squeezed lemons so they don't discolour. Clean and cut the potatoes lengthways and add them to the bowl with the artichokes. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, and lightly sauté the onions.

Drain the artichokes and potatoes and add to the pan. Add enough water to cover and simmer for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the final 10 mins of cooking, season with salt, pepper, oregano and dill.

Once the liquid has been mostly absorbed, add lemon juice to taste, stir in the parsley and remove from the heat.

Photographs: David Munns

Food stylist: Marie-Ange Lapierre

Props stylist; Liz Belton

 

MOUNT ATHOS

Peas With Pilaf rice

Serves 8

Ikg of shelled or frozen peas

200g of rice

3 onions, finely chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

Olive oil

1 egg yolk

Blanch the peas and set aside. Put the olive oil into a saucepan and saute the onions over a low heat. Add the peas and rice and stir. Cover with water (you'll need around 1.5 times water to rice). Season, add the egg yolk and turn up the heat until boiling. Then turn the heat down very low and simmer gently for around 15 minutes.

Continue stirring until the liquid has evaporated.

Chickpea patties

300g tinned chickpeas

3 garlic cloves peeled and grated

1 onion, finely chopped

1 handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Sea salt and black pepper Half a teaspoon of cumin seeds. ground in a pestle and mortar 100g flour

Olive Oil for shallow frying

1 egg. beaten

Blitz the chickpeas in a blender with the garlic, onion, parsley, seasoning, cumin and flour. Tip into a bowl and add the beaten egg. Mix well to form a sticky dough. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, shape the patties one by one, and fry over a low heat to prevent them reddening on the outside and remaining raw inside.

MOUNT ATHOS MOUNT ATHOS

 

Fish soup

Serves 6

1.5kg rockfish (or any other fresh fish such as cod or monkfish)

3 medium potatoes, peeled and finely chopped

1 onion, finely Chopped

3 large carrots, finely chopped

1 lemon, juiced

1 stalk celery. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 handful dill, chopped

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Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Half a teaspoon of ground cumin seeds 2 tbsps olive oil

Place the fish in a large saucepan, pour over cold water to cover and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that gathers on the water's surface. Meanwhile, chop the potatoes, onions, carrots and celery and fry gently in the olive oil. Add the vegetables and salt to the fish in its stock, and cook at a steady simmer for 20 minutes. Add finely chopped parsley, dill, pepper, cumin and lemon juice to taste.

Saute the onions in the olive oil, add the rice and stir to coat them. Add the cuttlefish stock to the rice (you'll need about 1.5 times water to rice), throw in the dill, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down very low and leave to simmer for 15 minutes, allowing the rice to absorb all the liquid. Add the lemon juice to taste.

This can also be served as a "red" dish by adding fresh chopped or pureed tomatoes.

Five recipes taken from The Cuisine of Mount

Athos, by Brother Epifanios, published in

Greek by Synchroni Orizontes Publications

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