Healthy DASH Diet, and St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, Gluttony and Fasting, Step 14

What can we learn as we reflect on climbing the fourteenth rung
of the Ladder of Divine Ascent on Gluttony and fasting?
Why does St John Climacus see gluttony the chief passion?
Could the modern DASH diet be considered a type of fasting?
Should we fast to improve our soul? Or should we fast to
improve our health?
Jesus assumed that we should fast. Is fasting optional?
Do we need to be moderate in our eating, as well as in our
fasting?

The thumbnail is a painting where Elijah is fed by
the meager food brought by a raven.
Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments. Let us learn and reflect together!
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video.
Feel free to follow along in the PowerPoint script
we uploaded to SlideShare.

Elijah fed by
ravens, by
Giovanni
Girolamo
Savoldo,
1510
Dutch
school,
1600's

St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 14
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Earthly passions can, if we do not control them, can lead us to
selfishness, can lead us away from selflessness, can cloud the way to our
salvation, can prevent us from loving our neighbor as ourselves. St John
Climacus teaches us that the primary passion is gluttony, the gluttony
that keeps us from eating a healthy diet, that keeps us from eating in
moderation.
In ancient and medieval times, you regulated your diet by fasting. Like
eating, fasting should be practiced in moderation, there were saints who
may have ruined their health through excessive fasting, including St
Bernard of Clairvaux. In both the ancient desert monasteries and the
stricter medieval monasteries, the monks were given strict portions at
mealtime in addition to following the fasting regimen of the church.

Fasting was not occasional; fasting was a way
of life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus first
instructs us how to pray, then he exhorts us:
“When you fast, do not look dismal, like the
hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that
their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say
to you, they have their reward. But when you
fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
that your fasting may not be seen by men but
by your Father who is in secret; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

In this verse, Jesus does not say: You should fast; but
rather Jesus exhorts us, “When you fast,” you fast for
God, you fast in secret, you do not fast for the
approval of men, so everyone can notice how
devout you are. False devoutness is pernicious pride.

Modern Healthy Living, the DASH Diet

How should we fast, we who benefit from medical
knowledge that was unknown or unclear to both the
ancient and medieval worlds? When doctors tell us how
to live healthy lives, this is also a type of fasting. What is
the cure for all ailments? The big three cures are: Eat
Right, Exercise, and Sleep until you are refreshed, and
many would add: have a social life, do not spend your life
watching television. If we could transport the saints of
ages gone by to the current day, I am sure they would
agree.

Big Three Cures for Everything:
1. Eat Healthy.
2. Exercise Frequently
3. Sufficient Sleep.
4. Plus, others would add:
Rich Social Life, which means:

My story is a decade or so ago, in my mid-life, I went to my
annual checkup, and the doctor told me that my triglycerides
were way too high. This doctor, and later Dr Google, informed
me that I was consuming too much food with starches and
sugars. High triglycerides and high cholesterol go hand in hand, if
you improve your habits, you can lower both. He warned me
especially not to drink fruit juices. You can eat an orange or
grapefruit, but drinking a glass of fruit juice is like eating a dozen
oranges, which is way too much sugar. And my doctor said, no
problem, fill this prescription for medication to lower your
triglycerides.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/beyond-blood-pressure-added-benefits-from-the-dash-diet
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/dash-diet/art-20048456

But I asked Dr Google for more advice on how to eat
healthily, and for the next six months, I ate as healthily as
possible, implementing the DASH diet. Also, if you have
high cholesterol and high triglycerides, you can also
consult the diabetic diets, as they are similar. As a by-
product, I also lost about thirty pounds. At my next
appointment, the nurse asked me, How are you doing
with your prescription? I answered that I didn’t fill it. The
doctor said no problem, let us update the blood tests.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan

Implementing the DASH diet meant that my triglyceride and cholesterol counts
plummeted by half to a decidedly healthier range. I told the doctor that if I had
implemented the change in my diet and started the medication, we would not know
whether the improvement was due to the diet or to the medication. He agreed.
As I aged, the numbers have crept back up, but I have not had to take the
cholesterol medications quite yet. These medications have tons of warnings and
possible side effects. It is better to control your numbers by diet alone if you can,
but not everyone can.
Supposedly the DASH diet also controls high blood pressure, and I have started
taking the medication for high blood pressure, but in my experience, diet does not
affect high blood pressure as directly as it ameliorates high cholesterol and high
triglycerides.

DASH DIET: My summary:
• Eat mostly fish, chicken, and turkey. Avoid
beef, and most especially, avoid lamb. Lamb
is so rich you gain weight thinking about
eating it.
• Replace bread and starches with vegetables
and brown rice. Avoid sandwiches.
• Eat fruit for dessert. Avoid fruit juice and
soda pop.
• Eat a capful of mixed nuts or peanuts every
day.
• Limit sweets and salt, but if you sweat and
exercise, or bike long distances as I do,
Gatorade and salt help you hydrate.

And also, in addition to the DASH diet,
• Constantly be sipping a bottle of water,
this helps prevent leg cramps, kidney
stones, and urinary tract infections.
• But: most people can eat what they
like once a week, except for dessert, in
moderation. Drink alcohol in
moderation.
• If you can’t do without ice cream and
sweets, splurge once a month.
Flavored yogurt is better than ice
cream, not so much because of its
probiotics, but because it comes in
smaller containers.

The purpose of the DASH diet is not to lose weight, the purpose of the
DASH diet is to become and remain healthy, which means you should
keep the DASH diet until the end of your days, it is a permanent change
of habit. Eating in moderation is essential to both the DASH diet and
fasting in general. You should consult your physician and dietician for
advice on modifying your diet if your medical situation differs.
Personally, when I was younger, I could lose weight soley by eating right,
but as the years fall behind me, I have had to control both the portions
and the healthiness of what I eat. But if you think the DASH diet is too
strict, I warn you: Everyone, without exception, who chooses not to
follow the DASH diet, eventually dies.

Fasting in the Modern Churches

Fasting is not a part of most Protestant churches. When they do
fast, they usually fast occasionally, either drinking only water or
consuming only bread and water, for one or several days as a
special spiritual experience, including prayer.
The modern Catholic Church has not included fasting in normal
lay practice, and how or if fasting is practiced among Catholic
monastics likely varies by the monastic order, and also by the
community. Limited fasting during Lent has been neglected, now
the refrain is for everyone to choose what they will fast from,
whether it be movies or chocolate, or all too rarely, television.

Mary Queen of the Universe Catholic Church, Orlando, FL

Fasting is practiced in all the various Christian
Orthodox churches. Orthodox Christians fast every
Wednesday and Friday, and in particular seasons of
the Church calendar, sometimes meat is excluded,
sometimes meat and fish, sometimes oil and cheese,
and fasting is stricter during Lent. Searching for
substitutes to keep your meals tasty misses the
spiritual point of the fast.

St Demetrios Orthodox Church, Divine Liturgy, Ft Lauderdale, FL

As I reflected on my personal and YouTube channel
philosophy, during my faith journey I have experienced
many of these faith traditions, though I have been
reluctant to abandon one faith tradition for another in
haste. Even if fasting is not part of your faith tradition, you
should at least follow a diet like the DASH diet so you can
be healthy, and you can benefit from the spiritual message
of St John Climacus in his teachings on how we should
avoid gluttony.

.
Freedom From Gluttony St John Climacus sees
gluttony as chief among
the passions. Father
Vassilios Papavassiliou
teaches us that
“passions are not mere
actions but are
conditions of soul and
body that distort our
relationship not only
with our fellow human
beings, but also with
our natural
environment and our
own bodies.”

. Father Vassilios observes
that St John Climacus
speaks of the gluttonous
spirit. Although gluttony is
a physical sin, it also
poisons our spiritual life.
He teaches us that “we
cannot sharply distinguish
between body and soul,
since there is nothing
human beings can do
without both of these
together. Thus, physical
sins have a spiritual
dimension.”

Discipline is the core of the Christian life.
Through discipline, we root out selfishness.
Through discipline, we water and grow our
Love for God and our love for our neighbor.
Will your habits be good habits or bad
habits?
St John Climacus speaks of gluttony:
Step 14.36. “The cause of my insatiability is
habit. The foundation of my passion is
repeated habit, insensibility of soul, and
forgetfulness of death.”

Fasting is not the goal, salvation is the goal, the
salvation we achieve in our soul when we truly
Love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Step 14.7. St John Climacus rues that the monk
who is a glutton “counts beforehand the days till
Pascha,” or the Easter feast, “and he prepares the
food for it several days in advance.”
St John Climacus is referring to the Orthodox
practice of breaking the strict Lenten fast with a
feast prepared after the Pascha night service. He
continues:
“The monk, who is a slave of his belly, calculates
with what dishes he will celebrate the feast, but
the servant of God considers with what spiritual
gifts he may be enriched.”

Father Vassilios comments that many
Orthodox fall into the spiritual trap of
“becoming so obsessive about
observing the rules of the fast that
they spend a great deal of time
examining ingredients when shopping
and are constantly thinking about
what they can and cannot eat.” They
“are more concerned with food
during the fast than they are the rest
of the time, which contradicts one of
the purposes of fasting: to attach less
significance to food, not more.”

But a few pages later, Father
Vassilios comments that we
should, indeed, enjoy the
breaking of the fast and feast
in moderation. “To let the
Great Feasts pass us by” “is to
lose the fullness of spiritual
life and of Christian
celebration.”

Pascha Homily of St John Chrysostom

St John Chrysostom, highly esteemed in both the Catholic and
Orthodox Church, addressed another issue he confronted in his
parishes at the Pascha feast. The ancient church had the same
problem as the modern church, there were many Christians who only
attend church on Easter. No doubt some of the devout contested that
those who did not attend church during Lent, and who did not keep
the Lenten fast, should not be allowed, or not be welcomed, to the
Paschal feast after the service, since they did not do the work. This
problem was solved by his Pascha Homily, which was based on Jesus’
parable of the workers in the vineyard, which promised salvation to
all, to both those mature in the faith as well as those new to the faith.

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, by Jacob Willemszoon de Wet, mid 1600's

Jesus told this parable: “For the kingdom of
heaven is like a householder who went out early
in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a
day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out
about the third hour he saw others standing idle
in the marketplace; and to them, he said, ‘You go
into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will
give you.’ So, they went. Going out again about
the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the
same. And about the eleventh hour he went out
and found others standing; and he said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to
him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to
them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, by
Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, 1750s

The parable continues, “And when evening came, the owner of
the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay
them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And
when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them
received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought
they would receive more; but each of them also received a
denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the
householder, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you
have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of
the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them,
‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me to
work for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose
to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what
I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my
generosity?’ So, the last will be first, and the first last.”

Another practical reason for a short Paschal homily is that the Orthodox liturgy is
long, much longer than services in most denominations with fixed services, and the
modern Pascha liturgy is one of the longest. The main Pascha liturgy begins on
Saturday night, the church is dark, with minimal lighting, a life-size icon of the
deceased Christ is laid on the altar as if it were a tomb, and the solemn part of the
service, after many readings and chanting, is concluded by the congregation
marching around the church three times. They halt at the front church door, and the
leader bangs on the church door three times: Who is knocking at the door?
After that, the door is opened to a brightly lit church, with Easter flowers
announcing the resurrection of our Lord on Easter morning, and the second half of
the service is joyous, and since it is short, the congregation stands for St John
Chrysostom’s Paschal homily:

Pascha Liturgy, Christ the Savior Orthodox Cathedral, Miami, FL

St John Chrysostom teaches us: “If any be devout and God-
loving, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumph. If any be a
good and wise servant, let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his
Lord. If any be weary of fasting, let him now receive his reward.
If any have labored from the first hour, let him receive today his
rightful due. If any have come at the third hour, let him feast
with thankfulness. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him
in no wise be in doubt, for in no way shall he suffer loss. If any
be delayed even until the ninth hour, let him draw near,
doubting nothing, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until
the eleventh hour, let him not be fearful on account of his
lateness; for the Master, Who is jealous of His honor, receives
the last even as the first.”

St John Chrysostom continues: “Christ
gives rest to he who arrives at the
eleventh hour, as well as to him that
has labored from the first hour; and to
the last He is merciful, and with the
first He is pleased; to the one He gives,
and to the other He bestows; and He
receives the works and welcomes the
intention; and the deed He honors,
and the offering He praises.
Wherefore, then, enter you all into the
joy of your Lord; both the first and the
second, both rich and poor, receive
your reward, all should exalt the Lord.”
John Chrysostom confronting
Empress Eudoxia, by by Jean-
Paul Laurens, 1800's

St John Chrysostom concludes: “You who
are sober, and you who are slothful, honor
the day. You who have kept the fast and
you who have not, be glad today. The
table is full-laden, delight You all. The calf
is fatted; let none go forth hungry. Let all
enjoy the feast of faith, receive all the
riches of goodness. Let no one bewail his
poverty, for the universal kingdom has
been revealed. Let no one weep for his
transgressions, for forgiveness has dawned
from the tomb. Let no one fear death, for
the death of the Savior has set us free.”

St John Chrysostom continues: “Christ has
quenched death, He has made Hades captive, He
Who descended into Hades. He embittered it
when it tasted of His flesh. And foretelling this,
Isaiah cried: ‘Hades,’ he proclaimed, ‘was
embittered when it encountered You below.’
Death was embittered, for it was abolished. Hades
was embittered, for it was mocked. Death was
embittered, for it was slain. Hades was
embittered, for it was overthrown. Death was
embittered, for it was fettered. It received a body
and encountered God. It received earth and met
heaven. It received that which it saw, and fell to
what it did not see. O death, where is thy sting? O
Hades, where is thy victory?”
Three Holy Hierarchs: John Chrysostom,
Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus,
1400's, Cathedral of St Sophia, Novgorod

St Catherine’s monastery is located in the mountains of the Sinai desert.
What is the Point of Fasting?

What is the point of fasting? If fasting is engrained in
our daily routine, then our life is not spent
ceaselessly seeking pleasure, seeking the drink, juicy
steaks, caresses, using others for mere moments of
pleasure. The scriptures bid us to pray without
ceasing, and we balk, but is not our continual search
for pleasure an unceasing demented prayer?

Let us look at St John Climacus’ definition:
Step 14.33. “Fasting is the coercion of nature
and the cutting out of everything that delights
the palate, the excision of lust, the uprooting of
bad thoughts, deliverance from incontinence in
dreams, purity of your prayer, the light of the
soul, the guarding of the mind, deliverance
from blindness, the door of compunction,” or
repentance, “a humble sighing, a guard of
obedience, a cessation of chatter, a cause of
stillness, a guard of obedience, lightening of
sleep, health of body, agent of dispassion,
remission of sins, the gate of Paradise and its
delight.”

We must remember that St John Climacus’ intended
audience are early century monks in the deserts of
Egypt, and we must apply his teachings allegorically
to the life of the layman.

St John Climacus also cautions
against keeping too strict a
discipline:
Step 14.12. “Let us for a while only
deny ourselves fattening foods, then
heating foods, and only what makes
our food pleasant. If possible, give
your stomach satisfying and
digestible food, so as to satisfy its
insatiable hunger by sufficiency, so
we may be delivered from excessive
desire.”

We probably do not want to follow the example of St Mary of Egypt, who
took a year to eat a loaf of bread. Rather than ignoring the fast, or
starting an overly strict fast, we should simply follow the fasting calendar
of the Orthodox Church.
One year I followed a strict Lenten fast, replacing eggplant with meat on
all days of Lent, and decided to continue the fast after Lent so I would be
observant without having to continually follow the calendar. Foolish me!
After many months I had gained some pounds, and my doctor said I
needed to quit filling up on carbohydrates, and so through the next Lent I
was following doctor’s orders to eat meat occasionally, as indeed the fast
prescribes.

Mary of Egypt,
Monastery of
St Gerasimus
Mary of Egypt being
handed a cloak by
Zosimas, French,
1400's, British Library

St John Climacus warns us:
Step 14.10. “As long as the flesh is in full health,
let us observe abstinence at all times and in
every place.”
This caution is repeated by St Benedict and all
Orthodox priests: if your health is fragile, eat
what you need to eat to keep you healthy. Jesus
does not want you to damage your health by
fasting. Jesus in Luke fasted for forty days in the
desert, eating nothing, before he was tempted
by Satan, but we are not Jesus. In the modern
Orthodox Church, there are no fast days where
the faithful abstain from food entirely.

Is Fasting Optional?

Is fasting optional? If you are Orthodox, this could mean
the church fast, or for anyone, this could mean a
responsible diet like the forever DASH diet. Perhaps the
better question is: Do you want to travel to heaven on the
cheapest fare? Do you want to try to please God by doing
only the minimum needed? Do you want to risk being drug
off the Ladder by the demons into the abyss? Or do you
want to take an expansive view of what God expects of
you, affecting all areas of your life?

In its essence, fasting is eating in
moderation, eating not for pleasure, but for
maintaining your health. Fasting is adopting
good habits, as St John Climacus teaches us:
Step 14.36. “The foundation of my passion is
repeated habit, insensibility of soul and
forgetfulness of death.” The first-born son of
gluttony is “fornication, the second is
hardness of heart, and the third is
sleepiness.”
In summary, Father John Mack teaches us
that “all passions are interconnected. We
cannot allow even one passion to be
unrestrained. This is especially true of
gluttony,” “the prince of passions.”

Father John Mack quotes several examples from St
John Climacus:
• “If you struggle with unclean thoughts, remember:
The mind of someone intemperate is filled with
unclean longings.
• If you struggle with talking too much, remember:
The tongue flourishes where food is abundant.
• If you struggle with a lack of repentance,
remember:
A full stomach dries up one’s weeping.
• If you struggle with sexual sin, remember:
The man who looks after his belly and at the same
time hopes to control the passion of fornication is
like someone trying to put out a fire with oil.”

Past & Future Rungs of the Ladder

Each step of the Ladder of Divine Ascent builds on the
prior steps, beginning with the first step, the renunciation
of the world, which includes wise advice to laymen on
how to live a godly life. This is followed by Detachment
and Exile from the values of this sinful world, followed by
the need for Obedience to the Law and the Gospel, and
how we should be persistent in our Repentance, which we
compared this struggle to the struggle of the Allies in
fighting the Axis of Evil Fascism during World War II.

https://youtu.be/_bjQcNvzb-c
https://youtu.be/qDtrgYmaAQU
https://youtu.be/NiuWNsy4x4Q
https://youtu.be/Fco0W3bt5GA

This is followed by the steps on remembrance of
death, joy-making mourning, and why we should
battle despondency. We are then reminded that we
should be free from anger, not holding grudges for
the wrongs we suffer, and the strength of meekness.
In the next step, we combat slander, lying, and
gossip. In the step after gluttony and fasting, we
ponder purity and chastity.

https://youtu.be/SLBIdDHRy3A
https://youtu.be/pFwC2nDf1CQ https://youtu.be/2mEjh425sJk
NEXT STEP

DISCUSSING THE SOURCES
Both of these editions of the Ladder of Divine Ascent use the
same translation, but each has its own thoughtful introductions,
the introduction in the Classics of Western Spirituality is by
Bishop Kallistos Ware. We find this work as easy to read as the
works of the Stoic Philosophers that influenced Christianity and
the monastic tradition, but we also have the commentaries by
Father John Mack and Father Vassilios Papavassiliou, which are
valuable because they reflect their experience as priests hearing
confessions.

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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Healthy DASH Diet, and St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, Gluttony and Fasting, Step 14

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