The average day of a monk begins with an hour of prayer before dawn and meals time are conducted in silence. The monks normally have to eat at great speed as once the reading is over the meal is officially completed.
Living like a monk may have more than spiritual benefits, with a recent study into one of the world’s most isolated monastic communities in Greece revealing that such dietary and healthy living habits resulted in lower cancer rates.
The dietary and lifestyle habits of monks in the all-male community in Mount Athos have shown that regular consumption of olive oil, daily portions of fish, seasonal fruit and vegetables are among the main contributors towards keeping prostate cancer below international averages.
The new study found that in the last 13 years, there had been 11 reported cases of prostrate cancer among the more than 1,500 monks living the 20different monasteries in the segregated community in the northwest Greece from which women are banned.
Meals on Mount Athos are simple and do not contain meat but fish is a regular fare on holidays such as Christmas and Ester.
The staple foods are bread, olives, vegetables, rice, pasta, soya dishes and fruit. In fact, the monks grow much of what they consume themselves.
Monks usually indulge in a glass of red wine, which is made locally from mountain grapes, with their dinner but on fast days they abstain from wine, olive oil and dairy products altogether.