Orthodox Christianity has stiffer dietary laws than Western Christianity, with veganism more than 200 days per year.

Judged as of 2021-11 against Eastern Orthodox canonical fasting rules. True: Orthodox fasting is clearly stricter than current Western (Catholic or Protestant) practice, and the prescribed fast days on which animal products are excluded total more than 200 a year (the Wednesdays and Fridays plus Great Lent, the Nativity, Apostles' and Dormition fasts). Mostly true: the total is close to but somewhat below 200 (roughly 180–199 days), or the fast days allow fish or oil, so 'veganism' is a slight approximation. Mixed: the fast days total well under 180, but Orthodoxy is still clearly stricter. Mostly false: the day count is badly overstated, for example under 150 days. False: Orthodox rules are not stricter than Western ones. The claim concerns the prescribed rules, not how many believers actually follow them.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Fasting and Food Habits in the Eastern Orthodox Church OUP Academic (Columbia Scholarship Online), chapter by Matalas, Tourlouki and Lazarou · 27 December 2011

   “Fasting is prescribed for a total period of 150 to 180 days a year.”

2. E2 Is There a Difference in Overweight and Obesity Between Christian Orthodox Fasters and Non-Fasters? A Cross-Sectional Study in Northern Greece - PMC PubMed Central (Nutrients journal; authors at University of Crete) · 21 October 2025

   “The total days of COC fasting range from 159 to 197 (average, 178) and include five main periods, and two important religious days, Wednesdays, and Fridays [2].”

3. E3 Is There a Difference in Overweight and Obesity Between Christian Orthodox Fasters and Non-Fasters? A Cross-Sectional Study in Northern Greece - PMC PubMed Central (Nutrients journal; authors at University of Crete) · 21 October 2025

   “prescribes a fasting practice that involves avoiding meat, dairy products, and eggs for approximately 180–200 days each year, according to its distributed fasting periods.”

4. E4 Liturgics - Fasting & Fast-Free Seasons of the Church Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

   “where the notation Fast Day is found, this means that a strict fast is observed, in which no meat, eggs, dairy products, fish, wine or oil are to be eaten.”

The independent sources put the prescribed Orthodox fast days below the claimed 200 or more. E1 gives 150 to 180 days a year. E2 gives 159 to 197 days, with an average of 178. E3 describes about 180 to 200 days without meat, dairy and eggs. E4 shows that strict fast days exclude all animal products, fish, wine and oil, which supports the point about strictness, though no source directly compares Orthodox rules with Western ones. The sources give totals of about 150 to 200 prescribed fast days a year: 150 to 180 [E1], 159 to 197 with an average of 178 [E2], and roughly 180 to 200 [E3]. None reaches the claim's figure of more than 200 days, so the claim overstates the count. Because most estimates are close to 180, the claim fits the 'mostly true' band rather than 'true'.