Does the Church have any requirements or recommendations regarding a Christian’s health? #

In Orthodoxy, there is no strict dichotomy between the soul and the body, nor any teaching that all physical things are sinful and corrupt, with the soul’s ultimate goal being to escape the “filthy” body. Orthodox Christianity teaches that the body and soul together form a single human being and that Christians living on earth, in their bodies, are temples of the Spirit who dwells within them (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Orthodox teaching warns against all forms of bodily excess and impurity, including gluttony, drunkenness, fornication, and adultery. These vices are known to cause severe physical and mental illnesses.

The Church prohibits smoking tobacco and the use of intoxicating drugs. Abortions are strictly condemned in Orthodoxy, considered deliberate infanticide, regardless of the method by which they are performed.

The Church also forbids mutilating surgeries such as castration, equating them with murder, including voluntary castration (without medical necessity). This prohibition extends to so-called “gender reassignment surgeries,” a trend artificially promoted in the West.

Tattoos on the body are forbidden as well. It is also known that tattoos carry an increased risk of cancer.

One of the most important Orthodox practices is observing the fasts: weekly one-day fasts (Wednesdays and Fridays, the Exaltation of the Cross, and the Beheading of John the Baptist) and multi-day fasts (Great Lent, the Apostles’ Fast, the Dormition Fast, and the Nativity Fast). During fasting days, the soul is cleansed from sins through repentance and asceticism, and the body is lightened from dietary excess, contributing to its health.

The Church strictly prohibits seeking healing from sorcerers or fortune-tellers, as their “help” is based on interactions with humanity’s enemies—the fallen spirits, “spirits of wickedness in high places.” These spirits cannot provide true healing but, in exchange for temporary visible improvements in health, separate a person’s soul from God and lead them to spiritual ruin unless they repent and return to God.

At the same time, seeking help from doctors is both permissible and encouraged. Scripture portrays the physician as a servant of God through whom the Lord grants relief from illness and healing:

“Honor a physician with the honor due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him: for the Lord hath created him. For of the Most High cometh healing, and he shall receive honor of the king. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head: and in the sight of great men he shall be in admiration. The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them. Was not the water made sweet with wood, that the virtue thereof might be known? And he hath given men skill, that he might be honored in his marvelous works. With such doth he heal men, and taketh away their pains. Of such doth the apothecary make a confection; and of his works there is no end; and from him is peace over all the earth. My son, in thy sickness be not negligent: but pray unto the Lord, and he will make thee whole. Leave off from sin, and order thine hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all wickedness… Give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him.”
(Sirach 38:1–11)

In severe illnesses, we must also remember the Holy Mysteries given for the healing of both soul and body: confession, unction (anointing), and communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Since some illnesses are permitted as a consequence of our sins, purification from sin can lead to healing. The Mystery of Unction, in particular, grants forgiveness of all sins, including those forgotten in confession, and can aid in recovery.

Ultimately, the complete deliverance from all bodily ailments and death awaits us in the future Resurrection and the renewal of all creation by God.

— Archpriest Vadim Korovin