What Is the Daniel Fast Diet?

Medically Reviewed on7/1/2022
What Is the Daniel Fast Diet?
The Daniel Fast has the potential to have a significant and life-changing effect on your body.

The Daniel Fastdietis based on the prophet Daniel's nutritional and spiritual experiences as described in theBible's Book of Daniel. It is a form of partial fast that emphasizes vegetables and other nutritious whole meals while excluding animal products.

The Daniel Fastdietis usually followed for 21 days. However, 10 days and 40 days fasts are common. The objective of the fast is to come closer to God and not to be healthy orlose weight.It is intended as a cleanse to improve spiritual health by simplifying the diet.

Meals in the Daniel Fast diet are essentially a whole food plant-based diet that does not include bread or sweets.

The Daniel Fast is a biblical method of intermittent fasting, but it is not your average fast. The Daniel Fast is not about eating or not eating for specific periods. Here, “fast” means restrictions on what food you can consume rather than when you may eat it.

The Daniel Fast has the potential to have a significant and life-changing effect on your body. When you switch to a Daniel Fast diet, eating whole plant foods in their most natural state, you are adding foods that restore health. Foods that increase your risk of inflammatory chronic illnesses, such asobesity, type IIdiabetes,high blood pressure, certaincancers, and autoimmune diseases, are avoided.

15 food types that are allowed on the Daniel Fast diet

  1. Fruits and vegetables in all forms, such as fresh, frozen, canned, or dried
  2. Non-bleached, nonstripped, and non-processed grains, beans, and legumes
  3. Whole grains, such as whole brown rice and wholewheat flour
  4. Nuts, such as walnut and almond
  5. Fruit and vegetable juices
  6. 香草和调味料和香料
  7. Baking soda (natural)
  8. Agave nectar
  9. Stevia
  10. Bragg Liquid Aminos (a natural alternative tosoysauce)
  11. Cold-pressed oils, such as olive, unprocessed coconut, peanut and sesame oil, and mustard seed oil
  12. 大豆和杏仁milk
  13. Tofu
  14. Pasta made from whole grains; eggs are not to be added

20 foods that are avoided in the Daniel Fast diet

  1. All varieties of meat products, including:
    • Seafood
    • Beef
    • Chicken broth
  2. Egg and its products
  3. White rice
  4. All carbonatedbeverages, such as:
    • Soda
    • Softdrinks
    • Carbonated flavored water
  5. Whitesugarand foods that contain it
  6. Artificial sweeteners(Splenda,sucralose)
  7. NutraSweet (aspartame)
  8. Sweet N Low (saccharine)
  9. Cornsyrup (high fructosecornsyrup)
  10. Foods containing additives, chemicals, and dyes
  11. Soy sauce (fermented)
  12. Hydrogenated oils, such as:
    • Margarine
    • Shortening
  13. Fried foods, especially fried in hydrogenated oil
  14. Alcohol
  15. Vinegar (fermented)
  16. Black tea
  17. Caffeine
  18. Baking powder
  19. Cream of tartar
  20. Yeast

SLIDESHOW

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How to prepare for Daniel Fast

If you spend some time preparing for your period of focused prayer and fasting, you will have a more effective fast.

Quiet period

If you do not currently have a daily quiet time with the Lord, this is a good chance to start. You must put God first every day of your life, not just in words but also in deeds. Starting your day with God is a practice that will strengthen your faith and increase your closeness with the Lord. Set aside time each day throughout your Daniel Fast to come before the Lord and study his word and methods.

Get your body ready

It is advisable to prepare your body for the fast by reducing your intake ofsugar,caffeine, and chemicals before your first day of fasting. Otherwise, physical detox symptoms, such asheadaches,cramps, and exhaustion, may occur. Begin drinking at least half a gallon of filtered water every day.

Mind your food choices

It is a good idea to check through the lists of what to avoid and what is fine, then go shopping ahead of time. Having the food products on hand increases your sense of readiness.

How many servings can you eat in a day while on the Daniel Fast diet?

There are no exact guidelines about how much food you should consume because it is more about what foods you should eat. However, because the diet is all about giving up self-indulgence and learning discipline, adhering tothree square meals a day and a snack or twoshould be enough.

Medically Reviewed on7/1/2022
References
Image Source: iStock image

Ringer J. A beginner’s guide to the Daniel Fast diet. Loma Linda University Health. https://news.llu.edu/patient-care/beginner-s-guide-daniel-fast-diet

CompellingTruth.org. What is a Daniel fast? https://www.compellingtruth.org/Daniel-fast.html