I’m not sure, but I think at this moment I’m either closer to God or just really, really hungry. I know it should be the former, because I’m doing the Daniel Diet.
The whole thing traces it origins back to Daniel, a devout Jew who was captured by the Babylonian army under crazy King Nebuchadnezzar. You might remember Daniel’s three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—the three dudes in the fiery furnace. The king selected from his POWs—“only the strong, healthy, and good-looking young men”—to ultimately serve in his royal palace. He renamed them and gave them food and wine while they learned the ways of the Babylonians. Now this is where the “diet” aspect comes from; in Daniel 1:8 it reads, “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king.”
Basically, Jews can’t eat anything that isn’t kosher. Daniel didn’t want to take the chance of consuming any food that might also be offered to the Babylonian idols. So risking death, he asked the guard who fed him if his bowl could be filled with only vegetables and water instead. This act of defiance against the king’s food offering could have landed him on death row. And if Daniel showed any signs of sickness, he knew that would also merit instant death. But God favored him and at the end of a ten-day trial period, “Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.”
Thousands of years later, this act of devotion and discipline has inspired people to revamp their eating habits in search of a more God-centered stomach. There are two ways to approach it: The Daniel Diet involves a habitual regimen of consuming food sparingly; the Daniel Fast is spiritual in nature. For my trial period, I decided I would go on the diet track because a true fast requires more time spent in prayer and the Word.
I was afraid to start the Daniel Diet because I heard the effects of eating nothing but fiber-rich foods and water would equal extreme detoxification of the colon, if you know what I mean. But I researched and found that though my body would undergo detoxification, there probably wouldn’t be constant diarrhea… probably.
On the first day of the diet, I pressed my snooze button about six times, like normal. The usual grogginess and desperate coffee craving weighed me down. Like the majority of our get-up-and-go culture, coffee is my secondary blood supply, so I could merely make it to the end of the day. The caffeine withdrawal rocked my nervous system by noon, and I began a rollercoaster of 5-hour-long headaches. I didn’t realize the diet regulations allowed me to take pain relievers, so I could have calmed the throbbing if I’d known. Luckily, the withdrawal only lasted two days. They were a long two days.
My previous eating habits consisted of little “meals” every few hours. I realize now it was a coping mechanism for stress and also a common, destructive pattern among college students. Like most students, I didn’t realize how harmful this lifestyle had become. I often craved late night fast food and was always thinking about what tasty things to fill my face with next.
On the diet, I imagined I would be hollow with hunger. I’ve fasted before, for spiritual reasons. During those few times I consumed nothing but water—thus, the hollow. Yet, after the first two days on the Daniel Diet, I felt extraordinarily lighter and more alert. My meals were satisfying me longer. My cravings for snacks subsided almost entirely. I also began waking up before my alarm, popping out of bed, and was actually excited to go to Macroeconomics 101. Weird, I know.
I decided that five days were enough to experience what the Daniel Diet would do to my body. And by this point, I could no longer look at another wilting iceberg lettuce salad. If there’d been fresh spinach, I might have lasted longer. If you’re serious about taking the plunge and making the Daniel Diet a lifestyle, make sure you locate where to find fresh food. Preservatives, refined sugar, and other substitutes in food are not allowed. For help creating actual meals, you can download the E-cookbook, “The Daniel Fast Cookbook, Version II” by Susan Gregory at Daniel-Fast.com.
Here are some helpful lists from Daniel-Fast.com to cut out and bring to the grocery store when selecting fodder for your fridge.
Foods to Eat
Daniel ate only things planted for harvest and drank only water. You may want to keep it simple and eat only vegetables and drink only water, but it’s up to you. If in doubt about certain foods, go to the Daniel Fast blog. Here are some foods you can eat.
Whole Grains: brown rice, oats, rolled oats, oatmeal, barley, corn, popcorn, wheat
Legumes: dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, green beans, green peas, peanuts, etc. Grain legumes include beans, lentils, lupines, peas and peanuts (includes natural peanut butter).
Fruits: apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, berries, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, breadfruit, cantaloupe, cherries, coconuts, cranberries, dates, figs, grapefruit, grapes, grenadine, guava, honeydew melons, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, melons, mulberry, nectarines, oats, olives, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon, etc.
Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, any peppers, any potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, etc.
Seeds: all nuts, natural peanut butter, natural almond butter, sprouts, ground flax, etc.
Liquids: spring water, distilled water, filtered water, 100-percent all-natural fruit or vegetable juices
Foods to Avoid
In essence, you want to avoid the king's food. By application, that means avoiding things that the Jews couldn't eat. Another thing is avoiding foods that only royalty in ancient days could afford. It wasn't until recent history that most Americans could afford to eat meat or poultry. In most of the world today, very few people can afford to eat any kind of meat or processed foods, like the following items. Here are some foods you should avoid.
Meat, because Daniel didn't want to take the chance of eating non-kosher food and/or meat that was offered to idols
White flour and all products using it
White rice, white bread, hominy and pasta
Fried foods
Caffeine
Carbonated beverages, including diet sodas
Wine or any other alcoholic drinks
Foods containing preservatives or additives
Refined sugar (there are substitutes)
High fructose corn syrup
Chemical sugar substitutes
Margarine, shortening, animal fat, high fat products
