Daniel's Diet

I've been looking for ways to describe the importance of healthy eating from a Biblical perspective. The best example always seems to come back to the book of Daniel.

"But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, 'I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.' Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 'Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables* to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.' So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead."  -Daniel 1:8-16 (NIV)

*The word “vegetables” is translated as “pulse” (food grown from seed) in some texts.

In Daniel 10:3, Daniel says he ate "no pleasant or desirable food for three weeks, nor did any meat or wine come into my mouth." Because of this, Daniel's way of eating has come to be translated into a 21-day "Daniel Fast" by many people looking to rejuvenate their bodies, souls, and spirits (http://daniel-fast.com/).  Food choices are limited to fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and oil. The only beverage consumed is water. A modern day translation of the Daniel Fast means that aside from the exclusion of all animal products, there are no processed foods, white flour products, preservatives, additives, sweeteners, flavorings, caffeine, or alcohol allowed.  (More information can be found at: http://danielfast.wordpress.com/daniel-fast-food-list/.)

Essentially, this describes not only a vegan diet, but a non-processed, whole food diet as well.  This is without a doubt a strict way of eating that the average person would have trouble following on a long-term basis, and certainly would not be without some health consequences, such as the iron and Vitamin B12 deficiencies commonly found in vegetarians and vegans who do not properly supplement their diets with these nutrients. However, the larger lesson here, rather than how to go on the same 21-day fast that Daniel partook in, should be that "rich" foods should not be eaten on a regular basis, and a person's diet should primarily be comprised of plant-based foods.  (I once heard the saying, "What's the best diet to be on?" The answer? "The one you can stick with."  It stuck. A person's eating habits should be based on lifestyle changes.  Fasting for religious purposes is one thing, but don't kid yourself: if you want to improve your health long-term, fasting or dieting is not the way to go.   95% of all dieters regain their lost weight and more within 1 to 5 years.  You'll be more effective by making incremental lifestyle changes.)

There is a team of people compiling research being done to support the health benefits of Daniel's way of eating (http://danielfastresearch.com/).  As they point out, Daniel 1:8-14 is in essence "an early example of a controlled scientific experiment, in which one group (Daniel and his three friends) received the 'treatment' (vegetables) and the other group (the king’s young men) received the 'control.' The guard’s subjective assessment of their physical state of health served as the 'statistical analysis,' with the treatment of vegetables and water clearly outperforming the king’s usual diet of fatty meats, rich food, and wine." Further support for this way of eating has been documented by T. Colin Campbell (author of The China Study) and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, both of whom were featured in the films "Forks Over Knives" and "PLANEAT."

Taking small steps towards a plant-based diet is ultimately the best way to go to improve health.  The Meatless Mondays campaign encourages people to go one day a week without consuming any meat, for example.  The authority on vegetarian diets from Registered Dietitians is the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association).