Foods to Avoid

All meat product including sea food, beef and chicken broths etc
Imitation meat products
Dairy products such as milk, cheese, sour cream, etc
All egg products
Grains that have been bleached and processed such as white flour and all products containing it
White sugar and all products containing it
White rice
Artificial Sweeteners (Splenda® (sucralose), NutraSweet® (aspartame), Sweet’N Low® (saccharine), etc.)
Carbonated beverages (soda, soft drinks, carbonated flavored water, etc)
Foods containing additives, chemicals and dyes
Soy sauce (fermented)
Artificial anything including flavors and colors
Hydrogenated oils (margarine, shortening and all products containing it)
Fried food should be avoided (most fried foods are fried in Hydrogenated oil)
Corn Syrup (high fructose corn syrup)
Alcohol - Daniel didn’t drink the king’s wine
Vinegar - made by a fermentation process like wine
Black Tea- fully fermented
Baking powder - it is baking soda (natural) and an acid like cream of tartar mixed together. Cream of tartar is a byproduct of wine making
Caffeine*
Yeast*

*Foods for personal conviction.

Foods to Enjoy

All fruits and vegetables- fresh, frozen dried or canned
All grains, beans, legumes, that have not been bleached stripped and processed. Grains should be whole. Such as whole brown rice, whole wheat flour etc
All nuts
All herbs and seasonings and spices -salt is fine. Try and use natural herbs and seasoning
Baking soda- all natural
Agave Nectar- this is great! It is all natural and has a consistency similar to honey… just a little thinner. PLUS- the glycemic index of Agave nectar is VERY low.
Stevia
Bragg Liquid Aminos® (natural alternative to soy sauce)
Water, naturally decaffeinated tea, fruit and vegetable juices
Cold pressed oils such as olive oil, unprocessed coconut, peanut, sesame, walnut, almond, and mustard seed oil
Soy Milk (read the nutritional label)
Tofu (whole soy beans and water)
Pasta (whole-grain flour and water) NO EGGS or WHITE flour
Honey*
Maple syrup*
Natural, raw sugar cane*

*Foods for personal conviction.

Foods for Personal Conviction

Yeast
Yeast is not an animal product nor is it a man made chemical. In baking and cooking yeast is used as a leavening agent, where it converts the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide. This causes the dough to expand or rise as the carbon dioxide forms pockets or bubbles. When the dough is baked it “sets” and the pockets remain, giving the baked product a soft and spongy texture. Because of the fermentation involved, many people will choose to avoid yeast during a Daniel Fast.

Caffeine
Caffeine is an addictive substance. Therefore, it can become a weight in the walk of a Christian. It may be a good idea to detoxify your body by abstaining. However, I am aware of people with medical conditions that fight EXTREME fatigue. In such instances, caffeine is often used for its medicinal purposes to help energize the body. If you choose to use caffeine during a Daniel Fast you should still abstain from cow’s milk, cream, non-dairy creamer, sugar, artificial sweeteners and syrups.

Grapes, Raisins, or Grape juice
Some people interpret “wine” in the Bible as fresh grape juice. But I have a hard time believing Noah got naked on fresh grape juice; I am pretty sure it was fermented. The reason Daniel didn’t want to drink the king’s wine was because it was offered to idols. If we follow this train of thought, we will be defining the Daniel Fast as a Kosher diet (eating all foods that follow Old Testament dietary law). In essence, this is what Daniel was trying to comply with. In contrast, however, this is not the intention of the modified fast. As I mentioned before, this isn’t the exact diet Daniel ate but based on what he requested to eat. Pulse. Food grown from a seed. Daniel didn’t want to eat the king’s meat or drink the king’s wine. Therefore, this fast avoids all animal products, fermented substances, and allows all things grown from the ground. In my opinion, grapes, raisins and unfermented grape juice are fine.

Natural Sweeteners
Honey, maple syrup and unprocessed, unbleached sugar cane
Honey is made by bees out of flower nectar. It is not really considered vegan, because it is a product of a living being. The decision to allow honey on your Daniel fast is between you and God.

Maple syrup
Maple syrup is made from the sap of maple trees. It is then boiled down until enough water has evaporated to make syrup. Maple syrup is all natural, it is not a product of an animal and it has not been tainted by man with chemicals. Therefore, I think using Maple syrup is ok on the Daniel fast. However, some people will avoid all sugar/sweets on the fast.

Raw cane sugar
Sugar cane is grown from a seed. However, it goes through a considerable amount of processing. Refined white sugar is definitely not Daniel Fast friendly. True raw sugar is better than white, refined sugar. If you choose to allow it on your fast, use it sparingly.

Judge for Yourself
Two questions you can use as a general rule of thumb: Did it grow from a seed? Has man polluted it? Has it been fermented If you can answer these questions with any degree of certainty then you can be reasonably assured that your food choices are in line with The Daniel Fast.