The Daniel Fast

Are you doing it to lose weight or for religious reasons? I've had a couple of friends do it to get closer to God. They were miserable throughout the whole fast and ate all of the off limit foods their first day off of the fast. They lost a bit of weight, but gained it back.

My old church did it for Lent last year and is doing a modified version this year. You need a good relationship with God and a support system is the feedback I received from friends who did the fast. Good luck!

I did the Daniel Fast a few years back. I lost 16 pounds in 21 days. It was hard but I would not say I was miserable because I was determined at the time and I am also a very picky eater so there are a lot of veggies I don't like. The fact that I am picky made it hard to have variety but if you like vegetables and fruits then you should do fine. You can also eat beans I believe. There is a website...think it's danielfast.com or something and they have some recipes I think.

Anyhow, I did lose weight but I also gained it back and then some. The problem with doing something like this temporarily is that you will always gain it back. Unfortunately it's about making a change in lifestyle in order to keep it off.

Fads don't work even with a "higher" power apparently helping you. Unless you plan to eat that way the rest of your life, then there's no need to do it. And if someone does do this as a way of life, they'll probably get closer to their god much faster than they think.


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Other people have addressed the spiritual side. I'll address it from a non-spiritual side. The daniel fast "menu" doesn't have to be a "fad" diet. It depends on your intentions. I don't remember all the rules (and...they vary. not the scriptural part, but the way churches's modify it for their flock), but the staple version is essentially a whole foods, vegan diet, with no processed food. At all. That means diet pepsi. And coffee.

So. Will you lose some weight on a 100% natural, entirely plant food diet for 30 days? Yes. But...if going vegan is in your future, there are more practical ways to build up to it and go about it. Even vegans use "commercial" crutches and short-cuts from time to time. Remember, the best diet is the one you can stick too, and build better and better habits upon. The process of losing weight is *your* time to figure out what this means for you. Don't short-change yourself.

That being said, many people like various "detoxing" diets. Myself included (although, for much less than 30 days! Try 7!) Because they give you time for reflection about what you're putting in your body. Time for changing your taste buds. And time to change your shopping, and cooking habits...things that also have to change along with your eating habits. They can be a wonderful beginning. If that is your intention. If your intention is to "lose weight quick", then you probably shouldn't try any such diet. Because, much like the Daniel Fast, they may or may not give you any "faster" weight loss than any other method. Sometimes all you get is the benefit of reflection, and better habits. Which is a fine outcome with the right intention.

There's no such thing as healthy quick weight loss that lasts - In my opinion, the Daniel fast is just another fad diet marketed to Christians...I'm sure it has some good points, like most other fad diets, but at the end of the day it's just another fad diet.

I was not aware that the Daniel fast or any other FAST was actually "marketed" to Christians as a diet. If a Christian (or anyone for that matter) is using this as guidelines for a weight loss tool, then it is not a fast. A religious fast has nothing to do with losing weight. Last time my church did a fast as a group, they give the option of chosing what you are fasting from and it's not always food. The Daniel fast is popular among Christians because it is in the bible (there are 2 listed in the book of Daniel) and it helps to decide on what to fast from if food is what you are considering cutting.

I'm currently on a modified version but staying on this for the rest of my life (or even longer than the 3 weeks that I am on it) would be impossible for me considering it's very hard to buy products that don't contain ANY refined or artificial sugar or dairy. I just went shopping for 1 week's worth of food and I feel like I'm going to get bored pretty fast & possibly run out before the week is up - but I am depending on my spiritual focus to take away the cravings. Anyone who can permanently stick to this has A LOT of will power and not to mention, if all you eat is mainly fruits and veggies all the time, your stomach is not going to make you happy -- by this, I mean cramp wise.

I disagree that this is a fad diet and it should not be used as such. It's basically a very limited vegan diet that you need to supplement for lost vitamins and minerals that you would normally get from the foods you are eliminating.

I think if you look at it as a kick start or detox time it's probably not bad.

I think also that the main purpose of it is as a type of fast where you spend more time focusing on God and removing bad habits from your life and eating.

The Bible doesn't tell us that we have to do this fast. My understanding of why Daniel did this was because the king's food didn't follow Jewish dietary laws and he would rather just eat the vegetables and water rather than violate God's law.

He knew they would feel very ill eating that way just like I feel horrible when I eat carbs or sweets after I've been off of them for weeks......

Hey lauren39421, did you end up trying the Daniels Diet? How did it go? My husband and I have been on it for 3 weeks now. I am surprised with how easy it has been given the fact that I thought I could never go without meat, dairy, pasta ..... or alcohol. And am even more surprised that my husband has been enjoying it as well being he is a meat and potatoes kind of guy -he commented at how he has more stamina, and has lost 15 lbs. I have lost 5. (They say men lose more on this.) I really don't care to lose fast, I did it cause I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. It's nice to wake up refreshed, and not want to sleep half the day away. I did not realize that what I was eating before was weighing me down so heavily.