Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends.
The Daniel Plan is a healthy lifestyle program framed around abundance, not deprivation. You will enjoy eating delicious whole foods; food grown on a plant, not man-made products created in a plant. Start by bringing in the good, and with every healthy choice, you will begin to feel better. Focus on all the amazing food you can enjoy.
The Essentials: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends. The program offers an innovative approach to achieving a healthy lifestyle where people get better together by optimizing their health in each of these life areas. Each essential supports and influences the others, offering a practical step-by-step approach for anyone to follow.
In the book of Daniel chapter one we read the account of four young men of God—Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—who refused to eat the king’s delicacies (junk food).
They were avoiding the king’s foods because in doing so they would defile themselves according to God’s commandments as the meats served were likely detestable—sacrificed to idols, strangled, containing fatty portions, and with blood left in them. Daniel requested that they only be given basically vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds and water.
One of the most important aspects of Daniel’s diet was not just what he ate, but why he ate it. He did it to honor God. I believe that is the main reason he saw supernatural results and favor in his life.
The Daniel Plan is based on the prophet Daniel’s dietary and spiritual experiences as recorded in the Book of Daniel in the Bible. It’s a partial fast that focuses very heavily on vegetables and other healthy whole foods, but leaves out any animal sources of protein.
The Basics
Your plate should be full of nutrient-dense foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds. Vegetables and Fruits / Sprouted Nuts / Seeds / Grains / Glasses of spring, distilled, filtered Water.
Daniel Plan Food List:
Here is the Daniel Plan food list of what you are allowed to eat:
Beverages
- Water only — it must be purified/filtered; spring or distilled water is best
- Homemade almond milk, coconut water, coconut kefir and vegetable juice
Vegetables (should form the basis of the diet)
- Fresh or cooked
- May be frozen and cooked but not canned
Fruits (consume in moderation 1–3 servings daily)
- Fresh and cooked
- Ideally low glycemic index fruits like stone fruits, apples, berries, cherries and citrus fruits
- May be dried but should not contains sulfites, added oils or sweeteners
- May be frozen but not canned
Whole grains (consume in moderation and ideally sprouted)
- Brown rice, oats quinoa, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, barley cooked in water
Beans & Legumes (consume in moderation)
- Dried and cooked in water
- May be consumed from can as long as no salt or other additives are contained, and the only ingredients are beans and water
Nuts & Seeds (sprouted are best)
- Raw, sprouted or dry roasted with no salt added
Here is a list of some common foods you can consume while following a Daniel plan:
Vegetables (preferably organic and fresh or frozen)
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Brussel sprouts
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Collard greens
- Corn
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Green beans
- Kale
- Leeks
- Lettuce
- Mushrooms
- Mustard greens
- Okra
- Onions
- Peppers
- Potatoes
- Radishes
- Rutabagas
- Scallions
- Spinach
- Sprouts
- Squash
- Sweet potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Turnips
- Yams
- Zucchini
Fruits (preferably organic and fresh or frozen)
- Apples
- Apricots
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cantaloupe
- Cherries
- Coconuts
- Cranberries
- Dates
- Figs
- Grapefruit
- Grapes
- Guava
- Honeydew melons
- Kiwi
- Lemons
- Limes
- Mangoes
- Melons
- Nectarines
- Oranges
- Papayas
- Peaches
- Pears
- Pineapples
- Plums
- Prunes
- Raisins
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Tangerines
- Watermelon
Legumes (preferably organic)
- Black beans
- Black-eyed peas
- Garbanzo beans
- Kidney beans
- Lentils
- Mung beans
- Pinto beans
- Split peas
- Nuts & Seeds (preferably organic, raw, unsalted and soaked/sprouted)
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Chia seeds
- Flaxseeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Walnuts
Whole Grains (preferable organic)
- Amaranth
- Barley
- Brown rice
- Millet
- Quinoa
- Oats (groats soaked)
Liquids
- Water (spring, distilled, filtered)
- Vegetable juice (fresh pressed)
- Coconut milk
- Coconut kefir
- Almond milk
On the Daniel Plan/Fast, you should not consume any of the other foods or beverages listed below. During the Daniel Plan, you may find some foods may be bland. Consider only using a bit of sea salt when necessary in flavoring dishes.
Here are foods you want to refrain from eating:
- Iodized salt
- Sweeteners
- Meat
- Dairy products
- Bread, pasta, flour, crackers (unless made from sprouted ancient grains)
- Cookies and other baked goods
- Oils
- Juices
- Coffee
- Energy drinks
- Gum
- Mints
- Candy
- Spend some quiet time with God each day and read passages of scripture from the Bible.
- I also suggest journaling during your plan/fast so that you can write down what you believe God is directing you in.
- Spend some private time thinking about your goals and start to take action.
*Things to think about before getting started:
One thing important to note is if you are pregnant or a nursing mother or are on a special diet of any sort for health reasons, then you should consider not going on the Daniel Plan/Fast without the approval of your primary healthcare professional.
*Fasting is abstaining from something like food, drink or entertainment for a period of time to create some type of benefit in body, mind or spirit. If you are looking for a healing breakthrough in body, mind and/or spirit, then you may consider doing the Daniel Plan.