The Fast: What We Are and Aren't Eating

This is from Daniel 1:12-16 - "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 [Daniel and his three buddies] in accordance with what you see...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."

The word "vegetables" is used here, but it originally read "pulse," which means anything that grows from a seed. So this fast includes anything in that genre, and nothing but water to drink. 

This includes:

All Fruits

All Vegetables

All Whole Grains

All Nuts and Seeds

All Legumes

All Quality Oils from Plants


This excludes:

All Meat and Animal Products (that means eggs)

All Dairy

All Sweeteners - even if they come from plants (that means honey, maple syrup, molassas, cane juice, stevia, and any sugar deriviative or synthetic sweetener). The only sweet items allowed are actual whole pieces of fruit.

Leavened Bread

Anything Refined or Processed (this is sometimes called "enriched" food on labels)

Anything Deep Fried

All Solid Fats (shortening, margerine, Earth Balance, etc.)

Any Beverage That Isn't Water (including coffee, tea, and water flavored in any way)