Welcome To The Fast!
What you are…is God’s gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God. Every so often we focus on God’s need for us to “push the pause button” on the noisy world and give attention to our bodies. God provided a means for Jesus to extend His love, goodness, and blessings for abundantly living. We will be focusing of the Daniels Fast which draws attention to the ideals of eating healthy whole foods in abundance and drinking liquids to keep our bodies hydrated. The Daniel Fast diet has been reinterpreted in new-age language in the book Mastering Diabetes. This book is for those individuals healthy without any known diseases and want to stay that way, also for those already challenged by their disease(s) or conditions, and a “master plan” for those experiencing pre-diabetes and diabetes. Some guidelines from this book provides additional structure to the Daniel Fast by identifying low-fat, whole foods, plant-based foods that are more anti-inflammatory to the body as well as identifying foods that are more inflammatory. Inflammation and insulin resistance are the foundation to many aches and pains, diseases, and conditions. This eating plan includes lots of plant foods in their whole, unprocessed form, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, with no saturated or added fats. It does not include animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs.
Objectives
1. Never leave the table hungry. Eat until you are reasonably full. Try to eat three meals daily without skipping breakfast. Snack if needed on healthy food items.
2. Do the best you can with what you have.
3. Diet high with intact or nearly intact whole foods cooked and/or raw form.
4. Eliminate added oils and cheeses but includes oils that exist in all plants. Allows for possible consistent weight loss and better use and absorption of insulin.
5. No added sugars or sweeteners. Use only natural plant sugars included in all plants. Provides opportunity for fewer sugar or glucose spikes in the blood.
6. High fiber foods. Include one (1) tablespoon of flaxseeds or chia seeds daily for omega-3s.
7. Try to eat vegetables with the water intact in the structure of the food.
8. Balance meals with foods containing carbohydrates/vegetables.
9. Obtain protein sources from plants and limited seeds daily; limit nuts because some have a high fat content. Try to use raw nuts when possibly that have been soaked for 6- 8 hour/and dried. Dry roasted nuts have some diminished nutrients.
10. Fruits and vegetables should be included in various forms daily. Emphasis on pairing a whole food carbohydrate of fruit and/vegetables.
11. Use creative skills to evaluate your current recipes, prepare recipe with no added fat and no added sugar.
12. Stock your food supplies to include some basic staples of rice, beans, canned fruits, oatmeal, canned vegetables including frozen items if needed, spices and others desired.
Suggested Food Chart
Eat all you want from the Green Light Food List, modest amount from the Yellow Light List and almost none from Red Light Foods List.
1. Fruits (e.g., bananas, mangoes, oranges
others of your choice)
2. Starchy vegetables (e.g., potatoes of all
kinds, butternut squash, corn fresh, frozen,
or canned, all other root vegetables.)
3. Legumes (e.g., beans, lentils, peas of
all kinds.)
4. Intact whole grains (e.g., brown rice,
quinoa, farro, oatmeal excluding instant
oatmeal, millet, bulgur, barley, buckwheat.)
5. Non-starchy vegetables (e.g., tomatoes,
cucumbers, broccoli.)
6. Leafy green (e.g., lettuce of all kinds,
arugula, spinach, greens)
7. Herbs and spices - all types (fresh or
dried)
8. Mushrooms (e.g., shitake, cremini,
portobello and all kinds)
1. Avocados
2. Nuts and seeds
3. Nut and seed butter
4. Plant-based milk
5. Coconut meat
6. Soy products (e.g.,
Edamame, tofu, tempeh)
7. Olives
8. Pasta alternatives (e.g.,
lentil, bean, brown rice.)
9. Sprouted bread
10. Dried fruits (e.g.,
dates, raisins, dried
apricots).
11. Fermented foods (e.g.,
sauerkraut, kimchi,
coconut kefir).
1. Red Meat
2. White meat
3. Eggs
4. Dairy products of all kinds
5. Oils of all kinds – help reduces omega 6s to omega 3s.
6. Fish and shellfish
7. Baked Goods (Processed goods of all kinds e.g., croissants, muffins, donuts, cookies, cakes, rolls, corn bread.)
8. Sweeteners (e.g., High fructose corn syrup, sorbitol. Maltodextrin)
9. Refined “white” foods (e.g., white pasta, white bread, white sugar, white flour, refined grits, and refined corn.)
10. Coconut products (processed, high-caloric products e.g., yogurt and ice cream; excluding coconut kefir and aminos.)
11. Processed vegan foods (e.g.
Processed veggie burgers, vegan cheeses, nut milk ice creams.)
Red Light Foods
Minimally processed or whole plant foods
containing a higher fat content
Animal products and highly processed
foods
Unprocessed whole plant foods naturally low in fat,
can be fresh, frozen, or canned without added
sugar
Green Light Foods
Yellow Light Foods
RECIPES
Suggested Beverage Chart
Drink all you want from the Green Light List, modest amount from the Yellow Light List and almost none from Red Light List.
1. Water
2. Vinegars -naturally brewed, exclude distilled vinegars.
3. Tomato Juice
4. Lemon or lime juice
5. Homemade vegetable broth (no added salt)
6. Green Teas
7. Herbal Teas – true herbal teas are generally caffeine -free.
8. Carbonated Water – includes seltzer water, club soda, sparkling mineral
water, tonic water, as much as you like. Exclude waters with natural flavors
or sweeteners.
9. Green Juices from leafy green combinations such as cucumber, celery
lettuce, and tomato.
10. Ginger Water made from powdered or fresh
ginger.
1. Coconut water
2. Plant Based Milks such as almond, cashew, coconut, hemp, oat, rice, soy, and quinoa milk.
3. Starch-Based vegetable juices such as carrots,
4. Kombucha – known for its health benefits but include in yellow group
because of residual sugars from fermentation.
5. Fresh Fruit Juices – fresh-squeezed orange juice or other fruit juices.
1. Alcohol – all types
2. Sodas – all types because of high sugar or sweetener content.
3. Sweetened Tea, Energy Drinks, and
Sports Drinks – high in added sugars
and additives.
4. Cocoa Drinks – high in added sugar
and dairy content.
Red Light Drinks
Green Light Drinks
Yellow Light Drinks
Challenges To Fasting
Tips
The following are a few examples of resistance to fasting from certain foods.
1. Traumas from food scarcity or insecurity.
2. Never learned to cook meals.
3. Unwilling to cook meals at home.
4. Eating at fast food and restaurants is too convenient and it provided fellowship.
5. Endless variety of locations to eat out.
6. Trauma experiences from personal childhood and adulthood.
7. Traumas from other peoples’ experiences impact your way of thinking on a regular
basis.
8. Food additions that are known and unknown: example, foods containing sugars, oils,
salt, fried foods, food additives, food favors, chips, sodas, etc.
9. Feeling unsafe of the possibility of little to no food.
10. Resistance due to various historical and generational traumas of oppressions.
11. Lack of education and training for proper food combining.
12. Lack of time for food preparation and shopping.
13. Financially able to eat out at one’s own discretion.
14. Have patterns of overeating.
15. Name your own reason(s)____________________.
1. Use your current recipes to see how to prepare without oils or added sugar.
2. Sauté - Use water, vegetable broth instead of oil to sauté to steam cook vegetables.
3. Prepare cut vegetables on weekends or other convenient times.
4. Freeze cut onion, bell peppers for quick preparation or other desired vegetables.
5. Watch videos and collect recipes.
6. Locate the sugar/ sweeteners to reduce from your recipes.
7. Create simple meals.