WE ARE IN A CRISIS. AS A NATION, WE ARE IN A REAL MESS WHEN IT COMES to our health and well-being — spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Spiritually, many people are alienated from God or refuse to accept Jesus as Lord. Emotionally, many of us struggle with issues such as ongoing depression, relational wounds, or self-defeating behaviors. But it is perhaps the physical aspect of this crisis that is most striking. The sad truth is that the vast majority of us fail to adequately care for ourselves. Some are dangerously unhealthy due to a lack of knowledge about how to live a healthy lifestyle. Others know what to do but can’t seem to let go of the sweet, salty, or fatty foods that threaten their health. The overwhelmingly poor state of our physical health is so pervasive, many actually consider it normal to have a lifestyle characterized by inadequate sleep, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy eating habits.
This health crisis has led to an epidemic rise in lifestyle diseases — those that can be prevented or controlled in most circumstances by personal choices — such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The rapid increase in lifestyle diseases is prevalent across populations, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and religious affiliation (or lack thereof). And these conditions have a direct or indirect impact on all of us. First, we are impacted economically by the rising costs of health care and medical insurance. Second and more importantly, we are impacted physically by an impaired quality of life. Even if you don’t suffer from one of these diseases personally, it’s likely someone you care about does. Or perhaps you are living a life free of disease but recognize that your lifestyle choices are not conducive to optimal health. You recognize the need to make changes. In this book, we offer a surprisingly simple solution — one we hope you will consider.
PERSONAL ENCOUNTERS WITH THE DANIEL FAST
In 2007, my coauthor Susan Gregory followed a divine prompting to blog about the Daniel Fast, a plant-based partial fast inspired by the prophet Daniel. To date, her blog (www.daniel-fast.com) has received more than 9 million visits. With so many people interested in learning more, Susan has had the privilege of guiding fasts for tens of thousands of individuals, many of whom have come to know Christ through their experience. Now known as “The Daniel Fast Blogger,” Susan is the author of the best-selling book The Daniel Fast: Feed Your Soul, Strengthen Your Spirit, and Renew Your Body and continues to coach many who want to explore the spiritual benefits of fasting.
I (Rick) first encountered the Daniel Fast a year later, but in a different way. In the fall of 2007 my wife, Chrissy, was pregnant with our second child, and the twenty-week ultrasound revealed that our soon-to-be-born daughter had spina bifida. From the time of Madison’s diagnosis until her birth approximately eighteen weeks later, we learned all we could about the condition. Within her first three days of life, she had two surgeries. The first repaired the spinal defect — an open “sac” on her back that had to be closed to prevent infection and additional damage to her spinal cord. The second placed a flexible tube, called a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, in the left ventricle of her brain. The shunt allowed cerebrospinal fluid to drain into the abdomen, avoiding a buildup of excess fluid and pressure in the brain — a common condition in children and adults with spina bifida.
When Madison was six months old, the shunt stopped working properly and needed to be replaced. She underwent surgery and in the days that followed developed an infection that required hospitalization. She received intravenous antibiotics and after three days was released. On returning home, Chrissy began a twenty-one-day Daniel Fast. She had learned about the fast from a family friend. Her purpose was simple — to pray for our daughter’s health. About a week later, Chrissy took Madison out of the bathtub one night and noticed a one-inch bulge on the side of her neck. We knew from experience and from all of our reading and study what an infected shunt looked like — and this was it.
We quickly called the neurosurgeon, who told us to get to the hospital right away. It was about 7:00 p.m. We put Madison down to sleep in our bedroom while we hurriedly packed and made arrangements for someone to come to the house and stay with our two-year-old son, Evan. At one point, Chrissy looked up from packing her suitcase and said, “How will I ever comply with this fast in the hospital?” We knew from the fourteen days we’d spent in the hospital following Madison’s birth that hospital food was not remotely Daniel Fast compliant. The last thing Chrissy needed was one more complication. She had enough stress caring for a severely ill child. But after thinking about it, Chrissy felt a strong need to continue the fast. She had made the commitment to dedicate herself to the Lord during her twenty-one-day fast, and she would stick to it. Along with clothing and a toothbrush, she packed rice cakes, natural peanut butter, and fruit.
Within an hour, our friend arrived who was to care for Evan, and we were ready to leave. Chrissy went into our bedroom to wake Madison and suddenly called me. I thought something must be wrong and expected the worst. But when I looked at Madison, I saw that the bulge from her shunt was no longer protruding on her neck. No swelling, no discoloration — perfectly and beautifully normal! We called the neurosurgeon, and she suggested we continue to observe Madison’s condition and see how things looked in the morning.
Well, in the morning, Madison looked great, and — praise be to God — she has not had one major health problem since that night, now more than five years ago. In fact, she started walking on her own in the fall of 2010, running and jumping in the summer of 2011, and taking ballet lessons in the fall of 2012! God is powerful and miracles do happen every day.
Some people might consider the issue with the shunt and Chrissy’s resolve to keep her fast a mere coincidence, but we know better. Madison’s healing was the awesome and mighty hand of God at work, abundantly blessing our family! And this is just one of the miracles our family has experienced through fasting.
CLINICAL STUDIES OF THE DANIEL FAST
This initial experience prompted both Chrissy and me to begin 2009 with a Daniel Fast. After completing my first fast, I was impressed not only with how it impacted my spiritual growth but also with the health benefits I experienced. In fact, I was so intrigued that I decided to design a clinical study to investigate the health-specific effects. Not everyone has the option of launching a scientific study, but it was relatively easy for me. As a professor and director of the Cardiorespiratory/Metabolic Lab at the University of Memphis, my ongoing research is focused largely on the cardiovascular and metabolic impact of using nutrition to manage and treat disease. My research team and I conducted the first clinical investigation of the Daniel Fast in the fall of 2009.
Our initial results were more than impressive, demonstrating favorable effects on a variety of health-specific outcomes, including reductions in blood pressure, cholesterol, and markers of systemic inflammation,* as well as an increase in antioxidant capacity† and molecular compounds important for blood vessel health and blood flow. Since that initial work, we have conducted several additional studies, all demonstrating positive outcomes and supporting our initial findings.‡
During my research I became aware of Susan’s work with the Daniel Fast, and I contacted her in 2010 to share our research results. We were both excited about each other’s work, and even in that first conversation we discussed the possibility of coauthoring a book. You are now reading that book. Indeed, God has an interesting way of drawing people together to bring about his plans.
HOW THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU
In this book, we provide spiritual, educational, and health-specific reasons to consider an initial twenty-one-day Daniel Fast. We also offer evidence showing how the Daniel Fast provides health-enhancing effects and why these effects are important — with emphasis on obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and inflammation. We provide tools and tips to help you through the process of adopting a modification of the Daniel Fast as a sustainable lifestyle that we call the Daniel Cure. We give you information on nutrition essentials, a variety of Daniel Fast recipes, and options for modifying the traditional Daniel Fast approach to fit your lifestyle. Finally we provide, as the overarching theme of the book, biblically based guidance to assist you in your quest.
This book is about much more than just information — it’s about understanding that information and putting into practice what you have learned. We encourage you to engage the Daniel Cure in four steps.
1. Carefully and prayerfully read the chapters in part 1, “About the Daniel Cure,” to understand the true power of fasting and prayer. Seriously consider how this plan can favorably impact your life and the lives of those you interact with.
2. Absorb the information presented in part 2, “Taking Control of Your Health,” as well as in the appendixes to assess the current state of your health. What are you doing well? What could you be doing differently? Are there family members or friends who might embark on a lifestyle change with you? Starting this plan with someone (your spouse or other close family member or a friend) may be of great benefit to you. Consider the evidence and then think about how altering your food intake in accordance with the Daniel Cure guidelines may have a profound impact on your overall health and quality of life.
3. Study the material in part 3, “Getting Started,” to understand how you can make the Daniel Cure work in your life. This includes a vitally important planning stage that will help you to start and finish strong.
4. Review part 4, “Meal Planning and Recipes,” to generate ideas for meals and snacks to include in your weekly food plan. Add these to the healthy foods and meals you regularly consume now to generate a realistic and health-enhancing meal plan that you can adhere to.
Once you are familiar with the information, we encourage you to begin your plan with a traditional twenty-one-day Daniel Fast. During your fast, consider using the twenty-one devotions in part 5 to help you meditate on God’s Word and listen for his guidance. You may want to keep a journal to reflect on your spiritual growth, on God’s direction in your life, and on what you are learning about your relationship with food. The twenty-one-day fast is a powerful launching pad for a new way of healthy eating because it helps you to break from old habits while providing both spiritual guidance and nutritional principles to sustain your lifestyle journey. Your basic nutrition knowledge will improve as you read food labels, a necessity so that you know what you are consuming. And you’ll have a better understanding of recipes and food pairings and find out which foods you enjoy most. During the twenty-one-day fast, you can adjust your plan according to your preferences, using the information in part 3 as your guide.
Although our work with the twenty-one-day Daniel Fast provided the impetus for this book, what you now have in your hands is much more than a short-term plan. We encourage you to consider adopting this plan (or a modification) for life.
AN INVITATION TO A LIFESTYLE
We invite you to accept this life-changing plan — the Daniel Cure. Our goal is to provide insight and guidance to lead you through a meaningful experience of a twenty-one-day Daniel Fast and to open the way for you to adopt a whole new approach to food based on its principles. That’s ultimately what the Daniel Cure is — a lifestyle. Why would we encourage you to make such a significant decision? Because we believe it can change your life — in body, soul, and spirit.
Will this be easy? Probably not. But it is doable. Each year, thousands of people successfully adopt a new and healthy lifestyle of optimal nutrition. Simply follow the guidelines presented in this book and seek the Lord’s help every day. Even if you’ve tried many other plans in the past and failed, we invite you to try again. This time is different. This time you will succeed. This time you have a plan that is realistic, a plan that is focused not simply on cutting calories and losing weight but on a physical and spiritual renewal. This time you have God as your guide and as your daily companion. Come to him and embrace his grace for your journey. He will meet you right where you are.
* Inflammation is God’s creative way of helping the body protect itself. With any injury or infection, the body causes inflammation to promote healing. However, long-term inflammation can be a problem. See chapter 8 for more information.
† Antioxidant capacity is the total of all antioxidants working together to help fight off free radicals, to neutralize their damaging effects. In general, a higher antioxidant capacity is preferred.
‡ For more information about our research, read “The Science behind the Daniel Fast” on page 281.