Flashback Friday: Biblical Daniel Fast Put to the Test

Evidently not completely satisfied with the scientific rigor of the dietary trial presented in Daniel 1: 8 through 16, researchers in Tennessee published two papers recently, detailing a series of parallel experiments on a 21-day all-you-can-eat diet “devoid of animal products and preservatives, and inclusive of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.” In other words, “food intake in accordance with a stringent vegan diet.”

The purpose of the studies was to determine the effect of a 21-day Daniel Fast on both biomarkers of antioxidant status and oxidative stress, as well as the efficacy of the Daniel Fast to improve markers of the lion’s den of metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk.

No surprise that a diet composed of whole plant foods improves several risk factors for metabolic and cardiovascular disease, as well as an improvement in selected biomarkers of antioxidant status and oxidative stress—including metabolites of nitric oxide, which I’ve talked about before. Participants experienced meaningful improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, insulin levels, insulin resistance, and C-reactive protein; were all lowered to a clinically meaningful extent.

And this was in a young healthy population; imagine the miracles it could do for people who are really hurting. “This study extends the findings of other plant-based diets by documenting the impact of a strict vegan diet on multiple measures of oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity.”

Of course, if, instead of a biblical Daniel Fast, they had called it a “strict vegan diet,” they would probably not have gotten a compliance rate of 98.7%, especially in Tennessee.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Kerry Skinner.

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• Trepanowski JF, Bloomer RJ. The impact of religious fasting on human health. Nutr J. 2010 Nov 22;9:57.
• Bloomer RJ, Kabir MM, Canale RE, Trepanowski JF, Marshall KE, Farney TM, Hammond KG. Effect of a 21 day Daniel Fast on metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors in men and women. Lipids Health Dis. 2010 Sep 3;9:94.
• Bloomer RJ, Kabir MM, Trepanowski JF, Canale RE, Farney TM. A 21 day Daniel Fast improves selected biomarkers of antioxidant status and oxidative stress in men and women. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2011 Mar 18;8:17.

Image thanks to swordofthespirit.net