Researchers set out to replicate the “Daniel Fast”—the biblical nutrition trial outlined in Daniel 1:8-16.
Tightening the Bible Belt
Epidemiological studies, particularly those like EPIC, following such large populations, can offer tremendous insight into critical public health questions— such as what we should eat, what we shouldn’t eat, to minimize our risk of falling prey to the epidemics of chronic disease currently plaguing the world. But the gold standard is the interventional study, where you put people on a certain diet, and track what happens.
It’s easy to get people to make little changes—especially if you pay them. Getting people to add grape juice to their daily diet, or some nuts, as we’ve seen, is a piece of cake—especially if that’s what you’re trying to get people to eat!
But, increasingly, there’s building evidence that to achieve big changes in our health, we need to achieve big changes in our diet. Moderation kills. Like with cholesterol, right? You want to lower your risk? Sure, you can tweak. But, if you want to eliminate your risk, or reverse the disease, you really have to take healthy eating seriously.
But, how are you going to get people to commit to a healthy diet? Tell them the Bible told them to.
Chapter 1, verses 8-16, of the prophet Daniel, best known for his lion’s den, rather than his budding role as nutritional scientist. He resolved not to defile himself with the king’s meat. The official said, “No way.” And so he told the guard, “Look, put it to the test. Round up some test subjects, and put them on a plant-based diet. See how they do.” (In the King James version they use the word “vegetables,” but the original Hebrew—hazayroeem—can translate into a broader definition.)
And, what do you know? They looked healthier and better nourished than whatever the king used to be feeding them. And so, Daniel got his veggies.
2,700 years later, researchers at the University of Memphis decided it was time to try to replicate the study. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s conclusion.
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.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Esselstyn CB Jr. Resolving the Coronary Artery Disease Epidemic Through Plant-Based Nutrition. Prev Cardiol. 2001 Autumn;4(4):171-177.
- Rosell M, Appleby P, Spencer E, Key T. Weight gain over 5 years in 21,966 meat-eating, fish-eating, vegetarian, and vegan men and women in EPIC-Oxford. Int J Obes (Lond). 2006 Sep;30(9):1389-96.
- Brennan AM, Sweeney LL, Liu X, Mantzoros CS. Walnut consumption increases satiation but has no effect on insulin resistance or the metabolic profile over a 4-day period. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Jun;18(6):1176-82.
- Hollis JH, Houchins JA, Blumberg JB, Mattes RD. Effects of concord grape juice on appetite, diet, body weight, lipid profile, and antioxidant status of adults. J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Oct;28(5):574-82.
- Gibson TM, Ferrucci LM, Tangrea JA, Schatzkin A. Epidemiological and clinical studies of nutrition. Semin Oncol. 2010 Jun;37(3):282-96.
- Oku T, Nakamura M, Takasugi A, Hashiguchi-Ishiguro M, Tanabe K, Nakamura S. Effects of cake made from whole soy powder on postprandial blood glucose and insulin levels in human subjects. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009;60 Suppl 4:224-31.
- Sarter B, Campbell TC, Fuhrman J. Effect of a high nutrient density diet on long-term weight loss: a retrospective chart review. Altern Ther Health Med. 2008 May-Jun;14(3):48-53.
- 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.
Images thanks to Nickolay, and translation help from my favorite biblical Hebrew scholar, Laura Greger (my mom! :).
Epidemiological studies, particularly those like EPIC, following such large populations, can offer tremendous insight into critical public health questions— such as what we should eat, what we shouldn’t eat, to minimize our risk of falling prey to the epidemics of chronic disease currently plaguing the world. But the gold standard is the interventional study, where you put people on a certain diet, and track what happens.
It’s easy to get people to make little changes—especially if you pay them. Getting people to add grape juice to their daily diet, or some nuts, as we’ve seen, is a piece of cake—especially if that’s what you’re trying to get people to eat!
But, increasingly, there’s building evidence that to achieve big changes in our health, we need to achieve big changes in our diet. Moderation kills. Like with cholesterol, right? You want to lower your risk? Sure, you can tweak. But, if you want to eliminate your risk, or reverse the disease, you really have to take healthy eating seriously.
But, how are you going to get people to commit to a healthy diet? Tell them the Bible told them to.
Chapter 1, verses 8-16, of the prophet Daniel, best known for his lion’s den, rather than his budding role as nutritional scientist. He resolved not to defile himself with the king’s meat. The official said, “No way.” And so he told the guard, “Look, put it to the test. Round up some test subjects, and put them on a plant-based diet. See how they do.” (In the King James version they use the word “vegetables,” but the original Hebrew—hazayroeem—can translate into a broader definition.)
And, what do you know? They looked healthier and better nourished than whatever the king used to be feeding them. And so, Daniel got his veggies.
2,700 years later, researchers at the University of Memphis decided it was time to try to replicate the study. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s conclusion.
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.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Esselstyn CB Jr. Resolving the Coronary Artery Disease Epidemic Through Plant-Based Nutrition. Prev Cardiol. 2001 Autumn;4(4):171-177.
- Rosell M, Appleby P, Spencer E, Key T. Weight gain over 5 years in 21,966 meat-eating, fish-eating, vegetarian, and vegan men and women in EPIC-Oxford. Int J Obes (Lond). 2006 Sep;30(9):1389-96.
- Brennan AM, Sweeney LL, Liu X, Mantzoros CS. Walnut consumption increases satiation but has no effect on insulin resistance or the metabolic profile over a 4-day period. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Jun;18(6):1176-82.
- Hollis JH, Houchins JA, Blumberg JB, Mattes RD. Effects of concord grape juice on appetite, diet, body weight, lipid profile, and antioxidant status of adults. J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Oct;28(5):574-82.
- Gibson TM, Ferrucci LM, Tangrea JA, Schatzkin A. Epidemiological and clinical studies of nutrition. Semin Oncol. 2010 Jun;37(3):282-96.
- Oku T, Nakamura M, Takasugi A, Hashiguchi-Ishiguro M, Tanabe K, Nakamura S. Effects of cake made from whole soy powder on postprandial blood glucose and insulin levels in human subjects. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009;60 Suppl 4:224-31.
- Sarter B, Campbell TC, Fuhrman J. Effect of a high nutrient density diet on long-term weight loss: a retrospective chart review. Altern Ther Health Med. 2008 May-Jun;14(3):48-53.
- 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.
Images thanks to Nickolay, and translation help from my favorite biblical Hebrew scholar, Laura Greger (my mom! :).
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Title
Tightening the Bible Belt
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
The EPIC study mentioned in the beginning is a reference to Meat and Weight Gain in the PANACEA Study. The grape juice study is from Fat Burning Via Flavonoids, and the nut study from Nuts and Obesity: The Weight of Evidence. For more on the “moderation kills” concept, check out Heart Attacks and Cholesterol: Dying Under Normal Circumstances, and Trans Fat, Saturated Fat, and Cholesterol: Tolerable Upper Intake of Zero. Stay tuned for Monday’s Biblical Daniel Fast Put to the Test.
For more context, also check out my associated blog post, Biblical Daniel Fast Tested.
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