The Daniel Fast

Apples Yes

All fruit fits the fast. Fresh, frozen or dried.

Bananas Yes

All fruit fits the fast.

Berries Yes

Fresh or frozen, nothing added.

Dates Yes

The fast's sweetener. Whole fruit, with nothing taken out and nothing added.

Figs Yes

One of the seven species, and sweet enough to stand in for sugar.

Oranges and citrus Yes

All fruit fits the fast.

Grapes Yes

The fruit fits. What is fermented from it does not.

Instead Raisins, or grapes on their own.

Avocado Yes

A fruit, and one of the few that brings its own fat.

Melon Yes

All fruit fits the fast.

Mango Yes

All fruit fits the fast.

Olives Yes

A fruit, and one of the oldest in Scripture. Check the tin holds nothing beyond olives, water and salt.

Raisins Yes

Dried grapes, nothing added.

Dried fruit Not sure

Fine on its own. Many packs add sugar or an oil glaze, and dried mango and cranberry almost always do.

Instead Dates, figs or raisins with one ingredient on the label.

Canned fruit Not sure

Usually packed in syrup, which is added sugar by another name.

Instead Fruit tinned in its own juice or in water.

Applesauce Not sure

Unsweetened applesauce is apples. The ordinary kind is apples and sugar.

Fruit juice No

The fast limits drinks to water. Juice also leaves behind the fibre that makes fruit fruit.

Instead Whole fruit, and water to drink.

Smoothies Not sure

Whole fruit blended with water is still whole fruit. Yoghurt, juice or a spoon of honey puts it outside the fast.

All fresh vegetables Yes

This is the heart of the fast. Daniel asked for vegetables and water.

Potatoes Yes

A potato is a vegetable. Baked, boiled or roasted, not fried.

Sweet potatoes Yes

All vegetables fit the fast.

Corn Yes

Whole corn, on the cob or frozen off it.

Mushrooms Yes

All vegetables fit the fast.

Frozen vegetables Yes

Frozen plain, nothing added. Every bit as good as fresh, and often fresher.

Canned vegetables Not sure

Fine when the tin holds vegetables, water and salt. Sugar turns up in tinned corn, peas and tomatoes more often than you would think.

Pickles Not sure

Vinegar and salt fit. Sugar is common in the jar, and sweet pickles are mostly sugar.

Sauerkraut Not sure

Cabbage and salt fit. Some who set aside everything fermented leave it out.

Seaweed Yes

A plant, plainly dried. Check for sugar in seasoned sheets.

French fries No

Deep-fried, and the fast sets fried food aside.

Instead Potato wedges roasted in olive oil.

Crisps and potato chips No

Fried, salted and usually flavoured with milk powder or yeast extract.

Brown rice Yes

A whole grain, with the bran still on it.

White rice No

Refined. The fast asks for the whole grain.

Instead Brown rice, or barley.

Oats Yes

Rolled or steel-cut, cooked with water.

Instant oat sachets No

The flavoured sachets are sweetened, most of them heavily.

Instead Plain oats with fruit stirred through.

Quinoa Yes

A whole seed, cooked like a grain.

Barley Yes

A whole grain, and one of the seven species.

Millet Yes

A whole grain. It is in the bread of Ezekiel 4:9.

Spelt Yes

A whole grain, and also in Ezekiel's bread.

Buckwheat Yes

A whole seed, in spite of the name.

Bulgur and farro Yes

Whole wheat, cracked or hulled.

Whole wheat flour Yes

The whole grain, ground. What you do with it matters more: no yeast.

White flour No

Refined. Also sold as plain, all-purpose, enriched or bleached flour.

Instead Whole wheat or whole grain flour.

Whole grain pasta Yes

Whole grain pasta fits. Check it says whole, not just wheat.

White pasta No

Refined semolina.

Instead Whole grain pasta, or brown rice.

Couscous No

Refined semolina, unless the box says whole wheat.

Bread No

Ordinary bread is leavened, and usually refined and sweetened as well.

Instead Unleavened whole-grain flatbread, made without yeast or sugar.

Sourdough No

Still leavened, raised by a starter instead of packet yeast.

Pita and bagels No

Leavened, and made from refined flour.

Flatbread Not sure

Unleavened and whole grain fits. Shop-bought flatbread is usually neither.

Instead Flatbread you mix yourself: whole wheat flour, water, oil, salt.

Tortillas Not sure

Whole corn tortillas usually fit. Flour tortillas are refined, and many carry lard or a raising agent.

Crackers Not sure

A few are whole grain and unleavened. Most carry yeast, sugar or refined flour.

Rice cakes Yes

Plain brown rice cakes, with nothing on them.

Popcorn Yes

Air-popped whole corn is a whole grain. Butter, sugar coating and cinema popcorn are not.

Granola No

Almost always held together with honey, syrup or sugar.

Breakfast cereal No

Refined and sweetened, nearly without exception.

Instead Oats with fruit.

Cake, biscuits and pastries No

Sugar, refined flour and a raising agent, all three at once.

Lentils Yes

The pulse of Daniel 1, and the stew of Genesis 25.

Chickpeas Yes

All legumes fit the fast.

Black, kidney and pinto beans Yes

All legumes fit the fast.

Split peas Yes

All legumes fit the fast.

Canned beans Yes

Rinse them. Check the tin for added sugar, which turns up in baked beans especially.

Edamame Yes

A green soybean, plainly cooked.

Almonds, walnuts and cashews Yes

Unsalted and unroasted in oil is the plainest form.

Peanuts Yes

A legume, and it fits.

Sunflower and pumpkin seeds Yes

All seeds fit the fast.

Chia, flax and sesame Yes

All seeds fit the fast.

Tahini Yes

Ground sesame, nothing else in a good jar.

Peanut butter Not sure

Peanuts and salt fits. Most jars add sugar and hardened oil.

Instead A jar whose label reads peanuts, or peanuts and salt.

Hummus Yes

Chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon and garlic. Shop tubs sometimes add more than that.

Tofu Not sure

Plant protein, and also a processed food. Some keep it through the fast, some set it aside. That one is yours to decide.

Tempeh Not sure

Whole soybeans, fermented. Nearer to whole than tofu, and still a judgement call.

Seitan Not sure

Wheat gluten with everything else washed out. Closer to refined than to whole.

Protein powder Not sure

Whey is dairy. Plant powders are usually sweetened, often with stevia or sucralose.

Instead Lentils, beans, nuts and seeds.

Water Yes

The only drink Daniel asked for. Spring, filtered or from the tap.

Sparkling water Yes

Plain carbonated water is still water. Flavoured, sweetened or tonic is not.

Coffee No

The fast limits drinks to water. Expect a few days of adjustment if you drink it daily.

Decaf coffee No

Still coffee. On this fast the cup itself is what is set aside, not only the caffeine.

Tea and green tea No

Caffeine, and a drink other than water.

Herbal tea Not sure

No caffeine, but the fast asks for water only. Many keep a plain herbal infusion; others hold the line at water. Yours to decide.

Soda and diet soda No

Sweetened, caffeinated, or both.

Energy drinks No

Caffeine and sweetener in one tin.

Alcohol, beer and wine No

Daniel wrote that no wine touched his lips for three weeks.

Kombucha No

Sweetened to ferment, and lightly alcoholic when it is done.

Almond and oat milk Not sure

Unsweetened plant milk poured on oats or into a pan is widely kept. As a drink in its own right it sits outside water only.

Instead Check the carton for sugar, syrup and added flavour.

Coconut milk Yes

The tinned kind, for cooking. Check for added sugar in the carton kind.

Coconut water Not sure

Water from a fruit with nothing added. Some keep it, some hold to plain water.

Milk No

Dairy, and the fast leaves dairy out entirely.

Sugar No

In every form: cane, brown, coconut, syrup, dextrose, fructose.

Honey No

Most versions of the fast exclude every sweetener, honey included.

Instead Dates, or date paste stirred in.

Maple syrup No

A sweetener, whatever tree it came from.

Agave and molasses No

Sweeteners.

Stevia No

A sweetener is a sweetener, whether or not it carries calories.

Artificial sweeteners No

Sucralose, aspartame, saccharin and the sugar alcohols all count.

Date paste Yes

Whole dates, blended with a little warm water. This is how the fast sweetens things.

Chocolate No

Sugar, and usually milk with it.

Cocoa powder Not sure

Unsweetened cocoa is a ground bean, not a sweetener. Whether it belongs on a fast is a fair question to sit with.

Sweets and candy No

Sugar, and often gelatin.

Beef, pork and lamb No

Daniel ate no choice food and no meat for three full weeks.

Chicken and turkey No

The fast leaves all meat out, poultry included.

Bacon, ham and deli meat No

Meat, cured and processed.

Fish and seafood No

Daniel's fast left meat out entirely, fish along with it.

Eggs No

The fast leaves eggs out with the dairy.

Cheese, butter and yoghurt No

Dairy, all of it.

Instead Olive oil in place of butter.

Ghee No

Clarified butter is still butter.

Ice cream No

Dairy and sugar together.

Gelatin No

Boiled from animal bone and hide. It hides in sweets, some yoghurts and a few juices.

Chicken and beef stock No

Meat, in liquid form.

Instead A vegetable stock with no sugar or yeast extract.

Bone broth No

Meat, simmered longer.

Mayonnaise No

Egg and refined oil.

Instead Mashed avocado, or tahini loosened with lemon.

Olive oil Yes

The oil of Scripture, and the one the fast leans on.

Sesame oil Yes

A named, pressed oil.

Coconut and avocado oil Yes

Named, pressed oils.

Vegetable oil Not sure

Rarely says which oil, and usually refined.

Instead An oil that names itself on the front of the bottle.

Margarine No

A solid fat, refined, and often carrying milk.

Salt, pepper, herbs and spices Yes

Seasoning is not the thing being fasted.

Vinegar Yes

On no list the fast sets aside, and cider or wine vinegar carries no alcohol worth the name. Those who set aside everything fermented leave it out.

Soy sauce Not sure

Brewed with wheat, so usually refined, and many bottles are sweetened.

Instead Tamari without wheat, or salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Mustard Not sure

Seeds, vinegar and salt fits. Honey mustard and the sweet yellow kind do not.

Ketchup No

Sugar is usually its second ingredient.

Salsa Not sure

Tomatoes, onion, chilli and lime fit. Jarred salsa often adds sugar.

Tomato paste and passata Yes

Tomatoes, reduced. Check the tin for sugar.

Nutritional yeast Not sure

Inactive, so it raises nothing. Whether yeast in any form belongs on an unleavened fast is yours to decide.

Yeast extract Not sure

A flavouring, not a raising agent. Same question as nutritional yeast, same answer: yours.

Baking powder and baking soda No

Raising agents. The fast is unleavened.

Instead Flatbread that rises on nothing at all.

Yeast No

The thing the unleavened part of the fast is about.

Cornstarch Not sure

Refined out of whole corn.

Instead Thicken with blended beans, potato or oats.

Spice blends and stock cubes Not sure

Blends carry sugar, yeast extract or milk powder more often than not. Read the small print.

Natural flavouring Not sure

Can come from a plant or an animal, and the label never says which.

Restaurants Not sure

Possible, and harder than it looks. Ask for a vegetable dish with olive oil: no butter, no sauce, no cheese, steamed or roasted rather than fried, and water to drink.

Salad bars Not sure

The vegetables fit. The dressing almost never does.

Instead Oil and lemon on the side, and skip the croutons.

Fast food No

Fried, refined and sweetened, usually all three.

Someone else's table Not sure

A fast kept quietly matters more than a fast kept perfectly. Eat the vegetables, leave the rest, and say nothing if saying something would make a meal about you.