REVIEW: The Daniel Cure: Over 75 Recipes & a 21-Day Devotional

I'll be honest. I have not done this fast -- yet.  I have been considering the Daniel Fast for a couple of years; ever since our friends did it and had wonderful results.  They felt better, lost a bit of weight and, from what I understand, had better results on their physicals at the doctor!

The book begins, appropriately enough, with an introduction to what the authors call, "The Daniel Cure" (hence, the name of the book) and an explanation of the Daniel Fast.

The fast is based on the story of Daniel in the Bible (see the book of Daniel -- go figure). Daniel and his friends are taken to Babylon as captives and brought to the palace.  When food was brought to them, it included things the Hebrews were told not to eat so Daniel, brave youth that he was, said,

12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” Daniel 1:12-13

Funnily enough, Daniel and his friends were healthier after 10 days than the other captives. Whodathunk!

The second part of the book is crammed with health information.  Moving from a general explanation of your body, how it uses food and its status as a temple of a Holy God, to chapters on Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease and general inflammatory issues, it book sheds light on the health issues our country is facing. There are helpful tables with information about healthy cholesterol levels, Body Mass Index, obesity rates in the US, blood sugar ranges during fasting, and much more.

Part Three helps you prepare to start the Fast and adapt it for LIFE!  It's all well and good to do a 21-day fast and purge all of your free radicals, but a truly useful book helps you transition good eating into habit and lifestyle.  The authors do that; and more.

The fourth, fifth and sixth sections of this book provide recipes, a devotional for your journey and helpful Appendices with organizational tools and, saving the best for last for those who like these things, the science behind the Daniel Fast.

I think this book is perfect for someone looking for help with understanding how to both fast as a spiritual practice and for good health.  This book is written, first and foremost, as a guide to the spiritual practice of fasting; even though it seems the overwhelming bulk of it is about nutrition and food. There is a tone of education but also awe and reverence for a God who could make something as complex as the human body.

Anyone who is looking for a way to take a step toward a more healthy, God-honoring lifestyle will find this book extremely useful.

I'm going to ask my two remaining "chicks" - a 22-year old, working-two-jobs-and-going-to-college daughter and an 18-year-old soon-to-be-college-freshman-son and, of course, my wonderful husband to read this book and, together, we'll decide if we want to take this journey.  I hope the answer will be "yes."  It already is for me.

I received this book for free from http://booklookbloggers.com/ in exchange for my honest review.