9. Vegetables – Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. (Daniel 1:12)
Instead of eating the tasty dainties of the Babylonians, Daniel and his friends requested to live on a vegetarian diet. When it was time for them to be presented to the king, Nebuchadnezzar and all of the leaders were astounded to see that the 4 young Jewish friends were more fit and looked better than the other young men who ate the Babylonian fare. Often referred to as the Daniel “diet,” history and biblical text actually support that Daniel continued his vegetarian lifestyle throughout his entire life.
Of all the food groups, vegetables are arguably the most nutrient-dense and safest to eat. There’s relatively no risk in consuming too many of them; whereas, if you eat fruit all day, you run the risk of spiking your blood sugar or developing dental caries because of the excess sugar.
Vegetables are so effective at healing that, according to the National Cancer Institute, cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale, radish etc.) can help prevent cancer because they are rich in glucosinolates – a large group of sulfur-containing glucosides. Known to break down during chewing and digestion, these powerhouse chemicals can slow down and even reverse cancer cells growth. Additionally, it has also been reported that glucosinolates can treat the following health concerns:
- Inflammation
- Bacterial and viral infections
- Carcinogenic toxicity
- Tumor angiogenesis (blood vessel formation)
- Tumor metastasis (tumor migration)
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