Daniel 1:8-15 - But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
I wonder why Danial suggested a vegetarian diet. The Israelites were permitted to eat many meats under God's laws -- just not those that were categorized as unclean. We think of pork in particular, but there were some others too. Maybe there was something Daniel had found out about the king's meat that made him decide it would be defiling himself to eat any of it. Maybe it had been sacrificed to an idol or used in some other religious ceremony.
I have always found it interesting that those in charge of Daniel and the other trainees could see a difference in the looks and health of these young men after just 10 days on their respective diets. I wonder if the king himself ever heard about the menu change that was later made for all the trainees.
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