Petra @newmiboWill it break my fast? This is the most frequently asked and also misunderstood question. What if we asked this instead “What will happen if I have this or that?”
It is crucial to know your fasting goal before asking any of these questions. Fasting for autophagy, ketosis, or insulin sensitivity has slightly different rules than fasting for weight loss. Our main goal here is fasting for weight loss. I’ve created 3 main categories for easier navigation.
I use Dr FUNG’s book The Complete Guide to Fasting as a source, although he doesn’t divide fasting fluids into categories.
1. WATER FAST
WATER: still, mineral, carbonated, cold, warm
nothing else added
This is a straight forward fast where you do not need to worry about sabotaging your efforts whatsoever. There are no calories, no taste stimulants, nothing to compromise your fast. People water fast for spiritual reasons or before operations but of course you can water fast for weight loss. Water fasting generally implies extended fasting of longer than 24 hours. You can absolutely use water fasting as part of your intermittent fasting method.
2. WILL NOT BREAK A FAST
I generally use the term “clean fasting” to describe this category. Anything mentioned here will not break your fast and neither will it compromise any of the fasting processes such as ketosis or autophagy. This is also the most common way to do intermittent fasting.
Clean fasting centres around 3 main beverages:
WATER-TEA-COFFEE
1. WATER
still, mineral, carbonated, cold, warm
You must include water to maintain sufficient hydration and to prevent unpleasant symptoms resulting from dehydration.
Mineral water includes salt and some minerals which may help with headaches and curb hunger more than plain water.
2. HERBAL TEA
green, black, oolong, peppermint etc
Tea contains around 2 kcal. It will not stop you from getting into ketosis and shouldn’t prevent autophagy.
Dr Fung allows unlimited amounts of herbal teas. Tea helps in suppressing appetite, cravings, and may even help lowering blood sugar levels. Try peppermint tea if you suffer from bloating or digestive discomfort.
3. COFFEE
caffeinated, decaffeinated, black, hot, iced
Coffee contains around 4 kcal per cup and it is a powerful appetite suppressant.
This review concluded that coffee is beneficial in reducing insulin sensitivity in healthy subjects. In other words, coffee will not negatively impact insulin levels when fasting.
This study on mice shows that coffee, even decaffeinated has a rapid effect on inducing autophagy. Human studies are of course needed to relate this finding to us.
ADDITIONAL ITEMS:
ground cinnamon, lemon, slices of fruit (do not eat the fruit), apple cider vinegar, Himalayan salt, electrolytes, (unsweetened, unflavoured) herbs for infusion
3. MIGHT BREAK A FAST
This is a category I would call “dirty fasting”. All of the beverages mentioned are generally recommended to be avoided during a fast. So why include it? Because these beverages exist and many people drink them, that’s the reality. The choice is ultimately yours.
If you’re fasting for weight loss only, you can get away with some of these drinks and still reach your weight loss goal. I have discussed artificial sweeteners and their impact on fasting, weight gain and weight loss in depth here.
DIET/ZERO DRINKS; soda, energy drinks, sports drinks
ARTIFICIAL/ NATURAL SWEETENERS
ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL FLAVOURINGS
SUGAR FREE GUM, SUGAR FREE MINTS
FLAVOURED SWEETENED ELECTROLYTES
FRUIT TEA
FLAVOURED COFFEE
Think about it this way, any kind of a sweetener and flavouring will stimulate your taste buds, meaning it will encourage you to want to eat. Taste stimulants are the opposite of appetite suppressants.
Everything mentioned in this category has the potential of raising insulin in some people. To be safe, try and limit the amount. The only way to find out for sure is by measuring your blood sugar levels. The studies on this category are divisive and limited.
Here is what Dr Fung has to say about diet coke and chewing gum.
Home made broth could technically be in this category as well although the collagen may prevent autophagy and because it is home made it’s hard to agree on the calorie content. It does however help with hunger and with salt depletion which may be the cause of headaches.
4. FAT FASTING
This category should be called CALORIES FROM FAT BREAK A FAST BUT FAT DOESN’T ELEVATE INSULIN WHICH MEANS YOU STAY IN A FAST MIMICKING STATE, hopefully you can appreciate why I chose to call it FAT FASTING instead.
To clarify, you do not have to be following the ketogenic diet or doing a specific fat fast in order to include the following items in your beverages when fasting.
You can add these in your tea or coffee:
COCONUT OIL, MCT OIL,
BUTTER, GHEE,
HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM, HALF AND HALF,
WHOLE MILK,
CHIA SEEDS
Yes. all of these items are generally encouraged by Dr Fung and listed in his fasting fluid guide on page 254. I have created a separate category for these so that we can address them all together rather than individually.
The primary reason we fast is to lower insulin, our fat storing hormone. We can not burn fat in the presence of insulin. This is the big secret behind what breaks and doesn’t break a fast. If it elevates insulin it is considered a fast breaker. Fat doesn’t elevate insulin which is why you find fat frequently featured in items allowed during a fast even though the calorie content breaks a fast in its true sense.
If adding fat helps you fast longer than it is better to include it than not fast at all. I’ve explained how to use fat in beverages here.
Think of it this way, if adding 150kcal of fat in your coffee means you can skip lunch and a number of sugary snacks you would have otherwise had, which do you think is going to help your weight loss goals more.
A small amount of fat (1TB per cup of drink) lessens hunger, doesn’t stimulate taste buds, doesn’t make you want to eat more and doesn’t kick you out of a fasted state, in fact it may help you reach ketosis, the fat burning stage, faster.
If you’re fasting for intracellular repair then you might want to avoid these items. The high calorie content but mostly protein are very likely going to inhibit the process of autophagy.
5. EVERYTHING ELSE
Everything else is best to have in your eating window, this includes supplements and vitamins, and anything else you can think of.
Fasting is simple and extremely effective in its core, don’t complicate it. Intermittent fasting with water, tea, coffee is generally the most sustainable model for everyone. Everything else mentioned could be an option when the occasion calls for it.
Hope this was helpful to you xox
