Is Intermittent Fasting Safe
People can begin intermittent fasting for a variety of reasons. Some may begin to lose and manage weight and while others may be using intermittent fasting to address other health issues that could use a change in diet.
Regardless of reasoning, anyone planning to begin IF should consult and receive approval from their primary care doctor. If youre pregnant, breastfeeding, or have medical problems like, intermittent fasting may not be right for you.
If you begin intermittent fasting and experience unusual headaches, mental health disturbances such as anxiety or depression or have unusual changes in mood, consult with your primary healthcare provider to determine the best strategy or plan for your individual wellness.
Intermittent fasting is not for everyone. Even if intermittent fasting is safe for you, it might not be the right diet for you.
If you find that IF makes you feel good and supports your health journey, thats wonderful! Youre joining a large community of fasters who have also found that IF enriches their life. If you find that intermittent fasting triggers disordered eating habits, makes you feel icky, or otherwise isnt the best option for your nutritional needs, thats OK too! There is no one size fits all approach to health.
Does Coffee Break Your Fast
No, coffee does not break your fast. However, there is a catch. If you add heaps of sugar or cream into your cup, they can sabotage your weight loss efforts. Black coffee is ok when intermittent fasting.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture , a cup of regular black coffee contains fewer than 5 calories. Likewise, a fluid ounce of black espresso contains about 1 calorie. The number of calories in black coffee is too little to break your fast or negate the effects of intermittent fasting.
Moreover, coffee is a rich natural source of caffeine. Caffeine may aid weight loss by:
- Reducing appetite. This might prevent you from consuming excessive calories.
- Increasing fat burning. Fat burning or thermogenesis is a process in which your body releases heat by digesting the food you take. This can help boost your metabolism and promote weight loss.
Why Do Brits Put Milk In Their Tea
The answer is that in the 17th and 18th centuries the china cups tea was served in were so delicate they would crack from the heat of the tea. Milk was added to cool the liquid and stop the cups from cracking. This is why, even today, many English people add milk to their cups BEFORE adding the tea!
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Can You Add Coconut Oil Or Soy Milk To Your Coffee
One cup of homemade coffee with soymilk contains about 55 calories. Thus, a cup or two on fasting days should not be an issue. Besides, if you cannot digest milk, unsweetened soymilk is a great alternative. It contains generous amounts of protein and potassium. However, soy is a common allergy-causing food in both adults and children. Before adding soymilk, make sure you are not allergic to soy.
One tablespoon of coconut oil contains about 121 calories. Most people use two tablespoons in a cup. Thus, a cup of coffee with two tablespoons of coconut oil contains about 242 calories. Thus, it is a good idea to avoid adding coconut oil to your coffee.
Where You Should Store Milk In The Refrigerator
Milk, no matter if its whole or skim, is best kept at around 37 degrees Fahrenheit, which, depending on your fridge, usually means somewhere in the back of the shelf on a lower shelf. You may need to store the milk on its side so that it fits easily. Avoid storing milk in one of the doors shelves.
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Intermittent Fasting With Coffee And Tea
Cant start your day without coffee? Same. The good news is that when youre intermittent fasting, coffee and tea are finejust hold the milk and sugar.
Most experts agree that a cup of black coffee or tea wont dramatically impact your intermittent fasting results, even though youre technically breaking your fast by drinking a few calories. In fact, the caffeine can help suppress your appetite .
But if you want to maximize the benefits of autophagy, stay as close to zero calories as possible during your fasting window.
You also might have heard of Bulletproof intermittent fasting, or starting your day with a cup of Bulletproof Coffee: a creamy blend of grass-fed butter and Bulletproof Brain Octane C8 MCT Oil. This isnt a true fast. Its considered a fat fast, which means you wont spike your blood sugar. Youre only consuming quality fats, not carbs or tons of protein. The quality fats keep you full and energized, and the MCT oil kickstarts ketone production to help you stay in ketosis.
You might start your fast with strictly water to promote autophagy, then have a small cup of Bulletproof Coffee in the afternoon to get through the midday slump and burn fat for energy. Experiment to find what works for you.
Is Black Coffee Okay For Intermittent Fasting
Is black coffee okay to consume for people who are undergoing intermittent fasting?
The answer is yes, it is okay for people to drink black coffee even during fasting periods. This is because it contains relatively low calories which cannot hinder your fasting.
However, black coffee should be taken in moderate amounts only as overconsumption can damage your health.
Sue Ryskamp, a Senior dietitian who works at the Michigan Medicines Frankel Cardiovascular Center, said that it is okay to drink a coffee with the condition thatit has to be pure black coffee with no sugar or creamer in it.
A cup of black coffee contains approximately about threecalories along with very few amounts of minerals, fats, and protein.
Although not scientifically proven, it was claimed by some people that drinking black coffee helps suppress appetite making it much easier to fast.
In general, though, drinking black coffee is unlikely hinder your intermittent fasting.
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Can You Drink Coffee With Intermittent Fasting
By Holly Klamer, RDResearched Based Article
Drinking coffee may be allowed with Intermittent Fasting, but drinking higher calorie coffee drinks may not be. It is also important to note the way your body reacts to caffeine. If you are sensitive to caffeine, drinking coffee with IF may not be best.
Intermittent Fasting has quickly become a popular alternative to traditional dieting for weight loss and possibly other health benefits. For many years, health experts have been focusing on WHAT you eat for weight loss and health, but with Intermittent Fasting the focus is less on the WHAT and more on the WHEN.
The idea is simply by simply switching and limiting WHEN you eat can have dramatic impact on health and weight loss efforts.
What exactly is Intermittent Fasting? It may depend on who you talk to as there is no one clear definition for IF. There are many ways you can limit your food intake.
Some models of Intermittent Fasting include fasting 8-16 hours every day, other models suggest every other day fasting and some include fasting only 2 days a week.
When you are not fasting, your food intake should be normal and should still include nutrient dense foods.
Most if not all models of Intermittent Fasting allow for small food intake, usually a couple hundred calories, during fasting stage. Drinking fluids during fasting time is allowed and suggested for health reasons.
Coffee With Sugar While Intermittent Fasting
Sugar is nothing less than a treat for your sweet tooth. However, do not forget what satisfying your sweet tooth can do to the weight scale. One teaspoon of sugar contains about 16 calories. This does not seem like a big number, right? Wait, lets look at the stats.
Each day, a male American consumes about 335 calories coming from added sugars. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends no more than 200 calories from added sugars, if your daily calorie requirement is 2,000 calories.
Most intermittent fasting methods do not allow the intake of more than 500 calories on fasting days. Thus, you should not consume more than 50 calories from sugar. This equals 3 teaspoons. The bottom line is one or two cups of coffee with sugar may be allowed while fasting. Nonetheless, the addictive nature of sugar can make you overindulge.
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Coffee With Collagen Or Whey Protein
The athletes among the intermittent fasting and keto enthusiasts love collagen in their Bulletproof Coffee.
Nevertheless, like whey powder, it is pure protein. On the one hand, protein activates the anabolic mTOR pathway for muscle building. On the other hand, it inhibits autophagy.
Therefore collagen can have advantages for muscle building, fat burning, and satiation but breaks a fast.
/8who Should Avoid Having Coffee
There are also many studies that have found that people who have elevated or higher blood pressure levels may not benefit from caffeine had while Intermittent Fasting. Caffeine may cause blood pressure levels to spike, so if you have existing issues, it’s best to check in with a doctor first.
Your consumption habits can also differ depending on the type of Intermittent Fasting regime you are following, i.e. 5:2, 16:8 etc.
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What Else Can You Drink While Fasting
While fasting, you should only consume 0-calorie drinks. Therefore, this excludes all foods.
I cover this in-depth, including the best ways to break your fast, inside my eBook, Intermittent Fasting For Women.
Inside youll find a complete guide to intermittent fasting, food lists, and a meal plan to jumpstart your fasting journey.
Intermittent Fasting for Women
If you want to dive deeper, Ive created a book with everything you need to know about intermittent fasting & a 1-week meal plan so you know exactly what to eat during your eating windows. Check out my Intermittent Fasting Guide here.
What Can You Drink During Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is a dietary style typically combined with a low carb or keto diet. If you just started, the supposedly simple fasting plan can quickly become complicated.
With this in mind, possibly the most crucial question is: What can I drink during intermittent fasting?
In this article, I work my way through all imaginable drinks and determine their intermittent fasting impact based on science.
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What Can You Eat Or Drink While Intermittent Fasting
If youre new to intermittent fasting and want to make sure your efforts yield the results youre looking for, youve probably wondered: what can you eat or drink while intermittent fasting?
If youre totally new to intermittent fasting, read this post first, its everything you need to know about IF, and then come back to this post.
I want to first note that you should first consult a licensed medical physician before you jump into intermittent fasting. IF isnt for everyone and therefore, its something to discuss with a professional.
The purpose of this post is to give you an overview of IF schedules, not to provide any professional/medical advice.
To fast is to abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink. However, intermittent fasting means to cycle a fast and therefore, there are a few intermittent fasting rules to adhere to and not abstain from liquids completely.
Side note: medical fasts and religious fasts are different than intermittent fasting.
So whether youre practicing intermittent fasting for health benefits, brain benefits, or weight loss, check out the dos and donts.
Can I Have Cream In My Coffee While Intermittent Fasting
100g heavy cream contains about 3g milk sugar and milk protein. Although some heavy cream does not necessarily inhibit fat burning, it will negatively affect autophagy.
Thus cream breaks a fast. However, that doesnt mean that a splash of cream destroys all the benefits. Fasting benefits such as autophagy do not have a binary switch. Nevertheless, heavy cream will inhibit results.
Nonetheless, heavy cream can be a welcome ingredient in a ketogenic diet since it helps to promote autophagy in the long run.
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Can I Drink Coconut Water During Intermittent Fasting
Many people believe in having found an excellent intermittent fasting drink in coconut water.
But thats not the case since the lions energy share comes from sugar, unlike in coconut .
Furthermore, the proportion of electrolytes is much lower than one might think no comparison to natural mineral water.
In summary, the supposedly natural coconut water fails as a drink during the fasting period. Therefore, we can now focus on other beverages that share some characteristics with coconut water.
Side Effects Of Drinking Coffee While Intermittent Fasting
Like anything else, coffee has some disadvantages for your health, too. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach can negatively impact your blood pressure or lead to digestive issues. While it may be beneficial for weight loss, excess consumption of coffee can cause different health problems. It can disrupt your sleep and even lead to a coffee addiction, which is considered a clinical disorder. Whether youre intermittent fasting or not, coffee should be consumed in a moderate amount. A recent viral trend on TikTok, called the Lemon Coffee Trend, has resulted in many people drinking coffee in large amounts. Some TikTok users claimed that squeezing a dash of lemon into a cup of coffee can help in weight loss. However, there is no scientific explanation for that and experts have debunked such claims.
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Ketosis And Weight Loss
Since fasting is the most effective way to lower insulin levels, it is essential for weight loss. Accordingly, insulin is the crucial storage hormone in the human body.
Therefore, it is responsible for signaling cells to take up glucose from the bloodstream and store excess energy as fat or glycogen.
Furthermore, insulin blocks the enzyme that can break down body fat .
Accordingly, scientists can predict about 75% of possible weight gain and loss in overweight people by analyzing their insulin levels .
The 16-hours of fasting cut off the supply of nutrients, lower insulin levels, and thus end the bodys storage mode.
The body can then begin to break down the carbohydrate stores . Once the glycogen stores are empty, your body can start to burn stored fat for energy.
This fat burning process is called ketosis and, contrary to many myths, is an entirely natural mechanism that has ensured our species survival.
Nature has designed the body to build up fat reserves during abundance and tap into this body fat for energy when food is scarce.
Nowadays, instead of food shortages, we experience an endless summer and eat round the clock. Thus, we gain weight.
Therefore, intermittent fasting can help to restore the natural balance between feasting and fasting.
Intermittent Fasting Coffee: Is Milk Good Or Bad
Most people follow a 16/8 Intermittent Fasting schedule of at least 16 hours fasted, and ideally, during this period you consume zero calories.
And even if youre going hardcore, completely resetting your insulin and destroying the excess estrogen with a 72 hour fast, the same zero calorie rules still apply while fasting.
Black coffee has zero. Green tea has zero. Water has zero. Sparkling water has zero.
But milk has SOME calories.
Is it the end of the world?
Well, lets remind ourselves of why were fasting in the first place.
For most people most of the time, the primary goal is to lose fat. The secondary goal is for health benefits detox, hormones, mental health etc.
Does drinking milk in your coffee compromise any of this?
The answer is of course, no.
You will still lose weight if you have two splashes of milk in your two coffees. It amounts to about 20-40 calories, tops. Therefore 97%+ of your daily calories are still being consumed within the condensed, 8 hours or less eating window.
Which is what the Intermittent Fasting lifestyle is all about. Condense that eating window. Make yourself fuller.
So the answer is YES you can drink milk.
But what if youre that ambitious guy who wants to get down to a lean 10% body fat, and effortlessly maintain that chiselled state year round?
What if you want to eliminate your sugar addiction for the rest of your life, so that you can keep off that belly fat FOREVER?
Its nonsense.
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Establishing An Intermittent Fasting Plan
So, what’s the ideal way to design an intermittent fasting plan? It depends on your schedule and what works best for you, but a good template to start is:
- Start your day off with a glass of water. Your body is made up of around 60 percent water, and every one of your cells needs it to function, per the U.S. Geological Survey.
- After your water, have a cup of plain black coffee or tea if you’d like.
- Continue fasting for your chosen length of time.
- When it’s time to eat, keep your intake of sugar and other carbohydrates low and eat plenty of nutritious, fiber-rich foods.
- Continue drinking water throughout the course of the day until you reach your goal intake.
How Many Calories Breaks A Fast
Hate to break it to you, but “technically, consuming any calories breaks a fast,” says Benjamin Horne, Ph.D., a genetic epidemiologist who has published research on the effects of intermittent fasting. Even a few calories’ worth of food can inactivate some of fasting’s perks. According to Horne, some mechanisms behind fasting’s benefits, like ketosis , remain active with the consumption of certain macronutrients but others, like autophagy, may or may not remain active. “In humans, it appears that autophagy does not remain as active when any food is consumed,” he says.
But what if we’re talking about a measly 2 to 5 calories in a cup of tea or coffee? This ultra-low-calorie territory is where things get a little tricky. According to Horne, it likely needs to be a water-only fast to maintain the maximum benefit from autophagy.
Others aren’t so sure we need to be quite this nitpicky, though. “I’ve heard good debates about whether coffee can break a fast. We don’t have any good evidence to show either way,” says Vincent Pedre, M.D., an integrative physician and gut health expert who frequently recommends intermittent fasting diets to his patients. “I would say if you’re drinking organic black coffeeâno cream, no sweetenersâthen you should be fine. That said, I would say stick to as close to zero calories as you can during your fasting hours with plenty of clean filtered water herbal teas are also good.”
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