Women’s Health
If your Instagram feed is an indication, everyone and their moms are trying intermittent fasting right now, and you may also be interested in it. People swear that intermittent fasting can have a number of different benefits, from restoring your relationship with food to losing weight. But it can be tricky to do it right and understand what foods and drinks break a fast (and thus defeats the purpose of having a fast window).
It is as follows: fasting does not mean that you have to spend part or all of the day without putting anything in your body. And while the fasting police won’t chase you if you don’t fast perfectly, it makes sense that you want to do it right.
You can probably guess that water is good (and mandatory) during a fasting window – you need to stay hydrated, after all – but what about things like coffee and tea, which is ~ basically ~ water? And can you put some sugar or cream in there too, or is that off-limits? Is there some kind of calorie limit here? Also, what is the best thing to eat and drink when you are ready to break your fast?
So many questions! But don’t stress – nutritionists have * all * the answers for you right here about what interrupts a fast or not.
Here’s a quick update on what it means to fast intermittently.
Before we talk about what you can and cannot eat and drink, it is a good idea to examine what intermittent fasting involves. Intermittent fasting focuses on following a pattern of eating and fasting periods, that is, times when you eat and don’t eat. Intermittent fasting usually involves fasting for a certain number of hours or even days that are spaced during the week.
There are many types of intermittent fasting to choose from, but some of the more popular ways include the 16: 8 diet, where you fast for 16 hours a day and eat for only eight hours (most people tend to stop eating at a certain time at night, like 18h, and then wait to eat again until 16 hours later), and the 5: 2 diet, where you eat less than 500 calories for two non-consecutive days a week (for men, it’s less than 600 calories) and eat normally for the rest of the time.
The research linked intermittent fasting to lower levels of insulin and blood pressure and greater control of appetite. Some people also lose weight during intermittent fasting.
The thought is that any amount of calories can technically break a fast and should be avoided while you are in a fast window.
Technically, fasting means refraining from eating any kind of food. As a result, “any amount of calories will break the fast,” says Scott Keatley, RD, of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy.
“The rule of thumb circulating on the Internet is that 50 calories will break your fast, but this is based on the experience of a random guy and has been repeated so often that people believe it to be true,” he says. But, Keatley emphasizes, “Any amount of calories breaks a fast [because] the energy ingested will be decomposed as soon as possible and supplied to your cells. ”
Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast research that provides a certain number of calories that are suitable for fasting, says Jessica Cording, MS, RD, author of The little book of game changes. In addition, she points out, the metabolism of each person is different, so what takes you from fasting may be different from what does the same to your friend.
In addition, there is this, according to Cording: “As soon as you consume enough calories to give your body energy to do anything, it takes you out of that fast state because your body has been given fuel to work.” Basically, having any amount of calories means that you are rolling the dice when leaving your fasting state.
If you want to consume * something * during the fast window, here are your best options.
Again, fasting, by definition, means that you are not eating, so this is more about what you can drink. That includes:
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Water. “Water is fine, for sure,” says Keatley. This includes still or sparkling water, although flavored water is a little dangerous because it usually contains some calories.
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Coffee. Pure coffee has about five calories per cup, which technically is nothing, Keatley points out. Still, he says, most people drink pure coffee during fasting periods and are well. Just ignore supplements like milk, cream or sugar. “It will affect your fast,” says Cording.
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Tea. Fermented tea usually contains the same calories as a cup of black coffee or less. The same rules apply here as for coffee, says Cording.
Some people drink chicken broth or bone broth, or add MCT oil, ghee or coconut oil to their coffee during the fast, but all of this will break the fast, notes Cording. The broth is kind of surprising, but Cording points out that bone broth in particular has a lot of protein. “What can happen is that when you consume the broth, your body uses amino acids as fuel and you are no longer fasting,” she says.
It is also probably better to wait to consume supplements or vitamins until it’s time to eat.
This is a little complicated. “Vitamins and minerals do not contain calories – they are the ingredients that companies add with vitamins that have calories,” says Keatley. Usually salt, potassium and “various sugars” are used to bind vitamins and minerals as a delivery system, he says, adding that “reviewing the list of ingredients in your multivitamin is the only way to know for sure”. In general, most vitamins have between seven and 10 calories each, although gums have more because of their sugar content, says Keatley.
There is also the following to consider: if you are taking a fat-soluble vitamin like vitamin D, you will really want to eat it with food, because it is better absorbed by the body with fat, says Cording.
Overall, Cording says it is best to try to take supplements during the non-fasting state, just for safety.
When you’re ready to break the fast, here’s what to eat.
Time to break your fast? Go carefully and choose wisely. Eating a portion of foods high in carbohydrates and sugar in a short period of time will not make you feel good, says Cording. “If you put a large load of carbohydrates into the bloodstream on an empty stomach, you will feel uncomfortable,” she says. “This can cause glycemic instability throughout the day, causing problems with energy levels and appetite control. It can work against you. “
It’s easy to overeat when you break your fast (because, hello, you’re hungry!), But planning what you will do when you eat again can help. “If you’re going to give this diet a plan, plan, plan and take charge of your life,” says Keatley.
Cording recommends starting with “something smaller” that also has a good amount of fat, like nuts and seeds, which she calls “a good starting point”. For example, you can eat a handful of almonds while having a bigger meal to get your stomach back to eating.
Since you have little time in the day to eat healthy foods, Keatley says it is best to focus on nutritious options. “I would recommend a complete protein that has healthy fats and is loaded with vitamins and minerals, like eggs,” he says. “You still need about 25 to 35 grams of fiber in your system, so having products rich in fiber, like beans, vegetables and anything ending in blackberry, should be on the plate.” Healthy oils like avocado and olive oil can also provide energy, he says.
So Keatley recommends that you “give yourself a few hours off and go again with the same formula, but with different foods”.
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