Fasting: What Foods Won't Break a Fast?

When it comes to caring for our bodies, one of the first things we turn to is feeding ourselves with the best nutrients. This often includes foods that contain whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. But some people follow fasting protocols, especially to restrict calories. In this article we will explore fasting and the kinds of foods that won't break your fast.

Types of fasting

Fasting occurs when you restrict consuming any food or caloric beverages for a certain length of time. There are a few different types of fasting — some following a complete restriction and others only a moderate limitation. Restriction times can vary from as short as 8 hours to a few days.

• Time-restricted. This minimizes your daily eating window. For example, fasting for 14 hours and eating for 10 (14/10) or a 16/8 fast. Individuals can find a comfortable fasting/eating window ratio for them.
• One meal per day. Only eating one meal per day — typically consumed within a 1 to 2-hour period — and fasting the remainder of the day.
• Alternate day fasting. Fasting every other day and eating normally on the other days.
• 5:2 fasting. Eating normally for five days, and on the other two days, you can eat, but your calories are restricted — approximately 500 to 600 calories or 25% of your daily calories.

You can track your fasting windows using intermittent fasting apps.

Benefits of fasting

Intermittent fasting has been making strides across the diet culture for its weight loss benefits, proving that restriction in the appropriate manner can promote weight loss.

In addition to being a weight loss technique for some individuals, intermittent fasting has been researched for several other health benefits to the body and mind, including:

• Lower blood pressure
• Reduced inflammation
• Improved cognitive function
• Improved insulin resistance

Yet, the evidence is still not conclusive on any if these touted upon benefits.

What foods won’t break a fast?

When it comes to dietary considerations for fasting, here are some beverages and supplements that are considered to be compatible with intermittent fasting regimes:

Water

Water is hands-down the best beverage to consume, not just for intermittent fasting but for everyday function. It has no calories or additives that will negatively interact with the fasting process, but it is critical during fasting hours.

Staying properly hydrated can prevent dehydration, fatigue, and dizziness.

Sparkling water

Sparkling water is simply regular water with carbon dioxide and contains no calories, so it is also safe to drink during a fast.

Coffee

While coffee does contain around five calories per cup, this is one necessity you won’t have to worry about giving up when fasting. This is because coffee doesn’t interrupt any fasting proceses, such as when your body is in ketosis and fat-burning mode.

Tea

Like coffee, both caffeinated and decaffeinated tea contains very few calories making it compatible choice for fasting. White, black, green, and other types of tea can provide several benefits to the body including aiding in digestion, promoting weight loss and improving gut health.

Certain vitamins and supplements

While most vitamins and supplements should be okay to take during intermittent fasting, not all of them are. It’s always a good idea to double-check the label for any ingredients that can break a fast such as sugars, other types of carbs and fats. Some products like gummy vitamins, for example, include sugars that can cause your insulin to spike and, as a result, use glucose for energy metabolism and thus break your fast.

Controversial foods

There are some foods that while they may not appear to break your fast, can actually be detrimental to it.

Bone broth

Some people choose to sip on bone broth to curb cravings, but this can stop autophagy and break a fast. According to the USDA, a 240 g serving of bone broth contains approximately 80 calories; therefore, it’s not a good option for those following strict fasting protocols.

MCT oil, butter, coconut oil, and ghee

While there’s nothing wrong with a cup of coffee during a fast, anyone who adds MCT oil, butter, coconut oil, or ghee to their cup will likely risk breaking their fast. These products are high in fat and calories, which will also break your fast.

Lemon juice

Changing up the flavor of your water can be a great way to stay hydrated when you get tired of plain water. However, adding lemon juice to your water can add calories and sugar — which can affect insulin levels — and potentially break your fast.

When fasting, it’s important to be aware of which foods, beverages and supplements may break your fast before you start. From there, you can decide what type of fasting schedule you want to follow. When you break your fast, make sure to eat a healthy diet that includes lean proteins, whole grains, and lots of fruits and vegetables.