in today's video we're going to be talking about what breaks a fast
while intermittent fasting fasting is defined as the willful refrainment from
eating for a period of time intermittent
fasting has exploded in popularity recently due to its
effectiveness for weight loss reducing inflammation lowering blood
sugar and improving insulin sensitivity if you clicked on this video it's
probably because you want to know what you can have while fasting is water
okay coffee bulletproof coffee tea
because you don't want to consume something that's going to take away
from the benefits of fasting in today's video we're going to talk about
what breaks the fast what doesn't break a fast
and seven drinks you can have while fasting
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is kait i'm a
health coach and i post videos on a high fat nutrient dense way of eating
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start of this video intermittent fasting has become
very popular in recent years more and more people are choosing to skip
breakfast for the health benefits and eat all of their food for the day in
a smaller time frame but you don't want to take away from all
the amazing benefits of fasting by consuming the wrong things during
your fasting window we're going to start off today by
defining what it means to break a fast and what you should not
have while intermittent fasting and then we will get into the seven
drinks you can have that do not break a fast breaking a fast
in broad terms to break a fast means to conclude a period of fasting
by consuming food but there's a bit more to it than that
and it all comes down to why you are intermittent fasting
intermittent fasting means you have a fasting schedule
you fast for a certain amount of time every day and all of your meals are
condensed into a smaller time frame 16 8 is the most popular variation of
intermittent fasting where you fast for 16 hours every day
and eat all of your meals in an 8 hour window
but intermittent fasting can be fasting anywhere from 12
to 22 hours generally the most common reasons people do intermittent fasting
are for blood sugar regulation and to lower their fasting blood sugar
to improve their insulin sensitivity and to burn more
fat through ketosis when you fast for longer as you would on an extended fast
this is when autophagy starts to ramp up autophagy being when damaged cells in
your body start to get recycled autophagy is
really great for healing and preventing disease
and you still get some autophagy during shorter fasts but it really ramps up
around 36 hours now if a tophagee is your main goal then
anything you consume beyond water and electrolytes
will technically break your fast and reduce autophagy
if your main reason for intermittent fasting is for weight loss
blood sugar control or improving your insulin sensitivity
then you do have a little bit more wiggle room so what's really important
to keep in mind here is what your goals are and if the drink
in question is working against those goals what
breaks a fast so what we want to look at here is if
certain drinks impact our insulin because when insulin
is low blood sugar is low and we're burning fat
so let's go through some of the common drinks i'm asked about
that will raise insulin and will break your fast
diet soda while diet soda may have zero calories and zero sugar
this does not mean these drinks are healthy some of the sweeteners added to
diet soda can spike your insulin significantly
just from tasting sweetness insulin can be released
and therefore diet soda does break a fast
milk milk will break a fast as it contains
carbs sugar and protein almond milk almond milk and other milk alternatives
will also break your fast for the same reason
even if they are unsweetened herbal teas a lot of herbal teas contain dried fruit
which contains carbs and sugar and will break a fast
protein powder branched chain amino acids and collagen
powder these protein-based supplements are
another thing to avoid while fasting while protein does not raise insulin as
much as carbs do it still does cause a rise and this rise
is more significant in people who are insulin resistant
so if you are trying to improve your insulin sensitivity protein powder
during your fasting window is definitely a no-go bone broth
while i am a huge fan of bone broth and its benefits
for the same reason the previously mentioned powders break a fast
bone broth will break a fast as well kombucha
although it is low in calories it does contain carbs and sugar
and will break your fast and now let's get into some of the drinks that do
not break a fast water regular water will not
break your fast and you should drink it during your fasting window
a bonus tip is to add a pinch or two of salt into your water
to get some extra electrolytes which can make fasting
a whole lot easier black coffee black coffee does not break a fast
as it has no impact on insulin unsweetened tea
natural teas such as green tea and peppermint with no added sugar of course
will not break a fast sparkling water unflavored sparkling water will not
break a fast and can be a great way to mix things up
if you're tired of still water apple cider vinegar apple cider vinegar
is one thing i am asked about frequently and no it will not break your fast lemon
water a squirt of lemon juice in water will
also not break a fast bulletproof coffee okay this one is a
bit controversial depending on what is in your bulletproof
coffee and how much can of course make a difference if you
have a small amount of mct oil that will not break your fast mct oil
actually enhances certain benefits of fasting
the body easily converts mcts into ketones to use for energy
and it has been shown to improve insulin mediated
glucose metabolism butter coconut oil and heavy cream are other popular
ingredients of bulletproof coffee these are all almost entirely fat butter
and cream do contain a very small amount of protein but it is
such a small amount that it does not impact your insulin
enough to matter adding collagen to your bulletproof coffee
will break the fast though as i previously mentioned
so a bulletproof coffee with a tablespoon of mct oil and a tablespoon
of butter probably fine again if your goals are
relating to weight loss insulin sensitivity and
blood sugar regulation but of course some people hear that
bulletproof coffee is okay and they go wild the thing with
bulletproof coffee is it is meant to replace a meal you
drink it in the morning and it helps you push your first true meal until later in
the day if it's not doing that for you then it's
not benefiting you and those are seven drinks that do not
break your fast that you can have while intermittent fasting i hope this
video helped you to understand what does and does not break a fast in
summary anything that contains carbs sugars or protein will stimulate
insulin and will break your fast as well as
anything that is sweet tasting any low calorie drinks that do not
trigger insulin are fair game and fat in small quantities is probably
okay as well let me know in the comment section down
below what you drink while intermittent fasting
remember to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it and share with a
friend if you think they would find it helpful if you like this video you
might also enjoy my video on the benefits
of extended fasting which you can check out here if you want to catch up on my
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here thanks again guys i'll see you next time bye