- If you like coffee as much as I do,
but don't wanna mess up your intermittent fasting,
then this video is for you.
(rock music)
That's better.
So, today, I'm gonna be answering one of the questions
I get asked the most about intermittent fasting.
Can I drink black coffee when fasting?
Is adding milk or cream gonna break my fast,
and it is it true
that as long as you don't exceed 50 calories,
you're not gonna break a fast?
Now, let's take it back to basics.
Let's start with what we want
to be happening when we're fasting.
Now, in this video,
I'm gonna be focusing on fasting for weight loss,
not fasting for longevity,
which is gonna be coming up in a video very soon.
When we're fasting,
we want our blood glucose levels to be normalized
rather than raised,
We want our insulin levels to be low,
and we want our glucagon,
which is insulin's opposite number, if you like,
levels to be high.
That's gonna promote things like fat burning
and ketone production.
So, is drinking coffee gonna disrupt that process?
Let's talk about black coffee,
but this also applies to black tea, green tea,
anything without milk, really.
Black coffee is probably not gonna disrupt
that process at all.
It's zero carb, zero protein, and zero fat,
and only about one or two calories.
It's basically just caffeinated hot brown water
with some other stuff in it
that just makes it taste really nice.
(ethereal harp music)
Sorry about that.
So, what about cream or milk?
(cow mooing)
One of the most common pieces of advice
you'll find on the Internet
is that it's okay to drink something
as long as it's less than 50 calories.
Now, I don't think this is very useful.
In fact, I think it's just plain wrong,
and I'm going to explain why.
50 calories of cream is about one tablespoon,
and that is pretty much pure fat.
There's very little carbohydrate in there,
in fact, only about half a gram of carbohydrate.
50 calories of milk is about eight tablespoons,
and don't forget that lactose is a sugar in milk,
and that is actually the equivalent of about
six grams of carbohydrate.
"But who has eight tablespoons of milk in their coffee,"
I hear you ask.
Well, don't forget that a latte is espresso
and almost entirely milk.
Interestingly, full fat milk has less carbohydrate
for the same volume as lower fat
or diet versions of milk.
And if you're allowed 50 calories,
then surely that 50 calories could come from sugar.
How much sugar is in 50 calories?
Well, that's three teaspoons of sugar.
So let's just go back to what we didn't want to happen.
We didn't wanna raise our blood glucose levels.
We didn't wanna affect our insulin levels,
and we didn't wanna interrupt high levels of glucagon.
Well, black coffee's clearly not gonna do any of that.
Having a small amount of cream in coffee
is probably not gonna have much of an effect on that.
Having a small amount of milk, even,
isn't gonna have much of an effect on that.
Having a large amount of milk or even sugar
clearly is gonna have an effect on that.
So, that's why I don't think looking at it
in terms of calories is particularly useful.
It's clear to me that 50 calories of sugar
is very different from 50 calories of milk,
is very different from 50 calories of cream
in terms of the metabolic effect
it's gonna have on the body.
Next, I wanna talk about some of the other benefits
of drinking coffee when fasting.
But before I do that, I wanna ask you a quick question.
How do you prefer to take your coffee?
Let me know in the comments down below this video.
Okay, let's look at some of the other benefits of coffee
for people who are practicing intermittent fasting.
Coffee is an appetite suppressant.
If this were true, it would be the perfect thing
for people who are practicing intermittent fasting
to help them keep hunger at bay.
But unfortunately,
this is one of those commonly-held beliefs
that probably isn't actually true.
But if it works for you, great!
Hydration.
Another old wives' tale is that coffee is a diuretic
and will actually dehydrate you.
Whilst it is slightly true,
coffee is only a very weak diuretic,
so the overall effect of drinking a cup of coffee
is that you will become more hydrated.
Now for the good stuff.
Coffee stimulates ketone production.
One study showed that coffee given at breakfast time
can stimulate ketone production in a dose-dependent manner.
That is, the more you drink,
the more ketones are gonna be produced.
This does come with a word of warning, however.
Not only is excessive coffee
gonna make you feel pretty unwell,
excessive coffee has been shown
to increase fasting blood glucose
and decrease insulin sensitivity,
exactly the opposite of what we're trying to do.
So, in summary, ideally,
drink black coffee when you're fasting.
The same goes for black tea, green tea,
or other similar things without milk in.
And learning to drink black coffee
is very similar to learning to drink coffee
or tea without sugar.
It might seem a little bit weird at first,
but you quickly get used to it.
And if you really don't like black coffee,
then by all means, have a small amount of cream or milk.
It's unlikely to disrupt your fast.
Just remember that things
like lattes or cappuccinos or flat whites
are made almost entirely with milk,
and definitely will disrupt your fast.
Okay, that is it for today's video.
If you've found this video useful,
I'd love it if you'd give it a thumbs up down below.
You can subscribe to my channel by clicking here,
and don't forget that this is part of a playlist
all about intermittent fasting which you can find here.
Have a great week,
and hopefully I will see you next Tuesday.
Cuppa coffatea?
Coffatea?
Coffee?
Coffatea.
Coffee!