What Can I Drink When I’m Intermittent Fasting?
Q:
I’m just getting into intermittent fasting and I see some people saying water only – other’s say Bulletproof Coffee is okay. Which is right?
A:
Generally speaking, most teas, coffees and liquids don’t have enough calories to spike insulin. Of course, a liquid with sugar or sweeteners will spike blood sugar and thus insulin.
New research has shown that some sweeteners can cause an insulin response even if there are no sugars due to the sweet taste.
But it really depends on your goals for the fast. Are you just trying to restrict calories to jumpstart weight loss again? Then the small amount of calories is unlikely to affect your calorie intake in any significant way.
If your goal is autophagy, then you may need to be a bit more strict. Anything over 50 calories may be enough to stop the self-cleaning process. Also, of note, bone broth will break/stop autophagy due to the leucine/protein content in the broth.
Bulletproof Coffee shouldn’t turn off autophagy due to protein like a bone broth would, but still may affect weight loss due to the high calorie content.
But ANY calorie intake technically “breaks a fast” in the strictest sense of the word.
My thoughts are if you can manage without it. Manage without it. If you need it to “survive” – I’d rather see you survive and work into a place where you can manage without later. No need to push it.
