Intermittent fasting drinks?

simplyhannahme2479

I’ve been reading up on intermittent fasting and it says you can only have water, black tea and coffee when fasting. Has anyone done this, but allowing themselves other low calorie drinks in the fasting period?

lgfrie

I personally do not do that. I follow the protocol precisely: zero calories outside the eating window. Water, tea, black coffee, that's it. For me "zero means ZERO" has provided useful structure and discipline to my dieting efforts. I have been doing it for 11 months.

If you choose to fudge a little at the margins, the world will not end, but you might find that "zero means ZERO" is actually quite helpful for getting in the right mindset with your IF efforts. You don't really need other low calorie drinks outside the eating window; that is just habit. Learning to love and appreciate plain 'ole water is pretty useful.

snickerscharlie

simplyhannahme2479 wrote: »

I’ve been reading up on intermittent fasting and it says you can only have water, black tea and coffee when fasting. Has anyone done this, but allowing themselves other low calorie drinks in the fasting period?

Zero calorie soda. Lots of ice.

And to be honest, your body doesn't care when you consume your calories. The only thing that matters is how many calories you consume in a day. It's not like the IF Police will come knocking at your door if you had a glass of juice 20 minutes before your 'feeding window' opened.

sgt1372

Just black coffee, tea and H20 4me during the fasting period while doing IF.

BUT I also drink alcohol w/my food during the eating window w/in my cal limit. So, you don't have 2 deprive urself of ur favorite bevs as long as you have enuf cals to drink them

cmriverside

I think the question might be coming from YouTube videos...(?) Are you watching them or reading some of the woo surrounding IF?

There is no magical chemical/biophysical reaction that is going to happen if/when you have calories either two hours a day, eight hours a day, 12 hours a day, or any other permutation of eating/fasting that will cause better faster weight loss.

There are some claims that extended hours of fasting will lead to greater weight loss, and that's just not what the research suggests. There *may* be some very slight long-term physiological advantages to fasting - but it isn't a benefit for weight management other than making it psychologically easier or physically easier to restrict one's eating window.

Jelly_Belly_Jim

I just drink black coffee but anything with zero calories is probably ok. And it really depends on what you are doing it for. Honestly, I know there are a host of health claims...but I do it because after I drink black coffee I can go hours without eating, which then saves my calories for the afternoon. I can then eat a lot more and stay within my calorie goal much more easily.

ExistingFish

I am trying IF. I drink coffee with half and half (I'll buy cream next time I guess, less carbs). I'm just doing it to control my calorie intake, no other benefits. I am fine sipping a coffee all morning, the half and half doesn't make me more hungry or anything.

If I get up and eat something with carbs, I'm hungry again quickly.

Luckee_me

I’ve been following IF since 10/1/19 I drink water, sparkling water(unflavored), and hot tea while fasting and then a can of diet Dr Pepper with my meal. In my case when I stopped drinking diet pop I didn’t crave sweets and food during my fast.

Unknown

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VeryKatie

If zero means zero, black coffee isn't zero. Its like 4. Nearly zero but not. I think you can set your own rules. If they end up not working, change them.

snickerscharlie

VeryKatie wrote: »

If zero means zero, black coffee isn't zero. Its like 4. Nearly zero but not. I think you can set your own rules. If they end up not working, change them.

4 calories is not going to matter one little bit.

I think where people trip themselves up is by thinking that being militant is the way to go with IF. It might be for the very (very!) rare person, but honestly, 4 calories in a cup of black coffee is totally irrelevant as far as your body and weight loss is concerned. It also won't 'break your fast' because, again, weight loss is 100% about the total number of calories you consume on a daily basis, and not about when they are consumed.

If your Intermittent Fasting goal is to skip breakfast and that morning cup of coffee sparks your appetite, however, you may want to re-think having coffee. Thankfully for me, that doesn't happen, because me without a morning coffee is just sadness.

missyelainious

When I was starting out I drank hot water with lemon, apple cider vin and a small amount of honey and that helped with the hunger in the morning. Now I’m used to it and just have black coffee. I was a big breakfast eater until I tried IF!

Muscleflex79

sgt1372

Plain or carbonated water (0 cal additives are fine if u need them), black coffee (0 cal sweetners or creamers if you must) or plain tea (any kind but green if you belive the hype about it and 0 cal sweeteners/creamers, again if you must).

Luciicul

Depends on why you are doing intermittent fasting, and which style and protocol you are following.

The form of IF I follow, I usually stick to water only. It's not just about the calories, its about reducing insulin, and maximising other processes (like autophagy) that ramp up when our body is in an unfed state. Our body can release insulin if we taste something sweet, even if it doesn't contain calories - and when insulin is elevated, it prevents some other processes from occurring (or can minimise their impact).

But it's all relative...

Occasionally I might drink unsweetened tea, even though water-only fasting is best; some people drink bulletproof coffee; fasting-mimicking diets (e.g. the 5:2 diet) allows people to consume up to 500 calories while "fasting"; some people "fat fast" to get into a state of ketosis while still being able to eat...

Ultimately it is up to you to decide how you implement intermittent fasting. I think it helps if you understand why you are doing it, what your health goals are, choose a fasting style and protocol that aligns with this, and learn from those who are following the same way. Otherwise, you will be confused, because different people practice IF in different ways.