Intermittent fasting is not a diet, it’s a pattern of eating. More importantly, it's a way of life. It really has nothing to do with the foods you can eat, but when you eat them.
Relatively simple and straightforward, the most popular way to intermittent fast is the 16/8 Method. This involves skipping breakfast and eating only within an 8-hour period of the day while fasting for the other 16. But the question we often get asked, is what are you allowed to drink during those other 16 hours, in order to not break your fast and lose weight more effectively? We are going to cover fasting-friendly drinks and let you know if Gatorade Zero or Aloe Vera juice will break your fast.
RELATED ARTICLE: Intermittent Fasting: How To Lose Body Fat And Detox In 5 Easy Steps
IF Disclaimer:
Because intermittent fasting does not have extensive research conduction, conclusive evidence is hard to come by. There are studies coming out recently that provide consumers with more scientific evidence that supports what you can and cannot drink, but at this time, the more simple you can keep what you drink, the better.
Save your flavored drinks during the fed state and later in the day when you're consuming food and keep it simple in the morning. Remember the overall goal is to improve your body's system by giving it a natural reboot. Intermittent Fasting is not a one-size-fits-all lifestyle by any means. But it's certainly worth a try!
What Should You Drink During Intermittent Fasting
The following beverages are intermittent fasting-friendly drinks that will help you lose weight most effectively and efficiently, promoting cellular detoxification, a healthy gut, and aiding in metabolic reset.
1. Purified Water or Electrolyte Water
If it’s hard for you to drink water, then mix it up. You can have carbonated water, or water with electrolytes, to help fight increased fatigue.
Our recommendation, add pink Himalayan salt or rock salt to prevent hyperthyroidism. Including salt and potassium could bring your energy back and reduce fatigue levels. Drink bottled, distilled, or filtered water for added minerals.
2. Baking Soda
No, we’re not joking. Believe it or not, baking soda has some amazing health benefits. Drinking baking soda during your intermittent fast can help digestive issues, bloating, fatigue, muscle soreness, and also aids in stomach acidity and pH levels. Not only that but sodium bicarbonate, is your body's natural lactic acid buffer, helping with the delay of muscle fatigue.
Add 1tsp with water and choke it down
3. Glauber’s Salt
Also known as Sodium Sulfur Decahydrate or neutral salt with a pH balance of 7. This bad boy is traditionally used as a mild laxative but is very effective in helping your intermittent fast.
Drink 5-20g of Glauber's salt with any of the beverages below during your intermittent fast to help reduce bloating and cleanse your digestive tract
4. Herbal Teas
Herbal teas taste great and can be extremely calming and soothing after your workout, or at the end of the day. Herbal teas can help stabilize hunger and detoxify your body, help with sleep, reduce inflammation, strengthen your immune system, and reduce body fat.
Try drinking Green Tea, Oolong, Mint Tea, White Tea, or Rooibos during your intermittent fast to help with hunger and cravings
5. Coffee
I didn’t put this first on the list for a reason. To scare the shit out of you. And yes, it worked. Coffee is life for most of us, especially when you intermittent fast, you can keep drinking this ethnic beauty. Coffee helps burn body fat, has laxative properties, controls better blood sugar regulation, and polyphenol count.
RELATED ARTICLE 6 Sources Of Caffeine Other Than Coffee
Drink your coffee black during your fast. Boring is better.
6. Apple Cider Vinegar
The secret ingredient to your intermittent fast is using Apple Cider Vinegar. Apple Cider Vinegar has antibacterial properties, no calories, and some superstar minerals such as (potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium) which kills bad gut bacteria, and helps reset your metabolism. Apple cider vinegar in water makes for a fasting-friendly drink. Not only does it not break your fast, but it also enhances it.
RELATED A Complete Guide To Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar During Intermittent Fasting
Take 1-2tsp with water and lemon juice in the morning to regulate blood sugars and digestion, to increase insulin sensitivity.
7. Fasted Lemon and Cayenne Pepper Water
Drinking warm lemon water with non-irradiated cayenne pepper doesn't break your fast. Lemon Juice and cayenne pepper both have anti-fungal, detoxifying, and immune boosting properties. It’s really the best way to start your day if you're doing Intermittent Fasting for Body Cleansing and Purification properties. If you don't believe that this combination won't break your fast, opt for one of the previous options.
RELATED: The FREE Step By Step Guide To An Intermittent Fasting Detox For Weight Loss
We recommend drinking this fasting-friendly drink mixture with a straw so that you don't cause unnecessary erosion from the acidity of the lemon to your tooth enamel. Your dentist will thank you.
What Should You Not Drink During Your Intermittent Fast
As a general rule of thumb, you should stay away from beverages with sweeteners, since they will cause your body to produce an insulin response (exactly what we're trying to stay away from, during the fasted state). This means that you can not drink any sports drinks including Gatorade, Vitamin Water, Bai, Kill Cliff, Fit Aid, etc. We also do not suggest drinking green drinks, as they will break your fast.
During the fasted state, your body cannot ingest anything with caloric value. That means no juice, no milk, no protein shakes, no milkshakes, no smoothies. Once in a fasted state, your body will increase its ability to burn body fat and reduce your appetite. The first few days can be challenging, but after that, you’ll experience no difference in hunger levels and you’ll actually adapt to the absence of food relatively quickly.
Common Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About What To Drink While Intermittent Fasting
Can You Drink Alcohol While Fasting?
Do not drink alcohol during your fast. Alcohol contains calories, sugar, and carbohydrates, which will definitely break your fast, putting you into a fed-state. If you decide to drink alcohol, do it during your feeding window.
Does Cinnamon Break Intermittent Fasting?
Studies suggest that cinnamon actually stabilizes glucose response, which is one of the main goals of intermittent fasting. Cinnamon does not spike blood glucose or insulin levels, therefore, adding cinnamon to your coffee or tea could, in fact, enhance your intermittent fasting results.
Does Diet Soda Break A Fast?
Even though diet soda does not contain any calories, it will inhibit your fasting results. Anything that has a sweet taste, may elicit an insulin response, which will indeed break your fast.
Does Cayenne Pepper Break A Fast?
Cayenne pepper has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and detoxifying properties, that will only help your fast not break it.
Does Aloe Vera Juice Break A Fast?
Aloe vera juice will not break a fast and is a great addition to your intermittent fasting. Aloe has trace elements of vital vitamins, minerals, and amino acids which will help boost your fast.
Do Electrolyte Drinks Like Gatorade Zero, Powerade Zero, and Vitamin Water Zero Break A Fast?
Technically since these electrolyte drinks have no calories and no effect on blood glucose levels, they will not affect your intermittent fasting results. However, the point of intermittent fasting is to also trigger autophagy the process of cellular cleansing. The more natural and simple you can keep your fast, the better.
What You Can Drink During Intermittent Fasting: Takeaway
Of course, you don't HAVE to drink any of these things during your intermittent fast, besides water (duh) if you don't want to. These additional fasting-friendly drinks will simply make your intermittent fast more effective in detoxifying your body so that you can reset your metabolism and lose weight faster.
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