If you're looking to achieve a weight loss goal with Intermittent Fasting, it's crucial to analyze the types of liquids you're having during your fast. Some liquids will help your fast while others will break your fast (and reverse your progress).
Today I'm sharing the 10 best liquids to drink while Intermittent Fasting for fat loss.
What Can You Drink While Intermittent Fasting?
What you can drink during your Intermittent Fast will largely depend on what your goal with Intermittent Fasting is. If you're looking to maximize gut healing and stimulate the Migrating Motor Complex (our internal gut cleaning process), it's crucial to only consume water and unsweetened tea or coffee.
One of the main perks of Intermittent Fasting is that it naturally allows insulin to stay low during the fast.(1) This allows lipolysis (fat breakdown) to stay on. If you're looking to maximize fat burning, you can be a bit more flexible with the liquids consumed during your fast. With fat burning as the emphasis, it's crucial to focus on not spiking the storing hormone insulin. The main food sources that spike insulin are carbohydrates and protein. Anything that is added to your coffee or tea during the fast must come from a pure fat source in order to keep insulin from spiking and maintain the fat burning state.
Can You Drink Juice While Fasting?
Fruit or vegetable juices are primarily going to be made of carbohydrates. Fruit juices are particularly high in simple sugars that can cause insulin to skyrocket and break your fast. Regardless of if your goal with Intermittent Fasting is fat loss or gut healing, any types of juices must be had during the eating window -- and fruit juices should be greatly reduced, if not eliminated completely during the eating window due to its high insulin spiking potential.
The 10 Best Liquids To Drink While Fasting For Fat Loss
Now that we've established that basics around what to drink during your Intermittent Fast and why, let's dive into the top 10 liquids to drink while fasting for fat loss.
Water
Water is crucial to consume during a fast because as insulin drops, the kidneys start to release both water and electrolytes. A good rule of thumb is to aim for drinking half your body weight in ounces of water per day. If you're exercising, you may want to add an additional 16-20 ounces to this number.
Sparkling Water (no additives)
Sparkling water that doesn't contain any additives or sweeteners is a great way to switch up your usual hydration routine during your fast.
Black Coffee
Black, unsweetened coffee contains nearly zero grams of carbohydrates or protein, making it an excellent option to sip on during your fast.
Unsweetened Tea
Just like black coffee, unsweetened tea can be used during the fasting period.
Keto Coffee
If you're new to Intermittent Fasting and haven't quite adapted yet to the fast, Keto Coffee is a great option for you. Keto Coffee contains pure fat ingredients of grass-fed butter and coconut oil. This means it won't spike the storing hormone insulin, allowing the body to stay in "fat burning" mode longer. The fats in the coffee can also help to reduce hunger and make it easer to transition into Intermittent Fasting.
Keto Tea
Keto Tea is very similar to Keto Coffee, except that it uses tea! You can make Keto Tea with black tea, green tea or white tea. You can even make a Keto Matcha Latte with the video above!
Herbal Tea
Herbal tea (such as chamomile) does not contain any caffeine and can be used during the fasted state if no sweetener is added in. Mint tea made by simmering mint leaves in hot water can even help act as a natural appetite suppressant in the evening after dinner.
Diluted Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar diluted in water will not break a fast. In fact, strategically sipping on diluted apple cider vinegar right before you break your fast may even help improve fasting blood glucose levels.(2) This is why The Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle utilizes a diluted apple cider vinegar drink, called the ACV Sipper, 15 minutes before breaking the fast.
Coffee with 1 Tbsp. Heavy Cream or Half and Half
One tablespoon of heavy cream or half and half contains less than 1 gram of carbohydrates or protein combined. As long as 1 Tbsp. or less of heavy cream or half and half is used in coffee, this can be had during the fasting period.
Tea with 1 Tbsp. Heavy Cream or Half and Half
Just like with coffee, you can also opt for 1 Tbsp. heavy cream or half and half in your tea.
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Your Nutritionist,
Autumn
Autumn Elle Nutrition