Don't worry, there are plenty of beverages you can enjoy, just make sure you avoid the caloric additives such as sugar, cream, and syrups. Intermittent fasting involves eating at certain times and not eating at other times. It trains your body to burn fat.
Before beginning, you may want to consult your doctor to make sure your feeding days include the nutritional food you need for good health. Here is some information to help you stay hydrated during your fast.
Can You Drink Coffee During Intermittent Fasting?
Black coffee, either caffeinated or decaffeinated has no calories and may help you burn fat faster by increasing ketone production.
Studies also show that it may help stabilize blood sugar if used over a long period. If you want the benefit but can’t stand black coffee, try adding some spices such as cinnamon to make it more palatable, but stay away from sugar and cream or milk.
This goes for tea too.
Can You Drink Water During Intermittent Fasting?
Not only can you drink water, but you should also make it a point to drink it throughout the day. You can even drink sparkling water or infuse your water with lemon, lime, orange or cucumber slices.
The definition of water is just that, only water. It does not include artificially-sweetened bottled water, which may interfere with your insulin levels and work against the benefits of intermittent fasting.
Can You Chew Gum During Intermittent Fasting
You can chew sugarless gum during your non-feeding days, but there are some things you should know first.
It is a technical break of the fast, but so small that it is considered negligible. For some people, the saliva it generates triggers hunger and makes it harder to complete the fasting hours. For others, it makes the fasting hours easier because your mouth is busy.
The answer is, chewing gum during the fasting hours is a personal decision.
Can You Drink Alcohol During Fasting?
Studies show that drinking alcohol during the fasting hours may decrease insulin sensitivity and inhibit fat burning. To make a long story short, instead of burning fat, your body will consume the alcohol for energy basically negating any positive effects of your fasting hours.
Remember, training your body to burn fat is the aim of your intermittent fasting. You can plan ahead, and on days you want to drink alcohol, make sure you are in feeding hours.
For example, if you have eight hours to eat from four in the afternoon to midnight, you can drink during that time.
Having said that, some proponents of intermittent fasting claim that a small amount of dry wine, whiskey or vodka will not be very harmful to your fasting if you are not combining it with food.
Can You Drink Milk During Fasting?
Milk is full of carbohydrates and lactose, which is sugar. You should avoid milk during your fasting hours. While coconut and almond milk may have fewer carbs, they do have calories and should also be avoided.
Can You Drink Lemon Water While Fasting?
As mentioned above in the water category, water infused with a slice or twist of lemon adds flavor to the water and is an excellent way to stay hydrated. Remember, it's fine as long as it's not lemonade. Lemonade is loaded with sugar.
Can You Drink Apple Cider Vinegar While Intermittent Fasting?
Drinking apple cider vinegar diluted in filtered water is an excellent remedy for many health concerns and is also a tasty beverage during intermittent fasting. It is loaded with potassium and other nutrients.
Some of the possible benefits of drinking apple cider vinegar during your fasting hours may be boosting metabolism, producing healthy gut bacteria, helping prevent cancer and improving skin health.
Can You Drink Tea During Intermittent Fasting?
As with coffee, you can drink regular tea without sugar, cream or milk. There are many types of tea, including green tea and herbal tea that give you a wide variety of beverages from which to choose.
You can drink them hot or cold, so they are suitable for just about every occasion. Caffeine drinks such as coffee and tea may give you a boost of energy when you first start intermittent fasting before your body gets used to burning fat.
What's the Best Tea for Intermittent Fasting?
The best tea to drink during intermittent fasting is any unsweetened tea, including plain green tea, black tea, or ginger tea.
Can You Drink Energy Drinks During Intermittent Fasting?
Energy drinks are either loaded with sugar or artificial sweeteners. Since artificial sweeteners may spike insulin, it’s better to avoid massive doses of it which you will find in energy drinks and diet sodas. If you want a caffeine boost during your fasting hours, stick to black coffee or tea.
A small amount of stevia for no-calorie sweetening won’t break your fast.
And as according to Nutritionist Autumn Bates, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla powder, and cinnamon can add a little flavor to your beverage without breaking your fast.
Can You Drink Diet Soda During Intermittent Fasting?
Diet soda is okay in moderation, but you don't want to overdo it. In some cases artificial sweeteners can trigger cravings for more sugar, as according to the Scientific American. You're probably better off avoiding diet soda.
Will Stevia Break Your Fast?
Because Stevia doesn't contain any protein or carbohydrates that might trigger an insulin spike, a little bit in your coffee shouldn't hurt. Stevia should be helpful as you transition away from habitual sugar intake.
Can You Drink Coconut Water while Fasting?
Items such as almond milk and coconut water both are very high in sugar. As sugar provides carbs, as soon as you drink these items, your body is no longer fasting. You should avoid these kinds of refreshments while fasting.
What Should You Drink During Intermittent Fasting?
Water is the number one drink for intermittent fasting. It can be sparkling or plain and flavored with an infusion of fresh fruit. Black tea or coffee and apple cider vinegar diluted with filtered water are also good options and may even enhance your fasting hours by helping your body burn fat.
Conclusion
With different types of intermittent fasting available, one drink may be suitable for one and not for another. This list only covers the basics and for greater detail you should consult a licensed nutritionist.
There may be many health benefits to intermittent fasting that are connected to how you practice it and weight loss is just one. The important thing is to make it work for you. It may be easier to maintain on a regular basis than other types of weight-loss programs because you can eat many of the things you love.
However, you also need to step up the nutrition in your diet and practice healthy eating during your feeding periods. Remember, water is your best friend all day, every day. It fills you up, (albeit for a short time, but still) and keeps your cells hydrated, which is a very good thing.
