You might have to eat or drink something or take supplements while fasting, thus breaking the fast from time to time. Learn everything about how foods, drinks, and supplements affect fasting.
From the former times, fasting was popular when people did it to survive, master skills, grow, or even for spiritual purposes. Today, fasting is a fast-popularizing lifestyle since people are more concerned about weight loss and fitness than ever. However, sometimes people take drinks, foods, and supplements between fasts, hence breaking it. Read this article to understand the relationship between foods, drinks, and supplements and breaking a fast.
Understanding intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is a common term in the modern world. It refers to an eating pattern that alternates between periods of eating and not eating or cutting down calorie intake. Typical patterns include 12-16hours of not eating followed by 8-12hours of eating, or fasting for 24-48hours a week without eating anything. Intermittent fasting focuses on when a person eats rather than what he eats. Fasting trains the body to maintain itself and recover even when carbohydrates are unavailable. The process also trains the body to utilize stored fats and help you lose weight. Moreover, intermittent fasting helps keep insulin and blood sugar levels low as there are no new foods to cause shots.
Food options when you are fasting
Fasting typically means a period when you don’t eat. However, you definitely will have to eat something while fasting to curb hunger. According to experts, as long as you keep your carb intake to 50g per day, you are still fasting, and the body still gets to ketosis and utilizes fats. Here are some food options to explore while fasting;
- Water; even as you fast, your body needs to stay hydrated. Water does that exactly and adds no extra calories to jeopardize your fasting.
- Bone broth; as you take water only, you lose electrolytes. To take care of these, take bone broth.
- Tea and coffee; not only help you stay active and energized but are also great for curbing hunger. Although they are better served without additives like cream, sugar, or milk, some people add these to make the drinks tastier.
- Healthy fats; although they break the fast, ketosis still goes on, and the body uses fats. Healthy fats include ghee, coconut, or MCT oil, and butter is equally fine.
- Diluted apple cider vinegar; cravings are a serious challenge whether you are just a novice or pro at fasting. You might find that adding 5-10ml (1-2 teaspoons) of apple cider vinegar to your drinking water helps keep you hydrated and set to fight cravings.
It’s worth noting that bone broth and healthy fats have calories and will significantly affect the fast. However, only small amounts of these still leave ketosis intact.
Supplements and fasting
Often than not, fasting will leave you deficient in certain nutrients. This largely depends on how often and how long you fast. Some people find supplements helpful in countering nutrient deficiencies since they boost mineral and vitamin counts. Like foods with calories, supplements could break fasting. Therefore, it is important to understand these supplements to help you decide whether to take them while fasting or with meals.
- Supplements that might break a fast
Some supplements might disrupt fasting. The list is long and includes;
- Gummy multivitamins; are great supplements, but due to the small amounts of fats, sugars, and proteins in them, they could break a fast.
- Supplements with certain ingredients; pay attention to the ingredient list and look for the following ingredients that will likely break a fast; maltodextrin, fruit juice concentrate, cane sugar, or pectin. These have significant amounts of sugar and calories, which will get into the system and break a fast.
- Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs); while you fast, autophagy is one of the top goals, where you aim to promote replacing dying or damaged cells. However, with BCAAs in your diet, autophagy may be countered.
- Protein powders; are great supplements, but they will make the body take a not-fasting mode since they initiate insulin response.
- Supplements that will less likely break a fast
There are many supplements you can take without jeopardizing your fasting pattern, including;
- Creatinine; lacks calories, and you can take it without breaking your fast or initiating an insulin response.
- Probiotics and prebiotics; most of these contain fiber but not digestible carbs or calories.
- Multivitamins; not all are bad, especially those without fillers and added sugar.
- Pure collagen; will not affect ketosis so much, although autophagy might be slightly affected.
- Particular micronutrients; potassium, and vitamin D, and B, are good supplements that will not break a fast. However, if you wish to try vitamins A, D, K, or E, you should take them with food as that’s when they are best absorbed.
Breaking a fast
When you are set to break a fast, take it slow on your digestive system. Instead of shocking the system with high-fiber, high-fat, or high-sugar foods, concentrate on gentle food options. These are easy to digest and will not result in discomfort. Sodas, cheesy hamburgers, raw nuts, and crackers are just but a few of the foods you should avoid as you break a fast. Here are some food options to try while easing out of a fast;
- Healthy fats; there is a handful of these, including avocados and eggs.
- Soups; instead of taking the heavy-creamed soups or those with lots of raw veggies, do the gentle ones with proteins such as tofu.
- Vegetables; try well-cooked, soft and starchy veggies such as mashed potatoes.
- Fermented foods; include sauerkraut, kefir, and yogurt, are good for breaking a fast.
- Smoothies; besides having the same nutritional value as their corresponding fruits and vegetables, smoothies have smaller amounts of fibers and will not shock your system.
- Dried fruits; including dates, raisins, and apricots, are nutritious and a great way of breaking a fast.
As you ease out of a fasting pattern, keep your food options healthy and ensure they are easily digestible. Over time, your body will get used to normal foods, and you can eat them without difficulty.
Conclusion
The foods, drinks, and supplements you take while fasting are important. Some will technically break the fast but not interfere with ketosis, but others will disrupt ketosis. Therefore, the choice matters. This article focused on how various drinks, supplements, and food choices affect a fast, and knowing what to eat or not eat, and when to do it, as this will help you stay on track. Besides, you also learn what foods can help you ease out of fasting.
