This guide will reveal drinks that won’t break your fast and won’t interfere with your weight loss, fat burning, and healing process. Fasting is more popular than ever, not just for weight loss, but also to help reverse insulin resistance, lower inflammation, and even prevent cancer.
But if you’re going to try fasting, you might as well do it right. So you’ll want to make sure you don’t break your fast without even realizing it.
The good news is, you don’t have to suffer through a fast with just plain water. When most people started fasting, they thought everything but water was off limits, so they become miserable.
But you will learn that there is a handful of drinks that won’t break your fast, won’t spike your blood sugar, and may even enhance the benefits of fasting, like better focus and faster weight loss, and more cellular repair through autophagy.
So today we’ll share five delicious drinks that won’t break your fast, but can make it a whole lot easier to get through. And if you’ve ever wondered why some people go all in with dry fasting, no food and no water, we’ll get into that too.
Coffee and Fasting
Does coffee actually break your fast, or can it actually enhance it? So the good news is that plain black coffee has virtually zero calories. That is, usually just a few per cup, which means it doesn’t break your fast. But obviously when you start adding things to it, that makes a difference.
However, it really depends on why you’re fasting. If you’re fasting for weight loss, mental clarity, or metabolic health, you can certainly add a splash of cream to your coffee. Because generally speaking, anything under 10 to 15-ish calories won’t kick you out of your fat burning zone, so it won’t ruin all your efforts.
But if you’re fasting specifically for therapeutic reasons, like cancer prevention, deep autophagy, or an immune system reset, then stick with plain black coffee to stay on the safe side.
When it comes to autophagy, which is your body’s built-in cellular repair process that’s really enhanced when you’re fasting, black coffee may enhance it even further.
A study done back in 2014 found that both regular and decaf ramped up autophagy in mice. And yes, for certain, we’re not mice, but autophagy is actually incredibly tricky to measure in humans, because it happens deep inside your cells, mostly in organs that you can’t just poke and prod at.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have evidence that coffee supports autophagy in humans too.
Coffee is loaded with compounds like polyphenols and something called chlorogenic acid. These have been shown in several studies to reduce inflammation, support mitochondrial health, and even trigger the same stress responses that fasting does.
So especially if you’re fasting for cancer prevention, coffee may actually help with that deep cellular repair you’re after. The benefits of coffee don’t just stop there. Thanks to the chlorogenic acid, it’s also been shown to stimulate stem cell production, improve your gut microbiome to lower inflammation, and it gives you antioxidants to support your immune system.
Now if you’re fasting for weight loss, one study even found that it boosts fat oxidation and energy expenditure by up to 11%.
So basically it means it helps your body tap into its fat stores while you’re fasting. It’s amazing.
Infused Water
When you’re fasting, plain old water gets boring really fast. So that’s where infused water comes in. It’s exactly what it sounds like.
Water that’s been infused with natural flavors by soaking slices of fruit, herbs, or veggies in it for just a subtle flavor. And you can get creative and do things like lemon and cucumber water, orange and mint, or ginger and lime. You’re not actually eating the fruit or drinking the juice from it.
You’re just letting the natural flavors seep into the water. So there’s virtually no calories. Now you may have heard that lemon water can break a fast.
Technically a slice of lemon has two to three calories. So unless you’re squeezing in an entire lemon or chugging lemon juice, those trace amounts aren’t going to spike your insulin or break your fast in any meaningful way. And something most people don’t realize is that fasting can make you really dehydrated.
When you fast, your insulin levels fall, which is a great thing for your metabolic health. But when your insulin levels are low, it tells your kidneys to get rid of excess water and sodium. And then you start burning through your glycogen stores, which is the sugar stored in your liver and muscles, and your body releases more water with it, leading to more fluid loss.
So that’s why people complain of getting headaches or feeling lethargic or even constipated if you don’t drink enough water while you’re fasting.
It is highly recommended that you keep a big pitcher of infused water in the fridge. It feels fancy and it tastes amazing.
Herbal Teas
Herbal teas typically contain zero calories, so they won’t break your fast, but a lot of them also have a ton of health benefits. For example, peppermint tea.
It can help to relax the muscles in your digestive tract, which eases bloating and discomfort while your system is resetting. Or chamomile tea that’s known to reduce inflammation. That’s huge for helping with cellular repair.
And then there’s ginger tea that can help with nausea and even support insulin sensitivity. Or dandelion root tea that acts like a natural tonic, so it can help your body flush out toxins during your fast. Obviously these teas aren’t miracle cures, but why not try them to make fasting a bit easier and more effective.
Diluted Apple Cider Vinegar
ACV is amazing. Even in small doses, it can bring you big benefits. When it’s diluted in water, ACV has almost zero calories, like maybe three to five per tablespoon. So again, it won’t spike your insulin, it won’t stop your fat burning, or disrupt ketosis, or most of the benefits you’re fasting for.
So unless you’re on a super strict water only fast, ACV is fair game, and it’s worth trying because;
- It can improve your insulin sensitivity, making your body more efficient at burning carbs when you do eat.
- It helps to stabilize your blood sugar, especially if you have it just before eating.
- It helps with digestion because it stimulates your stomach acid and your gut-friendly enzymes.
- Some people say that it actually helps to curve their cravings during a fast.
Just a word of caution though, it is pretty acidic, so you should stay away from it if you’re experiencing any sort of nausea or stomach upset.
Bulletproof Coffee
Bulletproof coffee is actually a bit controversial, but it’s very popular amongst the keto crowd. It’s controversial because some people say it does break a fast, while others say it doesn’t.
So why is that? Well, traditional bulletproof coffee is made with black coffee, grass-fed butter or ghee, and MCT or coconut oil. So it definitely has calories, anywhere from 100 to 300, depending on how generous you are with the fats.
So technically, bulletproof coffee does break a fast in the literal sense, but it doesn’t necessarily break a metabolic fast.
It doesn’t spike your insulin, and it doesn’t kick you out of ketosis, so it doesn’t interrupt some of the main benefits of fasting, like fat burning, appetite suppression, or mental clarity.
A lot of people find that fasting is so much easier with bulletproof coffee. And the healthy fats actually give your brain a boost, keep your energy level steady, and can get rid of food cravings so you can fast for longer.
But again, if you’re fasting for deeper autophagy and cancer prevention, consuming that many calories will slow down autophagy, it won’t support stem cell regeneration, and you likely won’t benefit from the gut healing or immune system reset that you can get from fasting without calories.
Dry Fasting
This is like the next level version. No tea, no black coffee, not even a sip of water. This one is not for the faint of heart.
So why do people do it? Well, some say that dry fasting really ramps up healing and activates autophagy even faster when you’re not consuming anything. There is some early research and a lot of personal stories that suggest that putting your cells under that kind of stress may actually speed up cellular repair. But the thing is, it’s definitely not for everyone.
When you go without water, things can go sideways pretty quickly. Dehydration, headaches, dizziness, even strain on your kidneys. And that risk goes up if you’re new to fasting, or you live somewhere really hot, or if you’re super active.
And if you have any medical conditions, especially kidney or blood pressure issues, dry fasting is definitely something to approach with caution.
Sure, some people feel even better after a dry fast, but honestly, you don’t need to go to that level of extreme to reap the benefits of fasting. You can still burn fat, lower insulin, and enhance autophagy with a well-hydrated fast using clean, non-caloric drinks like the ones we’ve gone over today.
It’s a much safer and more sustainable way to tap into all of the amazing benefits of fasting. There’s also a few really common mistakes people tend to make when they first start fasting.
Conclusion
Dry fasting or water fasting? which one is better for weight loss, fat burning, and healing? In this guid, we break down the real science behind drinks that will never break your fast.
You discover how dry fasting may increase autophagy and burn fat for water, but also raises risk for dehydration and uric acid buildup. Meanwhile, water fasting offers a safer, more sustainable way to enter ketosis and reset your metabolism.
