Relatively New 16/8 Faster Here

(Omar Agha) #1

Dear Friends,

My question retains to the early mornings, I have had no major issues doing my 1-9pm window for eating and fasting for the rest. Although there is one gripe, I do or did enjoy my early morning coffee, in fact its the only thing I miss.

I feel I need a hot drink in the mornings to help me wake. So what can be drunk in the early mornings without breaking my fast ? Ideally a cup of rosie lee with a dash of milk or coffee with a dash of cream woudl suffice. Reading through google (as you do) there seems to be contradictory information relating to this subject, so I thought Id ask some of you guys.

Currently I am having a fruit tea on its own to address my early morning needs but its not hitting the spotā€¦any help or pointers warmly received.

Thanks

(Allie) #2

Really depends on your reason for fasting?
I prefer to have my eating window early in the day, fits my life better.

(Omar Agha) #3

To help accelerate my Keto impact primarily. I cant eat / drink earlier as I get hungry at night. The window I use works perfectly except for the problem I outlined above.

#4

I drink warm water in the morning but I am so not new to fastingā€¦

Nothing really scratches the itch for coffee, I think. For me, cocoa works but thatā€™s even less okay for fasting. Actually, black coffee is allowed in fast, usually. Some people does pure water fasts but if you want to do that, itā€™s only water for you anyway. I doubt a black coffee cause a problem but we just donā€™t have perfect knowledge about these things so maybe it interferes with some reason for fasting for some peopleā€¦? I like the idea of autophagy but my main goals with IF is eating less (I overeat way too easily so I need every help to eat less) and having it more convenient. One meal a day is super convenient and I like being perfectly satiated all day. So I donā€™t think twice if I fancy coffee (okay, I do think twice now as I want to quit. it doesnā€™t go well but I donā€™t drink coffee ALL day now!) but maybe other people have reasons to stick to pure water. Thatā€™s my end goal (and it goes pretty well, I mostly drink my coffees in/near my eating window) but only because itā€™s easy to do, I wouldnā€™t burden myself with staying away from coffee on top of my other restrictions. Even though coffee doesnā€™t even affect me, it never made me any more awake. So itā€™s less important for me, I just like to drink it.

If you dislike black coffee, I can relate. It took some time to get used to black coffee (I still prefer not black ones except when I use it as medicine, headache or sugar poisoning though I donā€™t do the latter nowadays) but my coffee addicted mind thought itā€™s better black than not at allā€¦ It requires the right, not too bitter coffee (I dislike bitter things. why I like coffee?) and I drink it pretty weak too. So it works. But sometimes I drink tea and usually warm water nowadays. One can change. But it takes time so again, if I really want coffee, I drink coffee.

(Omar Agha) #5

Thanks for that but it doesnt really answer the question as to whether it breaks the fast or not ? If there is even a concrete answer to the question ?!?!

(Allie) #6

As I said, it depends on why youā€™re fasting.

If for fat loss then usually fine, but if for autophagy, not fine as anything containing calories breaks a fast - if you want to be absolutely technical about it.

(Omar Agha) #7

Ah I see, yes just fat loss for me nothing else.

(Allie) #8

Then you should be OK with black coffee, but everyone is different so really best to find what works for you. I know many people drink black coffee regularly during prolonged fasts.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #9

To answer your question directly. Black coffee does not break your fast. If you add stuff to it, like cream, that breaks your fast. Aside from the caffeine, which is not a nutrient, drinking coffee is the same as drinking water. Caffeine stimulates various hormonal reactions, but provides no energy.

#10

I never ever saw a concrete answer. Of it I did, I saw the opposite as well. But the threads about this very topic usually said no one knows this 100% in every cases, itā€™s a mystery.
I like the idea of autophagy and I like clean things to some extent so I make attempts to do water fast - but if itā€™s just way too hard, I drink black coffee. Thatā€™s the best I can do. I personally, without any real reason, think that plain tea and coffee probably canā€™t interfere muchā€¦ But if I keep these from the middle of my fast, I still get some nice amount of perfect water fastsā€¦ Itā€™s good I donā€™t need morning coffee with my dinner OMAD.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

It depends entirely on what you are putting in your coffee. Black coffee contains no calories, and thus would not be a problem. Itā€™s a different story, however, if you are loading it up with all kinds of different fats.

(Bob M) #12

Not to mention what you care about. I skip breakfast, but have a small amount of cream in my coffee. I only drink black coffee when fasting > 24 hours.

I drink 1-1/4 cup of coffee (with cream) and one cup Pu-Erh tea (ā€œblackā€) per day, in the morning.

(Jane) #13

Like others have said - it depends on your fasting goal.

Since you indicated for fat loss, my advice would be to enjoy a bit of cream in your morning coffee. It shouldnā€™t cause much of an insulin response, which the goal of intermittent fasting for fat loss is to minimize it.

If you are in this for the long haul, then enjoy your morning coffee! If you were drinking it all day with cream until you eat I might have different advice, but to get you going in the morning I say go for it.

(Omar Agha) #14

Thanks for all the kind responsesā€¦its helping me get through this minefield.

(Edith) #15

These answers below are from the frequently asked question part of Jason Fungā€™s website.

Can you drink bone broth while you are fasting?

Yes ā€“ I highly recommend bone broth. It contains numerous minerals and vitamins and is quite ā€˜fillingā€™ in terms of reducing hunger pangs. The other benefit is that you can add a good amount of sea salt to it. The other fluids taken during a fast ā€“ water, tea, coffee ā€“ donā€™t have sodium and you can become dehydrated. Mild dehydration, for example, may lead to cramps and headaches during longer fasting.

So, yes, bone broth is highly recommended (recipe). Also very ā€˜Paleoā€™ in the sense that this is a very traditional food with a long tradition.

While fasting is it okay to drink coffee with milk? I canā€™t do black coffee. I have a little milk with my coffee.

Technically, the milk does not fall within the guidelines of a true fast, but the small amount of milk/ cream added to coffee can improve compliance for some people. So in our program, we allow milk/ cream in coffee, but no sweeteners or sugar.

(Laurie) #16

Re cream in coffee: Okay if youā€™re really having a ā€œsmall amount.ā€ I was going through a liter (34 ounces) of cream ā€“ in coffee and other hot drinks ā€“ in less than 2 days. I gained weight and had to stop using it.

(Alec) #17

A small dash of cream goes a long way in a coffee. Keep the quantity small and it will make very little difference to your fasts.

My fasting experience tells me that the important thing is to make the fasts doable and enjoyable. Anything that puts you off doing them needs to be addressed. If that means having a coffee, so be it.
Cheers
Alec

(Bob M) #18

I used to drink bone broth, but it caused some problems, such as extreme hunger. And I only used it when fasting multiple days.

(Kirk Wolak) #19

Most people agree that Black Coffee does NOT break your fast.
But if you put stuff in it, you are doneā€¦ (Avoid the cream)

I put salt in mine, just to remove the bitternessā€¦

#20

Yay, I am not alone (itā€™s some very thin soup though, not exactly bone broth. I cook meaty bones)! I always read itā€™s against hunger, well itā€™s a great way to trigger a meal immediately in my life, I use it for that, sometimes I need food but have less than zero appetite and hard to stomach something solid. It works like a charm every time.

I am not brave enough to try that (though if I do, this is the time as I salt things much more lately. but only the ones that need saltiness) but I put a ton of water into it to remove the bitterness (if itā€™s still bitter, itā€™s the wrong brand). People loving their normal strength coffees would get a shock seeing my translucent coffee :smiley: And I am a Hungarian, we donā€™t normally drink weak onesā€¦ Well, I do.

Wow. Meanwhile I had problems with the 250ml bag as it was too much even for my zillion coffees a day and only lasted for a few days before spoiling. My SO helped so I could handle it somehow (or I converted it into sweetened whipped cream, I can eat a ton of it. But it makes my overeating problems more severe so nopeā€¦)
I am glad I finally stopped using cream. My mealtime coffees are fine with yolk and butter and I can drink black ones. Cream is still the best but has various disadvantages. I MUST drink a ton of coffee to use it up, it raises my calories while not helping with satiation, I need to buy the right amount of cream (short shelf life but not UHT flavor, I used that most of the time but I had emergency UHT cream boxes) during my monthly shoppingā€¦ It made quitting coffee impossible. Not like I quit coffee since I stopped eating cream but the amount is reduced significantly.