What can you drink during intermittent fasting?

What can you drink during intermittent fasting? 

What can you drink during Intermittent Fasting? People are following many types of diet plans for weight loss. While some weight loss techniques are easy to follow, they mostly do not give apparent results. This is because whenever a person loses some weight, he or she when gets back to a regular diet plan builds up mass again. Intermittent fasting is one of the best ways to get weight loss that does not get reversed easily. This is why many people do intermittent fasting. There are some requirements we need to follow while going for intermittent fasting. 

These questions include what you can drink, what types of foods you should during intermittent fasting, and what other things you need to be careful about. Let’s see some basic concepts behind the purpose of intermittent fasting for weight loss now. 

It aims at achieving the following purposes for a person doing this type of diet. 

• improving health
• burning fat stored in the body
• lowering calorie intake
• allowing tissues to reuse, recycle and repair damaged proteins

It is not advisable for pregnant women, diabetic, and the elderly. This is why you should always consult a nutrition expert before following any diet plan, especially this diet. 

When there is a question of what you can drink during intermittent fasting, you need to consume only those drinks containing no sugar or calories. Fasting friendly drinks are essential to include while following this diet. This is because fasting requires you to eat a food that is very low in calories. We eat calories in quantity so less that the possible calorie intake is around 500 calories per day. So, you need to take care of how you consume these calories in a day while fasting. Drinks can fill up your stomach that can only add to your calories and give you no nutrients. 

Drinks to avoid

There are some drinks high in calories that you should not consume while on intermittent fasting. These include juices without fiber, sugary drinks, canned drinks, carbonated beverages, alcohol, and bear. All of these drinks will cause your calorie intake to get high in a day. There will be less room for foods that are high in nutrition. Moreover, you need to take care of the total intake of your drinks. You mustn't consume many drinks during mealtime. Also, make sure you do not consume too much quantity of drink in one go. This will leave you feeling unable to consume anything when you are supposed to eat. 

These were some things you need to note in your mind for consuming drinks and the way you consume drinks. If you take care of these things, it will be easy for you to follow the diet better. You have to take care of these things to remain healthy as well. It is important as taking drinks high in sugar can make your stomach upset. You can also get diarrhea from them. 

Drinks to consume

These were some drinks you need to avoid while you are doing intermittent fasting. If you want to know which kinds of drinks you need to consume during the intermittent fasting, keep reading. 

Fasting friendly drinks are recommended for this kind of diet. 

Fasting friendly drinks are those having zero calories and no sugar. This means you can drink these beverages without fearing any effects we have explained above. Moreover, you can be confident that you do not get excess calories by just consuming sugary drinks. The following drinks are those that answer your question of what can you drink during intermittent fasting. These drinks are meant to hydrate you in the best way without giving you any calories. 

Coffee

You can take black coffee without any fear during your fasting hours. Black coffee enhances the benefits of it. The addition of a healthy spice in a small amount like cinnamon, turmeric, and nutmeg further adds to its benefits. But caffeine present in coffee facilitates weight loss and boosts metabolism.

Bulletproof coffee

Adding a few drops of coconut oil to your coffee makes it to be formally known as bulletproof. It successfully wards off excessive hunger. You might be doubtful about getting extra calories during your fasting hours. But here the situation is different. Virgin coconut oil has MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides). They have this unique feature as they are not stored up in your body, rather they convert themselves into ketones, yielding instant energy. Thus, it is acting as an amazing appetite suppressor.

Green coffee

Unlike black coffee beans, these are unroasted beans of the coffee plant. They are rich in antioxidants. The Chlorogenic acid present in green coffee enhances the body’s capability for fat burning.

Warning: Some people may complain about symptoms like an increase in heartbeat or upset stomach by drinking coffee on an empty stomach. It causes dehydration, so it should be consumed in moderation.

Tea 

Tea makes your fasting effective and manageable. It enables us to bear as well as delay the hunger pangs by filling your stomach. Black tea is prebiotic and good for gut health. However, excessive consumption affects the body adversely.

Green tea 

Ancient times people considered green tea a health elixir. It helps maintain the ghrelin level in the body, a hormone responsible for these nasty hunger pangs. It is interesting to note that having these hunger pangs does not mean that body needs food. They can be a body response to some biological and environmental stimuli. Balancing of ghrelin level helps your body to deal with this kind of constant appetite.

 Ginger tea

Adding a small piece to ginger to any tea or boiling water does wonder for your digestion and immunity. The thermogenic effect of ginger keeps our metabolism strong making it an efficient fat burner.

Hibiscus tea

For those who want to avoid a caffeine boost, hibiscus tea is an amazing herbal option. It is made from dried hibiscus flowers. The plant contains flavonoids and anthocyanin. These pigments boost fat elimination by reducing the size of the fat cell. This tea is very helpful in weight loss. 

Bone broth

Bone broth or vegetable broth, both are perfect choices to include in a fasting diet. The combination of broth drinking and intermittent fasting reduces inflammation in the body with additional benefits of collagen while fasting. They keep you full and satiated, at the same time, not breaking the fast. Keep in mind that canned broth does not serve its purpose as it contains a high amount of preservatives. The only homemade broth which is strained from fat is the best. Consuming bone broth while fasting enables the body to get maximum benefits.

These were some drinks that are healthy and provide you with nutrients without giving you excess sugars. Therefore, you get health benefits without the fear of cross the calorie restriction in your diet plan. This is a thing very essential to follow in strict diet plans such as intermittent fasting. Therefore, we highly recommend keeping this thing in mind while consuming drinks in the intermittent type of fasting. 

Point to consider

There are some misconceptions regarding some drinks. Many people think some drinks that are especially high in nutrients are safe for drinking during intermittent fasting. The truth is that these drinks are going to give you extra calories. Therefore, you should be avoiding these drinks high in sugar content as much as possible. Some of the drinks with misleading information regarding sugars are the following: 

Fresh juices

There are a lot of misconceptions about having fresh juices while fasting. No doubt, they are natural, healthy, full of vitamins and minerals, but they are loaded with sugar. They do have many calories, and they do interfere with intermittent fasting. Thus, fresh juices are not appropriate to be taken while fasting. On the other hand, they are acceptable options to have during your eating hours.

Diet sodas

“Sugar free” “zero calories” labels on diet soda cans and bottles can be quite misleading. Diet sodas are often loaded with artificial sweeteners. It is better to have them occasionally. However, their constant use hinders the positive results of fasting. Studies show that diet sodas leave a similar impact on insulin production as doing regular sodas. Also, there is an increased risk of high cholesterol, insulin resistance, and obesity. 

Alcohols

It is always better to stay away from alcoholic beverages while fasting. Mostly they are high in calories and sugar content. They increase your appetite and cravings for different types of food. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach doubles the side effects as you might feel awful the next day with dehydration and hangovers.

These were some drinks that you need to avoid as much as possible during your intermittent fasting technique. They will do you more harm than good, and it is always better to avoid such beverages. 

Final word

In short, intermittent fasting requires you to take care of the calories you consume in a day. So, you should only consume foods and drinks that are high in nutrients and are not empty calorie foods and drinks. 

References

• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326312
• https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/9-reasons-why-the-right-amount-of-coffee-is-good-for-you
• https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/sugary-drinks/