dirty fasting on a tiny bit of fat won’t spike ur insulin too high so you will continue to lose weight (some people report that tiny bit of fat, which is usually less than 50-100 calories per day actually makes them hungrier than if they only water fasted) - only other downside is that you will not have as much autophagy depending on the frequency of the fats you take e.g. if you take a bit of fat every day you’ll get less benefits from autophagy. just depends on what your goals are and what works for you :)
Long term OMADer. I am a clean faster.
I think the premise of dirty fasting is false. That somehow consuming this small amount of nutrition is going to make fasting easier.
News alert - it doesn’t. The longer you fast the deeper the fast. When you consume nutrition the fast isn’t as deep. It’s much more likely to trigger a desire for more versus provide some relief for hunger / cravings.
Now I understand coffee addiction. And people that can’t stomach black coffee. (I had the opposite reaction though - I discovered I love black coffee more than w/ cream). But if it’s a little cream or you won’t fast, have the little cream. But understand it’s having a small impact on the fast.
But if the goal is relief - just one bite of X and I’ll be able to go on. You’re deluding yourself. Is going to make the fasting harder. You’re poking the bear.
>So what do you have to gain by dirty fasting? We’re not entirely sure. Remember, there is very little research on dirty fasting, so we cannot say with any certainty that there are any health benefits, at least scientifically.
Not going into details. But briefly.Your body is either burning fat in your body or burning fat you consume.
If you are new to fasting and your goal is weightloss. Then using broth or a little cream in your coffee as a fasting aid, while you are training your mind and body to fast is not going to kill you or break your fast. Better to fast than not fast, however you get there.
After a while you will get to where you can do water-only fasts with electrolytes and it is much easier than fasting with fasting aids.
You can choose the water-only option or use fasting aids. You do get faster results with water only but how you get there isn’t as important as fasting on a consistent, regular, sustainable basis.
I personally don’t fast longer than 72 hrs because the increase in autophagy peaks at around 72 for most people. Typical for me is 72hr eat a meal. 48hr and eat 2 meals for two days. And roll into another 72 or 3x- 48 hrs. And then I will need a week or two of omad. The fasting isn’t as difficult as the eating because it’s very easy to fast now. I make myself eat or I will get burned out on the fasting and go into starvation mode. So eating on schedule is as important as fasting.
My point is… your body and its requirements change. So go with what works for you and be willing to shift to something else if needed. My body loves homeostasis so I have to change things up to keep my weight where I want it. I have to do the same thing with exercise.
The way I have understood it, is that a dirty fast includes non-calory beverages (apple cider vinegar, coffee, tea or diet soda), while a clean fast includes only pure water. My impression is that adding calories, like cream or broth, even just a little bit, goes beyond that, and could more be viewed as an extremely low calory liquid diet. This sort of fast will still make you lose lots of weight and have healing properties, although not as quickly or much as a no-calory water fast. Neither OMAD or IF are as efficient as extended water fasts either, but many people still prefer those. After all: “The best fast is the one you can stick to”.
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There are research on apple cider vinegar, black coffee and tea that indicates that they increase functions like autophagy. But there are, as far as I know, no research on how this works when combined with fasting. My impression is that taking electrolytes destroys some of the healing benefits of a proper pure water fast anyway, so drinking non-calory beverages instead of pure water doesn’t make much difference. Also, the difference it does make, might be positive. I find fasting while drinking diluted apple cider vinegar and cold brewed herbal tea instead of pure water to be much more enjoyable, and therefore a fast I can easier stick to.
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If adding calories to the fast, my understanding is that it is most important to avoid carbs and ingredients that trigger insulin response, while fat and ingredients that keeps you in ketosis is not as big of a deal, at least when it comes to weight loss. This also applies to the eating windows between fasts, whether the window is once a day or longer stretches between EFs.
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Please comment instead of down voting if I am wrong about any of this. I am still learning.
A dirty fast. One where you add sweeteners, milk, go up to 50ish cals.
A clean fast. One where you drink mostly water with the occasional black unsweetened tea or coffee.
Both help with weight loss as that’s down to a calorie deficit, but only a clean fast will help woth the fasting benefits.
When I was over 300, dirty vs clean didn’t make any impact. Undo 3 hundo and it’s a slightly different story.
My version of “dirty” fasting is taking creamer with my coffee. So far it hasn’t made a huge impact on my weightloss. 75 pounds down while drinking roughly 60 cals of creamer right smack dab in the middle of the fast. (1.5 years progress)
I am plateauing a bit at 275, but thats likely more to do with the holidays and being generally less strict the last 2 months. Once I get back on track for a while I plan on eliminating the sweet coffee to see how much of an effect it has.
dirty fasts are super helpful if you do something likee OMAD but need to take morning meds that are painful on an empty stomach, one serving of something like chobani zero nets out around 60 cals and is a huge difference maker. it may break some of the benefits of a clean fast, but better a dirty fast one can stick to than no fasting at all imo.