Hi everyone, I’m currently on 16/8 fasting and got many questions for you. I find it hard to find answers on the internet and seems like no one seems to have a direct answer.
can i drink naturally flavoured sparkling water or will it breaks the fast?
is black coffee really good while fasting or does it breaks the fast?
i do 16/8, sometimes i start at 20h and sometimes at 22h, but always go for 16 hours. Does it makes it less effective?
if i fast 6 days on 7 is it less efficient? Is there such a thing as a streak or something?
Thanks a lot for your time, i appreciate this awesome community. Keep on fasting!
Flavored water and black coffee wont break your fast, unless it contains certain sweeteners.
I don’t think extending your fasting schedule here and there, would hurt you in anyway.
Here’s a read about “skipping a day” (cheat day) https://simple.life/blog/cheat-day-during-intermittent-fasting/
It depends what you’re fasting for. Naturally flavored sparkling water will cause an insulin response. The FDA definition of “natural flavors” includes a huge list of things, some of which are concerning. They almost certainly produce an insulin response. If you are fasting to have 0 insulin in your system, then they break a fast. However if you are fasting for weight loss, and the La Croix is what’s helping you get through, it’s surely better than not fasting at all.
Black coffee does not create an insulin response, and some studies show it encourages ketosis. It is generally accepted as good to go for any fasting protocol.
If you are fasting for other benefits, like autophagy, we don’t know a ton about it, but what we do know suggests that any insulin response shuts off autophagy. I feel ok about coffee, but it is not well studied. I would not drink “natural flavors” if I was going for autophagy. But you aren’t getting much autophagy in a 16 hour fast anyway, so it may not matter.
I don’t think it matters when you start your 16 hour fast, 16 hours without insulin is 16 hours without insulin. If you are awake for more of it, you are likely burning more calories than when you’re sleeping, so there may be a benefit there, but in general I think most of us are sleeping during our 16 hour fasts so I wouldn’t worry about it.
I realized I might have misunderstood your question; if you were asking if fasting for 20 or 22 hours instead of 16 is ok, yes! It is much better actually. The longer you fast up to about 48 hours, the more benefits you’re getting, and after 48 hours you are getting the same amazing benefits for longer. 16 is just enough to burn through all of your glycogen and maybe burn some fat for an hour or two, depending on what your last meal was and your activity level. Every hour you stay fasted after 16 is likely a straight gain to fat burning.
This is not a popular statement with IFers, but 16 is really a maintenance fast. If you are very overweight you will lose weight doing 16s, but if you want to see results, I’d recommend stepping up to 17s, then 18s, and so on, as you will get a lot more bang for your buck just going a couple more hours due to the need to burn through your glycogen before you start touching fat stores. 42 hour fasts are my favorite for weight loss.
There is some idea of a streak, because insulin sensitivity happens over time. However taking one day off per week is not going to undo what you’ve accomplished.
Hope this helps.