I genuinely thought whole milk will break a fast however, I am reading the complete guide to fasting by Dr Jason Fung and it seems to list whole milk as something you can add to coffee.
Here is the list from the book of what he says you can add to coffee
• Coconut oil • Medium-chain triglyceride oil (MCT oil) • Butter • Ghee • Heavy whipping cream (35% fat) • Half and half • Whole milk • Ground cinnamon, for flavor
Does anyone have any opinion on this?
Dr. Fung’s specialty is diabetes treatment through diet. He focuses on insulin spikes as the primary guideline for permissibility as a result.
This sub focuses on water only and maybe electrolytes.
Major in majors. Minor in minors.
If I recall correctly, Fung counts anything under 200 calories as not breaking a fast, at least his version of it. I don’t remember his reasoning, but as another poster said, it may have something to do with insulin response. Fung’s primary concern is insulin.
I did IF for a few years drinking milk in my coffee during my fasting period. I have recently found more success drinking my coffee and tea black. I find it’s easier to stay fasted without it, sadly.
That said, Fung was also targeting people with very little experience in any kind of successful dieting. If a little cream in your coffee helps you get started and stay on track, go for it.
There is some research that suggests extreme calorie restriction may give the same benefits of fasting. I fast and I also have extreme calorie restrictions days. If I consume anything with calories it is an extreme cal restriction day for me. Both methods benefit my body so I chose what works best for me at the time.
Depends on your goals with the fast. For a true fast you would be consuming zero calories and only water/ supplements.
This community has like a million posts so really this info is already available on here. Would recommend searching previous posts, before posting as you would have found 100’s of posts on this topic.
I know people worship fung but he really isn’t the best for advice, end of the day his speciality is the kidneys, he now makes money of scamming people.
“• Coconut oil • Medium-chain triglyceride oil (MCT oil) • Butter • Ghee • Heavy whipping cream (35% fat) • Half and half • Whole milk • Ground cinnamon, for flavor” all this adds calories, causes an insulin response, and will 100% brake a fast.
I mean if weight loss is your only goal then sure go for it, don’t know why anyone wants a fatty coffee but hey if you need extra help to poo then sure. But you won’t get the fasting benefits at all
Putting any of those things in your coffee will technically break a fast. Idk…maybe it’s good for people starting out with fasting because it will help stave off hunger for longer.
I’d say if your doing a pure fast none of those things are ok. That being said if you’re putting some milk in your coffee and fasting that’s better than the alternative
He must be referring to keto, a fasting mimicking diet.. not an actual fast.
On keto you have high fats and protein, keeping carbs low and therefore insulin low too. Your body goes into ketosis and turns fat to glucose through gluconeogenisis. Because insulin stays low, you burn fat for fuel, which mimics a fast - thus, he’s referring to things you can eat on Keto, which are all the ones you mentioned, as long as they don’t have added sugar.
Actually everyone on the previous page of this book it also says this.
You can consume up to six cups of coffee on a fasting day. The coffee may be caffeinated or decaffeinated. Black coffee is preferable, but you can add up to 1 tablespoon of certain fats to each cup of coffee if you wish (see the list of permitted fats below). Also, you can have unsweetened iced coffee: simply brew your coffee as usual and then refrigerate it or pour it over a cup of ice.
He does say 1 tablespoon. So that must be the thing.
So if you read his book (or it may be in one of the others, I am not sure) he says that he allowed people a “splash” of cream in their coffee if they need it. He states that the calories and such is negligible in the long run so it’s fine. He does work with mostly obese people though, so it just depends on what you want to do.
I fast and put heavy cream from my local dairy farm in my coffee. I have yet to notice it causing any issue with my weight loss. I am very obese though and my main goal right now is to get my weight down. So I don’t consider it breaking my fast at this point.
Hmmm thanks for the replies everyone.
Can I assume then broadly speaking that by reading some of these replies that if your primary goal is Autophagy then we should really avoid the milk and stick to a stricter fast. ?
Whilst if primary goal is programming the body to learn to burn fat then the main goal is to keep insulin low in which a bit of milk won’t hurt. ??
Are you sure this wasn’t something he said you can have to break a fast?
What page was this on?
Or was this something healthy to have for an intermittent fast? I don’t believe he says you can have high calorie foods on a water fast lol