Coffee or Caffeine-free during Fasting?
Coffee or caffeine-free during fasting? The answer is black and white and the coffee always black!
One of the most benefits of fasting is ketosis: your body’s use of fat as the main source of energy production. So the question is : does coffee break your fast?
The answer is more complicated than yes or no! And it has to do with metabolic adaptation and moderation.
With 1 or 2 cups of black coffee a day, most people stays in ketosis (or fat burning state), as long they are healthy and have not been diagnosed with diabetes* or with caffeine sensitivity**.
However, caffeine may delay ketosis. It can temporarily raise your levels of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These can in turn raise your blood sugar levels. While moderate, this rise may delay ketosis and has a yo-yo effect on your energy and feeling of hunger. So dose and frequency matters. Caffeine also impacts your sleep as it affects your circadian rhythm and lower your production of melatonin.
Coffee may also influence your fast in others ways because coffee is more than caffeine. First, it contains antioxidant that may reduce inflammation and insulin resistance when consumed over time. Some phyto compounds may also increase autophagy (beneficial cellular recycling). But most of coffee beans contain chemicals that affect your detoxification during fasting.
Overall, moderate coffee intake won’t break your fast but may affect your sense of wellbeing, particularly for pre-diabetic or slow metaboliser of caffeine. As the impact of coffee on fasting has not been studied specifically, more research is warranted.
In regards to all the facts above, I do recommended to give a break to coffee during the Vitality Fasting program***. If you decide to make coffee part of your fasting regimen, I do recommend to focus on quality (organic coffee), quantity (one cup a day max) and timing (in the morning).
