How NOT to Break an Intermittent Fast

September 17, 2020 Dr Daryl Gioffre

I don’t think a week goes by that I don’t get at least one question about intermittent fasting.

And for good reason. In case you aren’t familiar, intermittent fasting is one of the hottest weight-loss phenomenons out there right now.

Today, we’ll talk about how to succeed at intermittent fasting, why it can be such a valuable tool for your health, and I’ll answer the #1 question I get asked – what foods and drinks do NOT break a fast.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

It’s a technique where you restrict your eating to a specific window of time each day, for as few or as many days as you like.

But let’s clear up one misconception right now… Intermittent fasting is NOT a diet like many people are led to believe, although it can lead to weight loss.

In reality, it’s a way of incorporating the healthy alkaline lifestyle you are already on the road to achieving in a specific way or schedule to have a more beneficial impact on your body. It boosts your results.

What Does a Day of Intermittent Fasting Look Like?

It’s pretty simple. You can do this by simply timing your meals and allowing for regular periods of fasting. I recommend you select your own unique 8-hour window to eat, and you fast the remaining 16 hours. 8 is the magic number, but you can start with a 12-hour window, work your way to 10, and eventually to 8.

YOU are in control. It is not as intimidating as it sounds.

You can decide if your window is 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM, or whatever time works for you. Basically, you want it to accommodate your personal schedule and routine.

What Are the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?

If done correctly, intermittent fasting can have a very powerful impact on your health, your weight, your energy, and ultimately, your longevity.

There are numerous studies on the advantages of doing intermittent fasting. For example, research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 2011 annual scientific sessions found that this type of fasting triggered a 1,300% increase in human growth hormone in women, and a 2,000% increase in men. In addition, people in the study slept better, they had higher energy, better mental clarity, and they felt healthier overall.

Other benefits of intermittent fasting include:

Promotes healthier gut microbiota (the good bacteria in your digestive system)
Normalizes insulin sensitivity, which is essential for optimal health and lowering the risk of diabetes and even cancer
Lowers triglyceride levels
Reduces inflammation and lessens free radical damage, which comes from too much acid in your lifestyle
Promotes memory functioning and learning
Detoxifies and alkalizes your body
Promotes muscle growth and improves your metabolism, which in turn, helps fat loss.

It’s an excellent way to reboot your metabolism so that your body can start burning fat as its primary fuel source, instead of sugar or carbs, which so many of us are currently burning instead. That’s what will help you lose weight faster, burn belly fat, and keep weight off.

So intermittent fasting helps you lose weight by increasing enzymes that burn fat, and your body becomes far better at using stored fat as your primary fuel source, rather than relying on carbs and sugar as a quick fix for energy.

It really is a daily mini detox.

How Do You Get Started?

It may take a few weeks to adjust to this lifestyle. It has to be done gradually. So start easy, one day a week, or again, start with a 12-hour or 10-hour window and really listen to your body’s needs.

It may take a few weeks or so before you shift to fat-burning mode, but once you do, the benefits are endless.

One of the great things about intermittent fasting is that how often you do it is entirely up to you. There is no wrong way to do it. You can do it one day a week, a few days of the week, or you can do it almost daily if you’re trying to lose weight./p>

You also want to cheat! Yes, that’s right. If you don’t take a day at least once a week for a “cheat day” or what I prefer to call a “feast day,” your body is going to think it’s in starvation mode and hold onto fat.

So cheating is actually good for you!

Some people take off 1 out of every 5 days, some take a feast day on Saturdays, and some have great success with fasting every other day or a couple of days a week. So find what works for you and don’t be afraid to try different schedules.

What Do You Eat During Your Eating Windows?

During the 8 hours that you can eat, you can eat as much as you want. I recommend you make smart and healthy food choices every time. Ideally, you will eat alkaline foods 80% of the time, and acid-forming foods no more than 20% of the time.

Here are foods that are great for intermittent fasting:

Quinoa
Chickpeas and hummus
Ezekiel bread
Leafy greens
Pacific wild-caught salmon
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Raw nuts like almonds, cashews, and macadamia nuts
Raw nut butters (except peanut butter, which you should always avoid)
Chia seeds
Flax
Unsweetened coconut flakes
Avocados

Healthy fats are easily metabolized for energy, and are essential to getting your body into a fat-burning state.

What Foods and Drinks Will NOT Break the Fast?

One of the most awesome things about intermittent fasting is that even when you’re fasting, there are a few things you can eat and drink that will NOT break your fast.

Just to be clear… Most foods will break the fast, with carbs and sugar being the biggest and baddest ways to break your fast. So you want to avoid anything that’s not on this list during your fasting hours.

Here are the foods that won’t break ketosis for either weight loss or detoxing purposes:

Water With Lemon or Lime

You definitely SHOULD drink water during your fasting hours. You don’t want to get dehydrated. And adding a squeeze or slice of fresh lemon, lime, or even grapefruit will not break your fast. They are so low in carbs and sugars that they don’t have an effect on ketosis, but they do have an alkalizing effect, so they’re a great addition to alkaline water.

Stevia will also not affect your fast, so you can actually make a little intermittent fasting lemonade with lemon and a few drops of organic liquid stevia. Yum!

Tea

Any herbal tea is completely okay during your fasting hours. Even green or black teas will not break your fast, but they are mildly acidic, so I recommend avoiding or at least minimizing them during fasting hours.

Chia Gel

This is a great tip! Chia seeds in water will deliver protein, fiber, healthy fats, and minerals. If you’re feeling really hungry or constipated, this is an easy solution.

This can be a substitute for not using protein powder, which does break a fast, after a workout. Almond milk, cashew, and coconut milk also break it so you want to avoid those.

The recipe in all of our 7-Day Cleanse Recipe Guides is:

1 cup filtered water
2 tbsp. chia seeds (black or white)
Let them combine for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally. You can double the recipe and keep leftovers in the fridge.

Supplements

Other than protein powder, any supplement taken with water is fine during your fasting hours. So if you’re not eating until noon, you can still take Black Seed Oil first thing in the morning, for example. Or if you’ve stopped eating for the day, it’s okay to take Daily Omega-3 near bedtime.

Two supplements I want to call special attention to are…

Daily Greens – Absolutely start your day off with Greens in water! This is going to hydrate you, energize you, and keep you going until your eating window begins.
Daily Minerals – Most people will have ended their eating window before it’s time to take Minerals in water 30 minutes before bed. In fact, I encourage you to end your window a couple of hours before bed. But you can definitely still take your Minerals without breaking your fast and it will actually help your body detox overnight.

Coffee (With a Caveat)

It’s fair to say that black coffee does not break a fast. But with that said, it does fill you up with serious acid hours before you eat anything – not a good way to start your day. And coffee with any creamer, sugar, or anything else added absolutely breaks the fast!

So only coffee with a scoop of Acid Kicking Coffee Alkalizer will keep you in fasting, alkalizing, and detoxing mode.

Acid-Kicking Coffee Alkalizer is a powder supplement that turns creamy and slightly sweet when you add it to your coffee, but it does so much more than that.

It delivers plant-based, clean keto fats, acid-fighting minerals, pure Himalayan pink mineral salts, and enzymes to optimize brain-boosting energy, suppress hunger, and burn body fat throughout your day.

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GET OFF YOUR ACID!

Dr. Daryl