[AmbieP]

Does anyone here do intermittent fasting? I am thinking of starting it and looking for advice on coffee. I have researched it online, but the opinions are all over the place. Any advice? Or can someone point me in the right direction to find some reading on this?

Thank you!

[Chanticleer]

What about coffee? Do you mean can you drink coffee during the fasting hours?

[AmbieP]

I know you can drink coffee during the fasting hours. Where I am confused is what you can out in it. One blog I read said as long as you stay under 50 calories you are still in the fasting zone, another said 10, and another said to drink it black.

[Chanticleer]

It probably varies depending on the person and on how much coffee you drink. If you have four cups during fasting hours and put 50 calories in each, that's 200 calories. So it probably depends on how strict you want to be about the fasting period. If you keep the calories for the additions at under 50 calories total, that's probably fine. It's not many calories and shouldn't make a huge difference.

I would go with what works best for you. If having coffee with a splash of milk or something helps you, then I would do that.

[EagleRiverDee]

I do 16/8 or 18/6 IF most of the time. Technically to remain in a fasted state and to take full advantage of autophagy and apoptosis, you should keep your calories at zero. So, drink your coffee black. You should avoid artificial sweeteners also, because studies have shown that the mere taste of something sweet spurs the body to release insulin. Insulin is one of two hormones (the other being cortisol) that causes your body to store fat. If your body is in fat storage mode, it can't simultaneously be in fat burning mode. So you want to keep your insulin very low during your fasts. If you feel weak and must have some calories, go with heavy cream in your coffee or another full-fat, zero carb, zero protein "snack". It will at least keep you in ketosis and burning fat.

[AmbieP]

Thank you!