Does Black Coffee Break A Fast?

Does black coffee break a fast?

Don’t sweat it.

Before I answer that question, I’m gonna tell you now that you shouldn’t stress too much about this stuff.

What I mean by that is if you’re even willing to take a break from eating, if you’re willing to skip breakfast and just drink black coffee, that automatically puts you ahead of 95 percent of the population.

You’re way ahead of the game compared to the average Joe who still thinks that shoving food in his mouth every 3 hours will somehow get him his dream body. You know what I mean?

So let’s dive in a little deeper and talk about black coffee first then we’ll look at what you’re allowed to put in your intermittent fasting coffee after. A cup of black coffee has about 1-2 calories. And it’s delicious.

The question is, does black coffee break a fast?? Actually the better question is, does it interfere with the benefits that you’re trying to get from fasting? Well, it really depends on the benefits what you’re looking for.

Can you drink black coffee while fasting?

So let’s look at some common benefits of fasting and how coffee when fasting affects them.

1. Ketosis. Fasting is a quick and easy way to get into ketosis. Another way is by following a ketogenic diet. But when you take a break from eating, your body still requires energy to function, right?

Your basal metabolic rate still needs to be met. So you break down body fat for energy to generate ketone bodies. And that’s where the word ketosis comes from. And if you’re trying to lose weight, and that’s why people fast, that’s exactly what you want. So how does fasting coffee affect ketosis? Well a recent study found that taking caffeine actually increases ketosis in humans. 

2. Insulin sensitivity. Intermittent fasting is one of the best ways to improve insulin sensitivity. And if you’ve been watching my videos, you’ll know that persistently high levels of insulin has a direct correlation to weight gain and eventually, obesity and type 2 Diabetes.

How does coffee do in this regard? Well, according to studies, coffee has a similar effect to fasting when it comes to your insulin. It improves insulin sensitivity and studies have found that the more coffee when fasting you drink, the lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

3. Autophagy. If you’ve never heard of autophagy before, it literally means “self eating”. Think of it as a cleanse on a cellular level. Your body gets rid of old worn out cells and proteins and makes new stronger cells in the process. And this is one of the biggest selling points of fasting because this might be the stuff that prevents cancer and alzheimer’s disease. What activates autophagy? You got it. Fasting.

According to a study done on mice, coffee induced autophagy in the liver, muscle tissue, and heart. But studies on humans are still up in the air about this. Some experts claim that anything but water breaks autophagy. So again, it kinda goes back to what benefit you’re looking for.

If you’re looking for purely body composition changes, then black coffee seems okay. If you’re looking for autophagy, then that’s kinda still up in the air. But  I always say that some benefits of fasting is still better than none.

What are you allowed to add to your coffee?

Well, not a whole lot to be honest. You can add a teaspoon of heavy cream if you want and it shouldn’t break your fast. The reason for this is pure fat has little to no effect on insulin and blood glucose so it shouldn’t break your fast. Just make sure that you don’t go to town on this. There’s a big difference between adding a tablespoon versus turning your cup into a latte.

My general rule is I usually just put enough to change the colour of my coffee. While we’re in the topic of adding cream, almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk are also okay. Just make sure you’re using the unsweetened version.

What about bulletproof coffee?

Bulletproof coffee is one of those biohacking tools that people use to help them get through their fast. And if you’ve never heard of it before it’s when you put butter in your coffee. If you’ve never had one, it’s freaking delicious. But obviously it breaks your fast because you’re ingesting some calories depending on how much butter or MCT oil you put in your coffee. 

But it’s still better than shoving cornflakes down your throat first thing in the morning because again, pure fat has little to no effect on insulin and blood glucose. Right? Again, we’re still talking top 5 percentile here even if you’re putting butter in your coffee. You might not burn as much body fat compared to just drinking black coffee fasting, but you’ll still burn plenty of body fat.

And the reason why people like bulletproof coffee intermittent fasting is it helps them fast longer. Adding a little fat to your coffee can make fasting more tolerable because fat is satiating. If you can only manage 12 hours on black coffee but drinking bulletproof coffee helps you extend it to 16, 20, or even 24, then by all means, add the damn butter to your coffee. To me, that’s biohacking at it’s finest.

Will stevia break a fast?

If you’re someone who’s used to adding sugar to your fasting coffee, switching to black coffee might come as a complete shock to your palette. Right? It takes a little bit of time to adjust but you get used to it eventually. When I’m dealing with my private coaching clients, adherence is more important than anything. That is, if you don’t like what you’re eating or drinking, you’re not gonna stick to it. You know what I mean?

If it helps you stick to your fast, artificial sweeteners like stevia, swerve, and even aspartame are great alternatives to sugar. But it obviously goes without saying that you shouldn’t abuse this stuff. There’s research that goes both ways when it comes to artificial sweeteners but I’m gonna say they they’re okay. Just don’t go overboard with it.

At the end of the day, use artificial sweeteners as kind of a training wheel to help you fast but eventually, you’ll just wanna go without it completely. Otherwise, enjoy your cup of joe!

As always, if this was helpful, share it with a friend who could benefit from it as well!

Need More Help?

Use this simple 4-step process to melt ALL the fat around your stomach and look good shirtless WITHOUT going on a crazy diet or wasting hours at the gym. Get the Lean Body Blueprint here for free!