Will Having Coffee Break Your Intermittent Fasting?

What are the impacts of having coffee first thing in the morning.

Do you reach out for a cup of coffee the first thing in the morning? Are you worried you will break your intermittent fast by having coffee? The short answer is YES!

Having anything but water will break your fast because it triggers your liver to produce enzymes to help you with digestion.

If you have not tried intermittent fasting yet, read this first:

21 Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting That Will Surprise You!

Now, that being said, if you can’t function, and feel like a zombie without coffee first thing in the morning, then this points out a problem with your circadian cycle.

The circadian cycle is a 24- hour in-built clock based on which our body functions. It is the rise and drop of certain hormones in the body based on the sun’s cycle. For example, you tend to get hungrier and lose self-control post 5 pm. Maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm is very important.

You miss out on a lot of benefits of IF, if you do not first fix your circadian cycle.

Ideally, if you sleep very well, and have a full night of rested sleep, you will never wake up and reach out for coffee. You won’t even feel like having coffee early in the morning. If you see yourself doing this often, you need to fix your circadian cycle.

Wellness Tip for the day

Coffee has become an integral part of so many people's early morning habits. However, drinking coffee right after getting up is actually detrimental.

Coffee elevates the stress hormone cortisol in the body, and further stresses the adrenal glands. This sure gives you a ‘kick’, but also unnecessarily triggers your ‘fight or flight’ response. Acting from this ‘fight or flight’ state interferes with glucose metabolism and leads to more body fat storage.

Instead, work on fixing your sleep cycle. You will not reach out for coffee first thing in the morning.

What does science say?

In a recent study published in 2021, “Beneficial Effects of Early Time-Restricted Feeding on Metabolic Diseases: Importance of Aligning Food Habits with the Circadian Clock,” it was concluded that circadian rhythm is important in the regulation of physiological processes.

Obesity, cardiovascular disease, and insulin resistance are all symptoms of circadian disorder.

Another paper reflected the effect of caffeine in the reduction of insulin sensitivity in healthy people. It stresses how coffee is not helpful in any way to enhance glucose (blood sugar) control.

If you aim to lose weight with intermittent fasting or are fasting for other health reasons, it would be a wise decision not to break your fast with coffee.

A healthier option would be a cup of fruits and half a handful of dry fruits.

Trust this helps,

Roshni Sanghvi.