For many of us, a hot cup of coffee is the only thing that can wake us up in the mornings. Whether you prefer a creamy latte, or a cup of plain, black coffee, there is something comforting about this specific beverage.
If you are fasting, for whatever specific reason, you may be wondering if you can have your usual hot beverage for breakfast.
Continue reading to find out if you can drink coffee while fasting.
What Is Fasting?
Fasting is a general term given to when a person doesn’t eat for a specified amount of time. This can be done for medical reasons, or it can even be performed if a person wants to lose weight.
There are many different types of fasting that can be performed, but we have listed the 3 most common forms below.
Intermittent Fasting
The popularity of the intermittent fasting diet is rising. In the simplest words, this is a type of dieting that alternates between fasting and regular eating. It can be a healthy, productive approach to lose weight when done right.
The 16/8 method, which entails fasting for 16 hours while eating for 8 of those hours, is one of the most well-liked fasting strategies. This frequently entails foregoing breakfast and refraining from eating beyond a particular hour in the evening.
However, there are usually dietary restrictions while fasting. Some foods and beverages are not permitted for consumption, even when you are not in the fasting state.
Fasting Before A Blood Test
Some blood tests, in order to produce the most reliable results, do need you to fast before taking them. Before getting your blood drawn, you must refrain from eating and drinking for a brief period of time.
Before a blood test, you may be asked to fast by your doctor in order for the test’s results to be as accurate as possible. Because of this, you must typically go 8–12 hours without eating or drinking before having a fasting blood test.
You may also get asked by your doctor to abstain from drinking and any endurance training for 24 hours before the test.
Preoperative Fasting
Preoperative fasting is the practice of a surgical patient refraining for a period of time from eating or drinking by mouth.
This is done to avoid pulmonary aspiration—the aspiration of stomach contents into the windpipe and lungs—while the patient is under general anesthesia.
The most recent recommendations do not encourage preoperative fasting because there is no difference in stomach emptying rate, pH, or residual gastric fluid volume after semi-solid meals or liquids, whether in obese or lean people.
However, it is still often recommended for certain surgeries.
Once more, not all surgical procedures call for the patient to fast beforehand. If you need to fast or not, your doctor will inform you.
Can I Drink Coffee While Fasting?
As we mentioned before, there are different types of fasting, and each of them are performed for different reasons. Likewise, coffee may be suitable for some of these types of fasting, while they won’t be acceptable for others.
Below, we have listed the 3 types of fasting that we spoke about earlier, and whether you can drink coffee while performing them or not.
Intermittent Fasting
You can indeed have black coffee when fasting intermittently. You may also consume any other low-calorie beverages, such as black tea.
The basis of intermittent fasting is a theory known as ‘time-restricted eating’, which states that you should only consume calories during a specific window of time each day. However, since black coffee has no calories, drinking it won’t end your fast.
The fast might be impacted by the additives that provide empty calories, like milk and cream. You should be alright as long as you stick to black coffee.
Fasting Before A Blood Test
You can typically consume black coffee before a blood test while fasting. If you preferred, you can sip on black tea instead.
Common fasting laboratory tests, such as the metabolic panel, blood glucose, or cholesterol, are typically unaffected by these hot caffeinated liquids.
The important thing to note here is that only ‘black’ coffee is suitable. It is possible that adding milk, cream, sugar, or any other additions to the beverage will have an impact on the outcomes of your blood test.
Your best option, if you are still unsure, is to contact your doctor before the blood test to be sure. They may actually recommend that you don’t drink any form of coffee or tea, so don’t rely on our words. Take the medical advice given to you!
Pre-Surgical Fasting
Coffee and any other types of beverages must absolutely not be consumed after the designated period when fasting prior to surgery.
This is due to the fact that the general anesthetic drugs make it simple for stomach contents to reflux into the esophagus and be breathed there.
You may only have water and other clear beverages before the certain procedures, such as colonoscopies. This is due to the possibility that colored liquid may stain your inside organs or be detected by the scanner.
Therefore, if you have been advised not to, you should refrain from consuming coffee for several hours prior to surgery, especially if general anesthesia will be used.
Final Thoughts
If you are trying to lose weight, and you’re following a fasting diet to reach your goals faster and more efficiently, you will be able to drink black coffee. However, if you add any sugar or dairy to the beverage, there is a high risk that your fast will be ruined.
When fasting for surgical procedures, or before a blood test, your best option is to speak to a medical expert before having that cup of coffee. They may say that it is fine for you to have a cup of black coffee, or they may say to avoid the beverage altogether.
We hope you found this article helpful.
One of the most common things I talk to my clients about is calories, but so few of them actually know anything about them.
Calories is not a dirty word. If you remove emotion from it, it is simply a unit of energy.
We need calories to live and thrive, and knowing how many to consume is important to ensure that you’re living a healthy lifestyle.
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