Page 1 of 2

Coffee and fasting

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:53 am
by Arbre
I have seen that in the Bredesen protocol, intermittent fasting is an important part of it. At least 12 hours of fasting per day are recommended, but for APOE4 people, I believe it is stated that it is best between 14 and 16 hours.

A question I have is: is coffee considered to break the fast? (I assume nothing is added to the black coffee). I have seen this question asked several times in youtube, and I believe Satchin Panda, interviewed by Rhonda Patrick, stated that it could be that black coffee breaks the fast, but other people believe coffee does not break the fast.

This is relevant to me since I am unfortunately hungry when I wake up. I usually have dinner at around 7:30pm. So, I should have breakfast not earlier than 7:30am, and probably it would be best to wait until 9:30am or even 11:30am.

I usually wake up at 4:30am, but as I have said in another thread in this forum, after taking a melatonin pill I woke up at 7am two days on a row.

So, I am wondering if I could try to get used to not having breakfast. It would be hard, but if I can take coffee, maybe it is doable. If taking coffee breaks the fast, then I see it unsustainable for me.

What I could do is then fast in the morning until noon, and then do one hour of exercise (I believe it is stated that doing exercise fasted is a good decision), and have lunch at around 1:30pm. In this way, I would fast 18 hours, which probably would be "good" (but Prof. Valter Longo states that people that skip breakfast have, epidemiologically, worse health outcomes).

Is anybody doing something similar to this? (not having breakfast, but drinking coffee, and exercising just before lunch, which becomes the first meal of the day).

Coffee and fasting

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:08 am
by Robhypno
Gradually increase the fast window.

Take your breakfast an hour later in the morning for a week or so. Then add another hour extra for a week or so. Continue until you’ve extended to your desired fast window

The hunger feeling in the morning will gradually go as the your digestive system gets used to the fast

Hope this helps

You’ll appreciate the effects in time and it will become normal and easy to maintain.

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:23 am
by Arbre
Thank you for the answer.

Could one say that 18 hours is at least as good as 14 or 16 hours? Or 14-16 hours is really the sweet spot for fasting?

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:30 am
by Robhypno
I personally aim for 16 hour fast and 8 hour eating window

Bredesen suggests at least 16 hour for our E4 gene. So anything beyond that has to be even more beneficial

I have adjusted much easier than I expected and it’s become the norm. I sometimes have a breakfast and it actually makes me feel sluggish and the following day I wake feeling extremely hungry!

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 7:03 pm
by mike
Black coffee does not add calories so does not break your fast. Some say it can have an effect on blood sugars though. Also. Everyone is different. I have heavy cream with my coffee in the morning. Yes, it is truly not fasting, but you are only starting the fat metabolism process...

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 9:01 am
by rjkmhk
Mike: So are you saying the heavy cream doesn’t stop autophagy? Thanks!

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 11:50 am
by DebbieG
If only we could test for autophagy! I have a bulletproof coffee and a second black coffee before eating my first meal at noon, and the idea of being up working for several hours before even having coffee is grim to contemplate. Based on what Mike said, I think I'll do some glucose checks one day soon after drinking my bulletproof coffee. It would be cool to be able to use a continuous glucose monitor to see what coffee's impact is, though I don't have one so can't get that detailed level of data.

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:19 pm
by mike
rjkmhk wrote:Mike: So are you saying the heavy cream doesn’t stop autophagy? Thanks!
What starts autophagy? It is an ongoing process. I doubt that you are getting a whole lot more with intermittent fasting than you do normally - it's thought that you need to at least use up your glycogen before autophagy increases.

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 4:44 am
by slacker
Arbre wrote:I have seen that in the Bredesen protocol, intermittent fasting is an important part of it.
Hi Arbre;

Even fasting experts disagree! Longo and Panda for example. Another fasting expert you may want to follow is Dr Jason Fung. Many people find that longer fasts are easier if they reach a low level of ketosis.

No one really knows whether coffee or fat intake breaks a fast (even expert Dr Panda). I agree with Mike that autophagy is not an on or off switch, but a continuum. Some level of autophagy must occur even in folks that fast less than 12 hours overnight, but most likely not "optimum."

Re: Coffee and fasting

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:29 pm
by TeaAndGlasses
Thanks! I have wondered this about coffee too.