the next series i need to go over before i get into the more specific fasting info is what breaks a fast. if you aren't going to do fasting correctly then you won't get the benefits.
i'm gonna go over supplements and drinks in this post
A: BCAA's
we all agree most supplements break a fast. i mean things like protein powder are obvious. but after the supplement businessmen got into the fasting fitness world now they want to push other supplements that they claim are okay during a fast. the main one i hear most is BCAA's. they claim they don't have calories which is a lie right off the bat. but regardless they most certainly destroy your fast in many ways
the biggest obvious red flag is that they spike insulin and kick you out of ketosis. which is kind of the point of fasting
leucine stimulates glucose uptake for an hour, but hey you can try it out yourself if you don't believe me. grab some ketone strips and piss on them while you are in a deep fast and then take bcaa's and then watch your ketones crater on your next few pisses. so why would you go through the trouble of getting into ketosis to just ruin it for nothing? not to mention studies have shown your amino acids circulate more in the body while in ketosis. so not only are you kicking yourself out of ketosis by supplementing bcaa's but you are also actually lowering the amount by supplementing them. this is one of the things i have to smack my head against the wall on with people cause they don't understand that sometimes certain supplements actually hurt you more than help you. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6761185/
another study that was done on a man who fasted 50 days. his ketones were high obviously and he took some insulin (please don't try this at home) around 8IU's worth. what happened was interesting so pay attention to the next link, but i will summarize as best i can and you will love this
for the next half hour his blood sugar and ketones crashed and there was a uptake of ketones in the brain while ketone production was halted. the guy didn't even eat or drink anything and it still happened!! so yes you can still kick yourself out of ketosis even while in a deep fasted state even without eating, all it takes is that slight insulin spike. so the lesson here is don't inject, eat, or drink anything that breaks a fast or you will interrupt it.
https://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/2014/07/in-comments-following-previous-post.html
COFFEE/TEA beverages
this leads me to the next thing which is is coffee/tea, etc. okay on a fast. unfortunately if you want to get the most out of your fast the answer is absolutely not. coffee and tea still have calories in them, albeit tiny amounts. so you will be interrupting your fast if you consume them, even if it is for an hour or two. is it the end of the world? no. is it optimal? no. is it going to interrupt your fast? YES.
MULTI VITAMINS
the next one is multi vitamins. this one should be obvious if you understand what fasting is all about. but if you aren't that knowledgeable on fasting you might think 'hey i need my vitamins during a fast right?'.. well WRONG. the whole reason behind a fast is to STRESS YOUR BODY OUT to make it stronger. when you weight train that is what you do to your muscle to make it stronger. the body is the same way with fasting. so throwing vitamins at your body makes zero sense. but let's talk about the science. SIRT's are longevity genes that get triggered while fasting. when you take an antioxidant it actually blocks that trigger effect and the vitamin takes over. so the body becomes weaker cause it is depending on the vitamin and not the actual body cells to do the work. also most vitamins work better with food anyway, so save them for during your eating window and DO NOT TAKE THEM while in your fasting window. so i hope this makes sense why taking multi vitamins on a fast are a bad idea so please don't do it!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4810759/ https://hdsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/13680.pdf
the only things you can mess with while water fasting are WATER and electrolytes. that is it.
nice post steve. i didn't know how bad of an idea it was to use vitamins on a fast. now i do. great post keep them coming