With this Article we are going to try to answer the question of the healthiest and safest way to break your fast and what to eat to get the most benefits.
First before we get into it. There are many reasons why we should intermittent fast. Its convenient – you don’t have to worry or think about what to eat for breakfast. And to name a few others It increases your health, it burns fat in your cells, it helps build muscle and if you go past the 16 hours it can help with repairing your cells or Autophagy.
When you are fasting your are in a Keto state where your liver is converting fatty acids into energy and ketones. During this time your stomach (gut and intestines) adapt to the lack of food.
So after you have fasted you don’t want to just jump right in and eat anything and everything. You want to warm your stomach up for lack of a better term. It’s like everything else in our body. You don’t go straight into lifting the heaviest weights at the gym do you? You warm up first. You want to do the same thing when you break the fast.
An additional problem if you shock the system with eating a big carbohydrate meal you can become bloated and the you can get a potential crash of energy.
Because of these factors you want to think about what you eat right after your fast.
You want to pick something that eases your body back into digestion and keeps your insulin from spiking.
One item is Apple cider vinegar. While this is not a food it has many benefits to get your body ready to eat. It can stabilize your blood sugar, and it can kill off bad bacteria in your stomach or gut. Besides these apple cider vinegar has many health related benefits.
So you can start breaking your fast with a apple cider vinegar drink. Try 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, half a fresh squeezed lemon, a pinch of cinnamon and sea salt and mix it in a cup of warm water.
Another Item you can drink is bone broth. Bone broth contains a good source of collagen protein and electrolytes and will help you absorb nutrients better during your next meal.
An alternative to Bone broth is MCT oil. MCT oils convert into energy a lot faster due to fatty acids going straight into the bloodstream and not into the liver. MCT oils also keep the effects of fasting going since it helps your body stay in the ketosis state. This is why according to Dave Asprey you can drink BulletProof Coffee without breaking your fast. See how I make my bulletproof coffee here.
So after you have consumed your apple cider drink or bone broth you will want to wait around 15-30 minutes for your intestines to wake up and get ready for the food.
After the 15-30 minute wait you will want your first meal to be relatively small and low glycemic food. (Check out a list of low, medium and high glycemic foods here). Start with something that will not spike the insulin levels.
A few good food items to start with are:
Scrambled eggs, spinach and avocado
A can of Sardines with Salad or Spinach and Olive Oil.
A few items to avoid after your fast.
Fruits which contain fructose or sugars are not the best foods in general. Although they provide a good source of vitamins you can still get your necessary vitamins from different food sources.
So its best to avoid these – but if you can’t resist a good fruit you will want to consume them after exercise and you will want to choose fruits with the lowest glycemic values.
Steak (red meats are harder for your body to break down, you will want to eat these during your second meals).
So there you have it. You now know what you should do and eat / drink when you break a 16-18 hour fast in order to get the best results out of your intermittent fasting.
Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or comments regarding this article. We love feedback.
