You’d want to know does lemon water break a fast when looking for the best ways to break your fast.
Our world right now has innumerable concepts of fasting. First, let’s understand what fasting is and how it impacts our bodies. Further, we will move on to lemon water fasting benefits.
Fasting is a period until which you stop yourself from eating anything. Now this fasting could be due to health reasons, for any religious belief, or maybe some medical purpose.
In today’s time, we don’t get anything in its purest form, and everything they sell in the market comes with many impurities. Cleaning our bodies internally is essential at least once a week.
Hydration for your body is essential during fasting because of electrolyte shifts. Water is considered the best source to hydrate your body while fasting as it has zero calories with all the hydrating elements.
However, you want to try alternatives and think, does lemon water break a fast? Well, the answer to that depends on a lot of conditions.
This article will teach you the facts about fasting, different kinds of fasting, its benefits, and much more. By the end, you will get to understand does lemon water break a fast or not.
Table of Contents
What is the term fasting means?
Fasting means refraining from food for some time, reasons being religious, health issues, or any other reasons. When you are fasting, it is vital to stay hydrated because of the electrolyte changes in the body.
Water is indeed best when the matter is about staying hydrated, but some people go for alternatives such as lemon water. That being said you might be wondering if lemon water breaks fast.
Even though lemon water is safe to consume at the time of fasting, it also depends on whether it has any other ingredients or not and also the purpose of fasting.
Dr. Jason Fung is a popular kidney specialist who is also Reddit’s most-liked diet guru. Somebody asked does lemon water break a fast dr fung? To this question, he answered that there is no direct yes or no. When somebody is fasting, the best liquid for staying hydrated is water. For those who need some flavor, it’s good to add lemon without any other ingredients.
Nutrition of lemon water
- Calories – 9.5
- Carbohydrates – 3 grams
- Fiber – 1 gram
- Protein – 0 grams
- Sugar – 1 grams
So, if you want to have lemon water at the time of fasting you can but do not add sugar to it. Lemon water with minimal nutritional value is nearly free from calories.
Does lemon water break autophagy
In ancient times, fasting was done for days to rejuvenate the body. In those times, people could meditate for prolonged periods without eating anything.
Talking about stone age food was about everything that grew or lived around. People ate what they hunt! While things have become much more refined now, we are also more prone to processed and adulterated food. To understand this further, we need to know what is autophagy.
What is autophagy?
Do you know what Autophagy is? The process by which the body wipes out the damaged cells and replaces them with healthier cells is known as Autophagy.
The term auto states self, and phagy mean to eat. Hence self-eating/self-devouring is called Autophagy. This might sound bizarre to you, and make you wonder why anybody would want to make that happen. But it actually had several health benefits.
The autophagy process is a self-preserving mechanism by which the damaged and dysfunctional cells are removed and recycled. This self-cellular cleaning and repair happen within the body for its smooth functioning.
The human body accumulates a lot of toxins along the journey. Hence this reset process of recycling the cells promotes adaptation and survival.
As per research, Autophagy helps remove toxins that can cause neurodegenerative diseases. It recycles proteins, provides energy, and prompts the regeneration of healthy cells.
Autophagy has also been recognized for preventing and treating cancer.
Autophagy always happens, even when you enjoy the most delicious meal. However, fasting accelerates the autophagy process. Hence ketosis and intermittent all contribute to making the autophagy process faster.
But does lemon water break autophagy? The answer is no because autophagy is an ongoing process in your body, and lemon water does not break it.
Does lemon water break a fast Dr Fung
Dr. Jason Fung is a renowned kidney specialist who has become Reddit’s most-loved diet guru.
According to Does lemon water break a fast dr fung analysis, intermittent fasting is one of the best ways to control the glucose level in the body. He also shared some of the fantastic results he has seen in his patients.
He claims to skip breakfast regularly. For him skipping meals or cutting two meals a day isn’t a big deal.
Many of his patients have many questions on intermittent fasting. Someone asked does lemon water break a fast dr fung? To that, he answered that there’s no plain yes or no!
When you are fasting, the only mode of hydration should be water. But if you need flavor, lemon can be added without adding anything else to it.
Plain lemon water has about 9.5 Calories in it, with 2.98 Carbohydrates, 0.946 fiber, and 0.993 sugar. So even if you want to drink lemon water, try not to add sugar to it.
Another question he answered about intermittent fasting is whether it’s safe for teenagers. He said teenagers are not advised to fast because they need more nutrients and energy for their activities.
On the weight loss journey, he said that doing a shorter fast is less effective than a longer fast. He asked his patients for a 16:8 window fast to see weight loss results. However, for his diabetic patients, he suggested a longer window fast but for a shorter period.
The time and frequency of the fasting windows depend entirely on the purpose and requirement of the patient.
One more thing that he added is that it is essential to experiment with your body to see what works for you.
Does lemon water break a fast Dr Berg
Dr. Eric Berg is one of the best-selling authors on Amazon. He has been guiding and helping many individuals in their weight loss journeys. He claims to help people lose the most stubborn fat in their body; belly fat!
Some fantastic books are The Healthy Keto Plan and The 7 Principles of Fat Burning.
He believes in getting healthy for losing weight rather than losing weight and getting healthy.
He emphasizes how to feel and look youthful by being healthy. His secret to such life is following Keto and intermittent fasting together. His goal is to make a body for future longevity and not a short-term goal. It is a lifestyle change that you’ll be proud of.
Dr. Berg is a specialized health educator helping people to lose weight by following natural and nutritional methods of ketosis and intermittent fasting. He supports low-carb and easy keto diets for weight loss results.
Many testimonials prove Berg to be accurate, which has helped people lose the stubborn fat they have never imagined.
He makes people understand the science behind the diet and swears by it. There are different recipes and diet plans for people to get started.
In one of his videos, he spoke about lemon water and fasting.
Does lemon water break a fast? Dr. Berg answered that lemon water is the most essential when you are on a fast. Lemon is a citric acid that helps your keto diet, but he says the lemon water should be fresh and not bottled.
Also, do not add sugar to your lemon water, as sugar destroys all its vitamin C. Go ahead and enjoy your lemon water plain, citrusy and tangy!
Benefits of drinking lemon water while fasting
Lemon not only makes your water tasty but also is great for your health. It also benefits in several other ways
Best hydrating drink
Lemon water is considered one of the essential drinks to keep you hydrated. Even if you are not fasting, plain lemon water will make you feel refreshed and light.
You know the benefits of keeping yourself hydrated, but sometimes water can be boring to gulp. Hence adding a few wedges of lemon to your water jug can do the trick. It helps keep you hydrated, controls your hunger pangs, and aids in weight loss.
So, if you do not like the taste of water, adding lemon can be your new regime.
Aids in Digestion
Along with keeping you hydrated, lemon water helps digest your food. Isn’t it amazing? Now you know why they say if life gives you lemons, make a lemonade. But remember, no sugar!
Healthy skin
Lemon water helps in enhancing your skin. Lemons have antioxidants that decrease the damage caused by the free radicals that result in wrinkles and other different signs of aging.
Enhances hydration
When you are fasting, it is important to stay hydrated. When you add lemons to your fasting drinks, it adds some zest, variation, and enjoyment and assists you in hitting hydration goals.
Decreases hunger
Water also helps in regulating your appetite and curbs down hunger. Lemon water assists you in getting a little more extra water in your tank.
Weight loss
Lemon water helps in losing weight and accelerates your weight loss journey.
Immunity Booster
Lemon water is an excellent fill with vitamin C, which helps as an antioxidant. The lemon water works as a booster for the body. It also helps in repairing the tissues and body cells. Citrus flavonoids in lemon water also work as powerful antioxidants making the body function easier.
Does lime water break intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting has now become the most used dietary method for losing weight. If you are looking to lose weight by the way following intermittent fasting, there are a few things to know before you take it up.
It is one of the easiest fastings methods to follow as you need the least preparations to do when it comes to food. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen preparing your meals.
The significant part is you can eat everything in moderation. But if you choose the right food in your diet, the process works faster and better. Also, one of the qualities of intermittent fasting is that it can be clubbed with any of your other diets and get doubled benefits.
How intermittent fasting works is that you have two windows, one is your eating window, and the other one is your fasting window. During the fasting window, you will not eat anything for almost 16 hours; the rest of the 8 hours is the eating window. The surprising part is you get to eat your favorite meals. Along with that, you get fantastic health benefits.
The only tricky part is you will not eat anything with calories that can break your fast. That’s it!
Does lemon water break a fast? The answer is no! As long you don’t do it, you are good to go and enjoy your lemon water without any questions.
Now, if you love your cup of coffee, make sure you don’t add sugar or crème. Having black coffee is completely fine.
Many choose to drink apple cider as a drink during their fasting; make sure you check on the ingredients and the nutritional value.
Risks of drinking lemon water during a fast
Disturbs autophagy
Autophagy is a process in which your body cleans up old and damaged cells at the time of fasting. As per some experts, lemons have a stimulating effect on digestive enzymes that can disrupt the autophagy process.
Erosion of tooth enamel
Lemons have some acid content that causes erosion of your tooth enamel. To prevent this, alternate lemon water having less acidic contents or drinking through a straw can help in avoiding tooth erosion.
Different types of lemon water and break of fast
What type of lemon water you are drinking and the amount of calories it has also determines the effect on your fasting. As per the rule, any beverage that contains more than a few calories per cup can break your fast.
- Plain lemon water – Will not break your fast
- Lemon herb water – Will not break your fast, if it is in low calories
- Lemon water with artificial flavor – Cannot be breakfast if it is free from added sugar
- Lemonade – It breaks your fast as it contains sugar
- Diet lemonade – it won’t break your fast until it is low in calorie
What to eat while breaking a fast?
Your body has been fasting, and it is time for you to break the fast.
What do you eat? If you are new to fasting, you must be thinking about every favorite meal of yours.
However, you cannot go down that road.
Remember, your body did not have anything to eat for the last few hours and had been using your body’s fat for survival. When it’s time to break your fast, give it some pause first, for example, a nice bowl of fruits, a few dates, roasted veggies, or anything nutritious.
Understand that your body is under a shock and your digestive system might get overloaded. It is better to give it small and whole meals.
Below are a few of the food options to break your fast:
- Bowl of roasted/ stir fry veggies
- Soup made of spinach or broccoli
- A nice smoothie made of carrots, spinach, and apple
- A bowl of fresh fruits
- Vegetable/ bone broth is considered to be very high in nutritional value
- Boiled eggs can also be a great option to break your fast with
Final thoughts
Once you break your fast, you can have your regular meals, which are healthy and have high nutritional value. Don’t do anything that has a high calorie or sugar content.
It would help if you were sure of your goals and the result you want from the diet. Though you can have your cheat meals once a week or so, always have your focus in place.
Of course, keep yourself hydrated always. Hence, does lemon water break a fast? No, it doesn’t. But make sure you don’t mix sugar along with it!
Frequently Asked Question
Q1. What are the benefits of Lemon Water?
Ans. Lemon water helps you to improve gut health, soothes digestion process, enhances hydration and provides you supple skin.
Q2. Is it safe for pregnant woman to take lemon water?
Ans. Yes, it is safe to drink lemon water during pregnancy.
Q3.Does lemon water break a fast dr fung?
Ans. No, as a lemon has negligible nutritional value, therefore, drinking water with lemon does not break your fasting unless it is added with sugar or any other ingredients.
Q4. Why is hydration vital while fasting?
Ans. Hydration is important while fasting because of electrolyte changes in your body.
Q5. Are lemon water beverages safe to drink while fasting?
Ans. No, lemon water beverages consist of added sugar for which will break your fasting.
