Honey is one of the most popular sweeteners and ingredients in the world. Additionally, honey is a healthier, organic, natural alternative to sugar because it is unprocessed and contains many different antioxidants and minerals. At the same time, however, more and more people are turning to intermittent fasting to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. So, will honey break your fast, or is it safe to consume it during the fast?
Honey will break your fast because it contains calories. A tablespoon of honey contains 70 calories, which is more than the 50 calories you can burn to stay awake. Therefore, while honey is healthy, it is best not to consume it during fasting.
If you are fasting, your main concern should be eating as few calories as possible. Some would say that the maximum number of calories you can eat while fasting is 50. Therefore, when you are fasting, you must pay attention to what you eat and how many calories you consume. Yes, this includes honey, which we’ll get to later.
Can We Eat Honey During Fasting?
With today’s advancements in fitness and lifestyle research, more and more people are now interested in various fitness habits and diets that will help them become healthier. Naturally, as more research is being done on the foods we eat, those interested in health and healthy lifestyles are also eliminating processed sugars from their diets in favor of something more natural, like honey.
Thanks in large part to the growing demand for honey, as more and more people prefer honey to processed sugar, more and more beekeepers are now working full-time on large farms, or Working part time while doing day job. Thanks to these beekeepers who sell honey, we can now buy honey from different beekeepers at great prices so that we can completely remove processed sugar from our diet.
Compared to processed sugar, honey is an ideal sweetener for many reasons. Not only is honey delicious, it’s also completely natural and organic. Because it comes from nutrient-rich plant nectar, it’s rich in antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals not found in processed sugar products. So it’s no surprise that people with healthy lifestyles are more likely to consume honey and avoid processed sugars.
However, with the growing fitness trend in the world today, many people are fasting or following a strict diet plan where they can eat normal healthy meals for a period of time and then go for a long time without eating.
The usual intermittent fasting method follows a 16-8 schedule, not allowing eating or drinking anything with calories for 16 hours, but allowing 8 hours to eat your usual healthy diet. It is said that this fasting method is so effective because your body learns to use stored energy or fat during the 16-hour fast instead of using the energy your body got from the last meal.
This approach to fasting may vary in some cases, such as B. When people fast for 12 hours and eat for 12 hours or when the schedule follows the 14-10 fasting and eating system. There are even people who fast for 20 hours at a time but are allowed to binge eat during a 4 hour window where they can eat basically anything. No matter what type of fasting plan you follow, the goal here is to make sure you don’t burn any calories during your fast.
However, research shows that you can actually eat or drink anything while fasting. The problem is, the food or drink you eat while fasting should not contain 50 or more calories. So there are still people who can maintain a fasting state during a fast as long as they eat or take in less than 50 total calories.
So when you follow a strict intermittent fasting diet, your goal is to make sure you don’t consume any calories during the fasting period, thus staying fasted and allowing your body to use stored fat as the fuel it needs to function properly . However, you can allow yourself to eat or drink as long as your total calories are less than 50 calories. And since it’s hard to find edibles under 50 calories, most people turn to low- or no-calorie beverages during fasting.
In this regard, tea, coffee, and in some cases zero-calorie sodas are the beverages of choice for people on a strict intermittent fasting diet. That’s because tea, coffee, and diet soda have no calories and won’t break your fast. Or, if they have calories, they’re small and too low at best to get you out of your fast.
However, let’s be honest, tea and coffee might not be the tastiest beverages when you’re feeling hungry. Not everyone is used to the taste and bitterness that tea and coffee typically have, which is why they seek out sweets to add to their drinks when they feel hungry in a fasted state. Here, some people think that honey is a great way to add flavor to an ordinary zero-calorie drink.
We can’t take anything away from honey because after all it’s tastier and healthier than processed sugar products.
Can You Really Eat Honey While Fasting? Will Honey Break Your Fast?
Unfortunately, while honey may be healthy, the bad news is that it is not recommended if you are following a strict intermittent fasting diet. So if you want to add some flavor or sweetness to your usual calorie-free drinks and beverages, you shouldn’t add honey to your tea or coffee.
Why Can’t You Eat Honey While Fasting?
As we just established, you cannot eat honey while fasting. Honey will actually get you out of fasting. So why is honey, no matter how healthy, not recommended for people following a strict intermittent fasting diet?
Well, the reason is very basic. Yes, because honey actually contains calories. Honey doesn’t contain any calories because it’s actually a high-calorie sweetener that actually contains more calories per gram than white sugar.
Going back to our discussion of intermittent fasting and how it works, we know your goal is to make sure you don’t eat or drink anything with calories. If you can’t help yourself because you’re hungry, you can drink calorie-free beverages or eat anything else as long as your total calorie intake during fasting is less than 50 calories.
If you must know, honey is actually high in calories, even higher than sugar. A tablespoon of honey can contain 70 calories, while a tablespoon of sugar has only about 50 calories. However, if you choose honey or sugar as a sweetener for calorie-free drinks while fasting, you will definitely get out of the fast.
So if you want to add a tablespoon of honey to your tea or coffee to sweeten it and add flavor, your intermittent fasting diet is doing a disservice because honey is enough to make your tea or coffee break down quickly because it has About 70 calories. In addition, there are other reasons why honey should not be consumed during fasting.
For one thing, honey contains enough carbohydrates to keep you from going into ketosis, which should be your goal if you follow a ketogenic diet in addition to intermittent fasting. The natural sugar content in honey prevents your body from relying on fat stores for energy, as your body will now return to the normal way of burning carbohydrates as the first choice for fuel.
It’s also worth noting that honey is sweet enough to raise your insulin levels. When your insulin levels are high, your body can’t burn fat for fuel as quickly. This makes it harder for you to reach your weight loss goals.
All in all, if you’re serious enough about your intermittent fasting goals, honey should be avoided. Just stick to your usual tea and coffee, or even your diet soda. Enjoy easy tea and coffee without adding milk, cream or sweeteners. But if you’re really serious, drink water and make sure you’re disciplined enough not to eat anything with enough calories to knock you out of your fast.
Can We Take Honey Lemonade During Intermittent Fasting?
Another growing trend for those following an intermittent fasting diet is the search for healthy beverages with the fewest calories. This creates honey lemonade, which is basically a glass of water mixed with the juice of half a lemon, then sweetened with honey to make food more delicious. But is it okay to drink honey lemonade on an empty stomach?
Well, it all depends on how much honey you’re mixing in the lemonade. Likewise, a tablespoon of honey contains about 70 calories. It’s also high in sugar, which can easily knock you out of a fast due to the insulin spike. So if you mix a full tablespoon of honey into lemonade, needless to say, you’ll break your fast, as your calorie intake will exceed the 50-calorie allowance and the sugar will cause your insulin to spike.
However, we did say that mixing a tablespoon of honey will definitely take you out of fasting. But what if you don’t mix a tablespoon? Let’s say half a tablespoon, or even a third or a quarter. What if you just want to add a little sweetness to your lemonade because you don’t like the mild flavor?
So in this regard, you should do the math yourself and take some guesswork when mixing honey with lemonade. You should know that plain lemonade itself is great for fasting, as there are less than 10 calories in one cup. It also contains many different vitamins and minerals that are good for you.
From there, it’s up to you to calculate how many calories you’ll get if you add a little honey to your lemonade. Maybe a third of a tablespoon is enough to stay within your 50 calorie limit. However, what you still need to consider here is the insulin surge that the sugar in honey can cause. While the insulin spike may not knock you out of fasting, it certainly delays your body’s ability to burn stored fat.
It’s okay if you only use a small amount of honey. Although honey contains more calories than sugar, it is much sweeter than sugar. This means you get more sweetness from a third or quarter tablespoon of honey than the same amount of sugar.
But if you’re worried about insulin spikes, you should drink the lemonade without the honey. You will soon get used to it. When you get used to drinking pure water, you get used to drinking lemonade without honey.
Can I Sweeten While Fasting?
Finally, the million dollar question. In this article, we discuss how sweeteners like natural and organic honey and processed sugar tend to be high in calories and contain sugars that can lead to insulin spikes. All of this will work against your intermittent fasting or weight loss and fitness goals. In this case, can you also take sweeteners while fasting? The good news for you is that you can still consume artificial sweeteners while fasting. But how is this possible? Well, there are some natural substances that trick your brain and taste buds into thinking you’re drinking something sweet and sugary when you’re actually eating something without sugar or calories. We call this compound stevia.
But what is stevia? Stevia is actually a natural non-nutritive compound often used as a sugar substitute as a sweetener. Since it has no nutrients, it has no calories at all. Needless to say, stevia is also sugar-free.
Basically, because stevia has no calories or sugar, it has little to no effect on your body when you’re awake. By adding stevia to your drink while fasting, you can sweeten and add flavor to your drink without the calories and sugars that come with other sweeteners like honey.
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