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Among the staples in my refrigerator, a tub of yogurt ranks high. Not only do I reach for it every morning at breakfast, but I also find myself tossing it into my chicken salad for lunch, dolloping it on my soup for dinner, and most definitely incorporating it into my dessert.
Bake it into a cake or freeze it into Popsicles — however it’s used, it’s a winning ingredient. Here are 10 recipes that prove it.
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This has got to be one of the most frequent questions I see:
“Does coffee break a fast?”
Let’s answer.
To begin with, I’ll make the case that you shouldn’t worry too much about this stuff. That you’re even willing and able to go without a meal or snack for 12-24 hours places you in rarefied company. That’s 95th percentile stuff. You’re ahead of the game simply by being open to the idea of not eating every hour. Take heart in that. Some coffee with cream midway through doesn’t take away from what you’re accomplishing.
But I know you guys, and I know you love the minutiae. I know it because I love it, too. It’s fun, even if it gets us into trouble sometimes. So let’s dig right in.
First, does black coffee break a fast?
Put another way.. Does coffee interfere with the benefits we’re seeking from a fast?
Depends on the benefits you’re seeking. Let’s look at some of the most common.
Fasting is a quick and easy (or simple) way to get into ketosis. You have little choice in the matter. Since you’re not eating anything, and your body requires energy, you break body fat down for energy. And because you’ve only got fat “coming in,” you’ll quickly start generating ketone bodies. If coffee stops ketosis, it’s probably breaking the fast.
A recent study found that taking caffeine acutely upregulates ketosis in humans. I see no evidence
Fat-burning is another important aspect of fasting. Since we’ve already shown that coffee increases ketosis, I think it’s pretty obvious that coffee also increases fat mobilization and burning.
Over the long term, fasting is an effective way to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. Most things that make you better at burning fat and expending, rather than storing, energy—like exercise, low-carb diets, weight loss in general—tend to improve insulin sensitivity over time. But the sometimes counterintuitive piece to all this is that in the short term, fasting can reduce insulin sensitivity. This is a physiological measure the body takes to preserve what little glucose remains for the brain. All the other tissues become insulin resistant so that the parts of the brain that can’t run on ketones and require glucose get enough of the latter to function.
Coffee has a similar effect. Acutely, it reduces insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance (so don’t eat pastries with your coffee). Over the long term, it improves insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance; many studies find that the more coffee you drink, the lower your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Autophagy
Cellular cleanup. Pruning. Entropy dictates that all things are constantly speeding toward disorder. Things fall apart, in other words. That applies to our cells and the tissues they comprise, too. But because we are biological beings rather than inert objects, we can respond to and resist the descent into disorder. Autophagy is one of the ways in which we keep our cells healthy and maintained, pruned, and trimmed of damaged bits. Fasting is one of the best ways to induce autophagy. It’s one of fasting’s major selling points. If coffee destroys autophagy, that’d be a big mark against coffee and a sure sign it’s breaking the fast.
Good thing it doesn’t appear to hamper autophagy. At least in mice, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee induce autophagy in the liver, muscle tissue, and heart.
AMPK
Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, or AMPK, is an enzyme that inhibits fat storage and promotes fat burning. It activates antioxidant networks, triggers autophagy, and promotes mitochondrial biogenesis. A major benefit of fasting is that it causes a big uptick in AMPK activation. Other things do, too, like exercise, basic calorie restriction, and any situation where energy is being deprived or expended, but fasting is one of the more reliable paths.
Luckily, coffee doesn’t seem to inhibit AMPK. Caffeine improves endothelial repair via AMPK. Even chlorogenic acid, another coffee component, triggers AMPK.
Okay, so black coffee doesn’t seem to break the fast in any meaningful sense. What about all the things people like to add to coffee?
Technically, it breaks the fast. You’re ingesting calories (depending on how much fat you add, it could be a significant number of calories), and calories break the fast. But pure fat has little to no effect on insulin, blood glucose, or any of the other measurements that indicate a “broken fast.”
You won’t burn as much body fat. You’ll still burn plenty of body fat.
It will help you fast longer. Adding a little fat to your coffee can make fasting more tolerable. If you can only manage 12 hours on black coffee but a couple teaspoons of coconut oil help you go 24, the coconut oil might be a good addition.
It shouldn’t affect autophagy. Protein ingestion interrupts autophagy. Butter has a tiny amount of protein that shouldn’t interfere.
An ounce of cream has almost a gram each of carbohydrate (lactose) and protein. That. Some cream in your coffee won’t affect your fat burning very much, but it probably will inhibit some autophagy.
That said, remember that ketogenic diets increase autophagy too, and those definitely include food. This is all a matter of degree. It’s not a binary on-off switch. Less autophagy isn’t zero autophagy.
As long as you’re avoiding the sweetened versions, or the ones that come fortified with extra protein, and you’re not adding a half cup at a time, a little nut milk won’t make a big difference. There is very little of anything in most nut milks.
Cinnamon is fine. It tends to reduce insulin resistance, especially the kind you get after a bad night’s sleep.
Cocoa powder is okay, but watch the amount. It’s a “whole legume” powder, so it has carbs, protein, and fat. Anything more than a teaspoon will overdo it. If you add cocoa, use defatted cocoa powder. Adding too much of the cocoa powder with fat included will reduce the effects of fasting.
Nutmeg is fine, too. Just avoid psychotropic doses.
When you eat it with a snack containing 290 calories, stevia lowers glucose and insulin levels. I see no mechanism by which stevia could make the situation worse without a meal.
Monkfruit extract has an effect similar to stevia. It’s fine.
There’s no good evidence they’ll impair the metabolic response to fasting, but there are other unwanted effects you should want to avoid.
As much as I love (and sell) collagen, it is pure protein, and protein tends to activate mTOR and inhibit autophagy. This means that collagen in your coffee during a fast is probably fine for fat-burning (and may suppress appetite, helping you fast for longer) but will reduce the benefits of autophagy.
Order black coffee: drip, pour-overs, espressos, Americanos. That’s the most surefire way to maintain the fast.
Ask for heavy cream, don’t use the “cream”: The “cream” coffee shops tend to set out for customer use is actually half-and-half—half milk, half cream. That gives it a significant protein and carb load that will inhibit the effects of the fast. Instead, if you absolutely need something to add to your coffee, ask the staff for heavy cream.
Avoid nut milks: Coffee places often use sweetened nut milks, and they use entirely too much of it. An “almond milk latte” will have around 8 ounces of almond milk, far too much for your fast (even if it’s unsweetened).
That’s about it for coffee and fasting. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask down below. I’ll get to as many as I can in a future post.
Thanks for reading, take care, and enjoy your coffee!
The post Does Coffee Break a Fast? appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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A couple of weeks ago, when I was doing an ultra-scientific study of the best cheeses at Trader Joe’s, a friend warned me not to eat too much Unexpected Cheddar or 1,000 Day Gouda before bed. When I asked why, she said “Because cheese causes nightmares” in a tone that said “You should know this, dummy.”
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Last week I saw Victoria Beckham cut into a big watermelon with a candle on it and eat it like a birthday cake, and I’ve had an intense craving for cake ever since. I’m not talking about any sophisticated flourless chocolate cakes or elegant salted caramel tarts, either. I’m dreaming about a proper birthday cake right out of a 7-year-old’s party, with white frosting and loads of sprinkles for the ultimate nostalgia factor.
As an adult, however, are you even allowed to just buy a birthday cake for no reason? I always feel like the store clerk will ask me to provide proof of children, or at least buy a package of novelty party hats to go with it.
But now I feel like Trader Joe’s has my back, because they’ve just introduced a new grab-and-go birthday cake that serves up to 10 people for just $6.99.
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There’s a lot to consider when finding the best grocery store that works for you and your family. There’s location, of course, but you also need to consider the places with the best deals and loyalty programs, and find the store that always has your favorite pint of ice cream in stock. There are big stores like Costco that also offer great deals on non-grocery items, and places like Trader Joe’s which always have something new to try — if that’s your jam.
What you might not have considered, however, is that the month you were born also should have some sway in where you shop. Yes, that’s right — there’s a perfect grocery store match out there based on your star sign. Read on to find out where you should really be shopping.
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Welcome to Kitchn’s Food Budget Diaries series, where we show you how people around the country spend money on what they eat and drink. Each post will follow one person for one week and will chronicle everything that person consumed and how much it costs them.
Name: Abigail
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Age: 24
Number of people in family: 2 (my husband and me)
Occupation: I am a high school teacher and freelancer and my husband works for a cabinet company.
Household income: $40,000
Weekly food budget: $75 ($50 for groceries and $25 for eating out)
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Aldi is one of our favorite grocery stores here at Kitchn. The chain offers food, wine, and other goods at prices that are much, much lower than their counterparts — without sacrificing quality, our editors have found. And our readers love it too!
In fact, there are a few things you guys head to Aldi for again and again. We recently asked readers on Facebook to tell us about their favorite Aldi finds. We heard a few picks multiple times: the take-and-bake pizzas, dark chocolate sea salt caramels, Clancy potato chips and … scallops!
See the Facebook poll here.
Get out your shopping lists and keep reading for more ideas. Here are the best things at Aldi, according to our readers.
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What is warm-weather cooking, to you? For me, it means keeping things as simple as possible. In the spring and summertime I want meals that come together in one big pot — easy to cook and easy to reheat later. I want meals that taste like the garden, fragrant with herbs and bright flavors. I want hands-off meals, so I can retire to the back porch with a cucumber gimlet while my supper cooks.
Well, this braised chicken dish fits all those requirements beautifully.
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Dish soap: Not just for dishes! It’s time to start thinking outside of the box (soap dispenser?) when it comes to tackling household grime. This super degreaser has the power to remove soil from all kinds of surfaces, including hard ones like metal or glass, and soft ones like fabric and upholstery.
Check out these non-dish-related things you can do with dish soap.
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
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