What Is A Clean Fast + Why It’s The Most Powerful Way To Fast
What is a clean fast? Why does a clean fast matter? In this article, we will answer both of those questions! Keep reading to learn more.
What Is A Clean Fast?
A clean fast is not consuming anything that spikes your insulin levels while you are fasting. During a clean fast you can consume water, black coffee, plain green or black tea, mineral water, unflavored sparkling water, seltzer water, salt, unflavored electrolytes and unflavored minerals.
The term “clean fast” was originated by Gin Stephens. Gin Stephens is an intermittent fasting expert and best-selling author of Fast, Feast, Repeat.
“I genuinely believe that a clean fast is the key to successful intermittent fasting.” — Gin Stephens, intermittent fasting expert and author of Delay Don’t Deny and Fast Feast Repeat
What Is A Dirty Fast?
A dirty fast is consuming calories and items that may spike your insulin levels. Some people believe that a dirty fast allows you to consume a small number of calories. For example, some people add creamer to their coffee while fasting.
While dirty fasting may work for some, I only recommend clean fasts.
Why Is A Clean Fast Important?
A clean fast is important for many reasons. When we are fasting clean, our bodies can do many things that we cannot do while we are in a fed state. Here are some of the things our bodies do when we are fasting clean:
- We can access our stored body fat more efficiently
- We can enter ketosis
- We can activate autophagy
Now that we know some of the things that our bodies do while we are fasting clean, it makes sense that we want to do everything we can to support our bodies and avoid interrupting those body processes.
If we consume food or calories during our fast, we could spike our insulin levels. Spiking our insulin levels would interrupt those body processes we mentioned above. Insulin is a storage hormone so it will stop fat burning.
Our insulin levels will also be spiked by things that taste sweet like gum, mints, zero calorie sodas, etc. It’s important to avoid all of these things during a clean fast.
The bottom line is that if you want to achieve the maximum health benefits and fat loss from fasting, you should fast clean.
Additional Fasting Resources
- Intermittent Fasting FAQs
- Types of Intermittent Fasting
- Best Intermittent Fasting Books
- Best Fasting Teas
- The Best Intermittent Fasting Tools
- The Best Intermittent Fasting Apps
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clean fasting really matter?
Yes, a clean fast really matters. If you want to maximize the health benefits and fat loss benefits from fasting, you should be fasting clean.
What is a dirty fast?
A dirty fast is when you allow some calories during your fasting window.
Bottom Line
After reading this article, hopefully you understand what clean fasts are and why they really do matter.
Related: Best Teas For Fasting