Does Lemon Juice Break A Fast?

Unfortunately, nothing in life is simple, and this is no exception because the answer to that question is: it depends.

In this article, we will discuss whether drinking lemon juice is considered breaking your fast.

Intermittent Fasting: The Details

First, before we dig into whether or not lemon juice is considered breaking your intermittent fasting, let's dig in a little about what intermittent fasting is.

An intermittent fasting diet is not about what you are eating or drinking like other diets, but is instead about when you are eating.

The main purpose of this diet is to give yourself a window when you are allowed to eat and then restrict yourself to only drinking water or other non-calorie drinks.

Typically, the window of time people give themselves to eat is between 8 and 10 hour windows during each day, always at the same time, then they fast for 14 to 16 hours.

Just be careful if you are going to try intermittent fasting, to not go too big right away.

So the real question is if lemon juice has calories, does that break my fast?

Related: What to Eat After a 3 Day Fast

Lemon Juice While Fasting: Is It Ok?

For many of us, plain water can get tiresome after a while, so we are always looking for ways to bring in some flavor, and lemon juice is a popular go-to.

But some may be concerned that even the little amount of calories contained in lemon juice would be considered breaking their fast, as it is no longer a zero calorie drink.

When asked whether or not lemon juice will break your fast, the first thing to consider is to look at why you are fasting in the first place.

Fasting for Gut Health

If you are fasting to increase your gut health, then yes, lemon juice would break your fast due to its calories.

If you are fasting to cleanse your gut and take advantage of your Migrating Motor Complex, then lemon juice in your water is not for you.

What is your Migrating Motor Complex?

This gut cleansing system is designed to move things through your digestive tract. This can help keep you regular and prevent gut infections.

The Migrating Motor Complex is stopped whenever you have a meal, and lemon juice can also trigger this.

You will also want to be wary of tea, coffee, and anything outside plain water.

Fasting for Weight Loss

If you are not fasting for gut health but instead fasting to trigger fat burners and other weight loss mechanisms, you have a little more wiggle room when it comes to what you drink during your fast.

However, just because there is wiggle room doesn’t mean you don’t have to be careful.

When fasting for weight loss, you will want to still be aware of how much lemon juice you use in your water.

A good rule is to stick to less than one gram of protein and carbs combined.

Protein and carbs both stimulate insulin, and when insulin increases your body will no longer be in fat burning mode and your fast will be broken.

So you really want to pay attention to how much lemon juice you use.

The juice of one single lemon contains a little over 3 grams of carbs, meaning the juice from an entire lemon would be enough to break your fast.

However, backing down to just ¼ of a lemon would put you under the 1 gram maximum and would not be considered a break in your fast.

Related: Best weight loss greens

Benefits Of Lemon Juice

Besides helping your water taste good, and causing you to drink more, some benefits to adding lemon juice to your water.

Other Things To Drink That Won’t Break Your Fast

If you are getting tired of just plain water during your fasting periods, there are other things you can drink to mix it up a little.

1. Black Coffee or Tea

The first thing that springs to mind is black coffee or tea.

These drinks don’t contain calories and will not break your fast.

Just make sure you don’t add sweeteners or other ingredients to them.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar

Another thing that you can try is Apple Cider Vinegar.

Just one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar will not break your fast and can be good for you.

Apple cider vinegar has been known to aid in improving your fasting blood glucose levels.

You will want to mix it in the water, though, as pure apple cider vinegar that is undiluted can be bad for your teeth due to its harsh properties.

Things Not To Drink While Fasting

While fruit and vegetable juices might seem like a great and healthy option while you are fasting, they are not.

Because most fruits and vegetables can contain high levels of carbs or sugars, these types of things will break your fast.

However, if you still want to drink these healthy treats, you can always do it in the window designated for eating and not fasting.

Conclusion

Whether or not you can have lemon juice during a fast depends on what you are fasting for.

This is a big no-no to increasing gut health, but if you are just fasting to kick-start a weight loss journey, a little lemon juice won’t hurt you.

If you give your water some kick and flavor with lemon juice, do so sparingly, and you will see great results during your new intermittent fasting diet.

You can also try adding apple cider vinegar to help your weight loss goals without breaking your fast.

I myself tried a two day fast that was quite an experience!