I used to drink coffee every day, but I don’t anymore. I just drink green tea in the mornings if I want something hot. I definitely don’t think it’s worth risking the benefits of your fast by using sugar or milk in your coffee. If I recall correctly, Berkhan’s assertion that half a teaspoon (or whatever it was) of milk wouldn’t cause a problem wasn’t really supported by any science, so I would avoid it if possible. I think his reasoning was that your body would metabolize it super quickly and then return to a fasted state, but it’s not clear if you’ll retain the benefits of a 16-hour fast that way. I suspect it would also increase food cravings during the rest of your fast. And the increase in taste of your coffee is such a minor benefit that it’s just totally not worth the risk as far as I’m concerned. There are better ways of making black coffee taste good if it’s that important to you (see below).
I agree that the sweet taste of artificial sweeteners probably does something counterproductive. Overweight soda-drinkers who switch to diet soda have been shown not to lose weight. That’s proof enough for me that they work some sort of mischief on your metabolism. All in all, it’s probably not going to really cause a noticeable difference, but I feel like they’re worth avoiding for general health reasons anyway. Starting a daily artificial sweetener habit as a part of trying to get healthier with an IF protocol seems counterproductive to me. I’d avoid them.
As I mentioned above, it’s totally possible to make great-tasting black coffee. If you want to make your coffee less bitter, you might want to invest in an Aeropress. Bitter coffee is usually a result of the water being too hot and/or in contact with the coffee grounds for too long. Those both cause too much tannic acid to leach into the coffee. The Aeropress solves that problem. Also, switch to a medium-dark or dark roast. That will let you get the all the darkness, flavor, and caffeine you want without having to use water that is so hot or without having it in contact with the grounds for too long. Doing these two things will make a world of difference. You probably won’t need sweetener if you do that. (I drink my coffee black whenever I have it and it’s delicious.)
The last thing you could look into if you really just can’t stand black coffee is just buying caffeine pills and using that in place of coffee. I’ve used caffeine pills a lot and they’re actually really convenient. The caffeine is the main component of coffee that stimulates your bowels, so it should suit that purpose as well as provide the normal energy boost.
Thanks. I used to have an Aeropress but did not notice much of a difference—but it could be I did not use it really properly, I think it prescribed hot but not too hot water, now I was too lazy to take a temperature reading and using boiling water from the kettle simply. It took me a year to convince my wife to invest into an expensive grinding espresso maker, I think if I stopped using it she would be mad :)
I am on a sweetener habit since I am 16, now I am 37 and yes overweight. It looked like a convenient way to save on calories then got used to the taste. My dad used saccharine anyway due to diabetes so it just looked like the family way to drink coffee (as my mother didn’t).
Decaf coffee also has a bowel movement effect, although 23% lower, which suggests pills would have 23% of the effect, assuming that decaf + caf pills = normal coffee, which is not certain, but probably usable as a prior.
However I found something that may still “save” me. For some reason, making a really short espresso and cutting it up up with warm tap water is far less bitter than making a long espresso. I guess because the coffee soaking for a shorter time? Anyway this seems to be the way to go with these automatic machines.
I used to drink coffee every day, but I don’t anymore. I just drink green tea in the mornings if I want something hot. I definitely don’t think it’s worth risking the benefits of your fast by using sugar or milk in your coffee. If I recall correctly, Berkhan’s assertion that half a teaspoon (or whatever it was) of milk wouldn’t cause a problem wasn’t really supported by any science, so I would avoid it if possible. I think his reasoning was that your body would metabolize it super quickly and then return to a fasted state, but it’s not clear if you’ll retain the benefits of a 16-hour fast that way. I suspect it would also increase food cravings during the rest of your fast. And the increase in taste of your coffee is such a minor benefit that it’s just totally not worth the risk as far as I’m concerned. There are better ways of making black coffee taste good if it’s that important to you (see below).
I agree that the sweet taste of artificial sweeteners probably does something counterproductive. Overweight soda-drinkers who switch to diet soda have been shown not to lose weight. That’s proof enough for me that they work some sort of mischief on your metabolism. All in all, it’s probably not going to really cause a noticeable difference, but I feel like they’re worth avoiding for general health reasons anyway. Starting a daily artificial sweetener habit as a part of trying to get healthier with an IF protocol seems counterproductive to me. I’d avoid them.
As I mentioned above, it’s totally possible to make great-tasting black coffee. If you want to make your coffee less bitter, you might want to invest in an Aeropress. Bitter coffee is usually a result of the water being too hot and/or in contact with the coffee grounds for too long. Those both cause too much tannic acid to leach into the coffee. The Aeropress solves that problem. Also, switch to a medium-dark or dark roast. That will let you get the all the darkness, flavor, and caffeine you want without having to use water that is so hot or without having it in contact with the grounds for too long. Doing these two things will make a world of difference. You probably won’t need sweetener if you do that. (I drink my coffee black whenever I have it and it’s delicious.)
The last thing you could look into if you really just can’t stand black coffee is just buying caffeine pills and using that in place of coffee. I’ve used caffeine pills a lot and they’re actually really convenient. The caffeine is the main component of coffee that stimulates your bowels, so it should suit that purpose as well as provide the normal energy boost.
Thanks. I used to have an Aeropress but did not notice much of a difference—but it could be I did not use it really properly, I think it prescribed hot but not too hot water, now I was too lazy to take a temperature reading and using boiling water from the kettle simply. It took me a year to convince my wife to invest into an expensive grinding espresso maker, I think if I stopped using it she would be mad :)
I am on a sweetener habit since I am 16, now I am 37 and yes overweight. It looked like a convenient way to save on calories then got used to the taste. My dad used saccharine anyway due to diabetes so it just looked like the family way to drink coffee (as my mother didn’t).
Decaf coffee also has a bowel movement effect, although 23% lower, which suggests pills would have 23% of the effect, assuming that decaf + caf pills = normal coffee, which is not certain, but probably usable as a prior.
However I found something that may still “save” me. For some reason, making a really short espresso and cutting it up up with warm tap water is far less bitter than making a long espresso. I guess because the coffee soaking for a shorter time? Anyway this seems to be the way to go with these automatic machines.