I’ve been doing IF 16/8 for about three months. In month two I got very sick so the fast portion was super simple….
The sickness has nothing to do with IF, I got a very severe case of pneumonia.
I’ve been working with a specialist who has been giving me ideas to help heal my lungs 🫁 and speed up their recovery.
The specialist has suggested I try drinking a cup of Mullen tea ☕️ each morning and / or I drink a cup of hot water with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of honey.
If I tried either of these would that break my fast because on my schedule I don’t eat anything until around noon each day. ??
Answer
Hmmm, what kind of specialist is that? Naturopath? What does your doctor say?
From a fasting and weight loss perspective:
- The tea is ok if you don’t add sugar/milk/cream/whatever in it.
- Lemon is controversial, but I doubt 2 tbsp a day will do much. Honey is another story as it is basically sugar. Yes that would break your fast, and it may make you hungry (although not as much as regular sugar would).
- In terms of calorie restriction, 2 tbsp of honey won’t make a difference.
My personal advice (not a doctor) is, drink the tea “black” if you want, any time, and break your fast with your lemon/honey at the end of the fasting window (all it will do is maybe soothe your throat and airways, no reason to take that in the morning unless you coughed a lot during the night).
Answer
Honey would technically break the fast. Some argue about lemon (there is calories in lemon juice). My best advice is to gauge your progress by using the scale. Include the tea/hot water in your routine. If the weight continues to come off, then the effect isn’t strong enough to inhibit. If the weight won’t come off, try not doing it.