The Proper way to break a fast.

Bill Mabry • Nov 05, 2021

The Proper way to break a fast.

When you have not eaten for a while, your body starts to slow down the digestive process the enzymes pancreatitis enzymes the stomach acids are all going to slow down, why because they do not need them so much when fasting.

If you were to eat a lot of food in a very short period of time and right after fasting for 24, 36, 42 hours plus you most likely will have some type of issue.

Most everyone has made this mistake before even us eating too much too quickly.

This is what you might feel if you eat too much after a fast.

Bloating.
Nausea
Stomach Pain.
Diarrhea.

This is very common when you eat too much or eat the wrong type of food.

It is a mismatch on how much of have eaten and how quickly your body can digest.

It is mostly because your physical hunger is not that high were as your psychological hunger is much higher that is you have not eaten for a while, so you see something that looks good your mind tells you I need to eat a lot of that because I have not eaten for a while.

What happens is you eat a lot more than your body can handle.

It is usually not a big deal most of the time after a couple of times it happens most people can figure out there is this mismatch and can adjust.

There are a few foods you may not want to break your fast with that may be hard on your digestive system after a 24 plus hour fast.

Problematic foods:

Nuts
Seeds
Nut butter
Dairy
Sweets
Fruits (fructose)
Ultra-processed starchy carbs
Wine
Eggs for some people

These foods tend to take more of the stomach acids and enzymes to break them down causing issues with the stomach after a long fast.

Here is a tip that might help when breaking your longer fast.

Plan a pre-meal

This will help wake up the digestive system.

Have a small source of a good source protein 30 mins before your main high good dietary fat low carb meal.

For example, if you are looking to continue your fat burning losing weight, then break your fast with a good source of protein:

Small piece of wild-caught salmon.
Lean piece of meat
Piece of Chicken
Turkey breast
Avocado
Small portion of cooked veggies

You know that dinner is coming up I am going to plan something small 30 mins before dinner.

It must be a small amount to help wake up your digestive system, this also will help you not overeat during your dinner meal.

For me at 183 pounds I usually will have 4 to 6 oz of lean meat, or I will ½ cup of my homemade kefir and ½ cup of almond milk, 1 scoop bone broth protein powder, 1 scoop of collagen powder, 1 tbs chia seeds, no added fats.

Stay away from raw veggies this is hard on the digestive system after a longer fast 24 plus hours.

Hopefully physiologically by having the small portion you will not eat a lot knowing you are going to have your main meal.

When fasting be sure to drink plenty of water with your ¼ tsp of pink sea salt 3 to 4 times per day to keep up on your electrolytes this will help you to get through your longer fasts.

The way you break your fast maybe the key to burn more body fat longer.

There is a hormone that is activated when you properly break your fast that helps to burn more of your own stored body fat.

Glucagon vs. Insulin

The proper way to beak a Fast to Add Lean Muscle

This is one of the biggest mistakes I am seeing today with people doing longer fast.

Especially for those of you looking to add lean muscle at any age.

Not understanding that hormones operate the whole body that includes weight loss and adding lean muscle at any age.

Most of you am sure have not heard of glucagon (fat-burning hormone).

Most of you already know that insulin is a fat-storing hormone.

You also know that eating too many carbs per seating multiple times per day will cause an insulin spike and also cause you to store more fat.

Insulin spikes also block glucagon from doing its job.

Insulin and glucagon are polar opposites.

Insulin stores fat glucagon releases fat.

All to be used as fuel.

If you break your fast with a good source of protein after a long fast say 20, 24, 36, 42 hour fast then your insulin to glucagon ratio is better.

Your insulin level is low, and your glucagon is very high (fat burning).

By keeping your insulin low you are not kicking yourself out of fat burning for at least another few hours until you have your main meal.

By you consuming a good source of protein right after a fast your insulin will spike a little, just enough to get the muscle-building blocks from your protein into the cells to help you add lean muscle.

Glucagon fat-burning hormone.

Certain foods shut off glucagon and certain foods activate it.

You know insulin is your fat-storing hormone.

If you are eating multiple carb meals throughout the day you are activating insulin spikes thought out the day, this is causing high amounts of glucose, your cells can not hold all the excess glucose is dumped into the blood and stored in your fat cells, yes, you are making more fat cells.

Insulin and glucagon are like opposing forces they are opposite of each other.

Insulin lets blood sugar into the cell.

Glucagon lets blood sugar out of glycogen (fat cell).

When you eat carbohydrates, you are spiking insulin up and driving glucagon down because your body wants to use those carbohydrates as fuel so why would you need fat for fuel, glucagon releases fat for fuel.

What is interesting when you eat protein you have a small spike of insulin going up and you also have a spike of glucagon going up.

What happens when you eat protein that spikes glucagon (fat release) it cancels out the insulin spike.

If you had stable blood sugar levels and you consumed protein and you did not have a glucagon response, your insulin would spike, and your blood sugar levels would drop, you would become hyperglycemic.

Glucagon is a protective mechanism, when you have protein, the body secrete insulin so we can build lean muscle, and glucagon goes up to protect the blood sugar levels.

Glucagon is a fat-burning hormone insulin is a fat-storing hormone.

They both need to be at a safe level known as the IGR ratio.

Because of this, you need to pay attention to how to break your fast.

When you are in a fasted state you have low levels of insulin and glucagon ratio, your insulin level is very low, but your glucagon levels are high because you are using fat as your main source of fuel.

If you were to consume protein right when you break a fast it is going to drive your insulin up a little it is still going to drive glucagon up a lot (still in fat-burning mode).

When you fast and it is time to break your fast, break it with a good source of protein your insulin to glucagon ratio even gets better, because you have less of the fat-storing hormone insulin and more of the fat-burning hormone glucagon.

When somebody is doing the standard American diet high carbs multiple times per day look at what their insulin to glucagon ratio is, high insulin all day very low glucagon, could this be why we have an epidemic here in the U.S of obesity among the young and old?

We recommend that after a fast to always break your fast with a lean piece of meat or a good source of protein.

The protein will keep you in fat burning whereas eating carbohydrates to break your fast will spike your insulin (fat storing hormone) and cause glucagon to drop (fat burning hormone) and kick you right out of fat adaptation (fat burning).

Glucagon helps to produce ketones, when your liver is producing ketones, you are in fat burning.

It also affects lipid metabolism, breaking down fat through lipolysis and increasing ketone production

Gluconeogenesis and glucagon work together, what this means is when gluconeogenesis is activated because you have not eaten any carbs say for 46 to 72 hours no food at all just water and coffee or tea, certain parts of your body need glucose to survive, so the body will take protein that may be floating around, damaged cells and your own stored up fat sitting in those fat cells convert them into glucose.

Glucagon goes up gluconeogenesis is activated it is your body’s safety mechanism to always keep your blood sugar at a safe level.

Always remember to consume enough of a good source of protein if you are looking to add lean muscle at any age.

Fasting is always going to create more fat burning because the only food source you have left to convert into energy to survive is the fat in your fat cells.

By consuming protein when breaking your fast you will stay in fat burning for a longer period of time.

Coach Bill

bill@billmabrycoaching.com

billmabrycoaching.com

Scientific references

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9356547/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5866358/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2969169/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC287971/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2043222/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC292156/?page=2

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3636601/