From religious reasons to diet trends to doctor’s orders, there are many times in life we’re asked to abstain completely from all food or drink for a period of time. Yet so many people want—no, need—to know: can I drink coffee while I’m on a fast?
A lot of us not only enjoy coffee, we might feel pretty terrible if we go a day without it. Sprudge is here to break down for you the times you might—or might not—need to truly turn down that morning coffee to meet your fasting goals.
I have an upcoming surgery or medical procedure that requires anaesthesia and I have been told to fast. Can I still have coffee in the morning?
“Being put under anaesthesia relaxes your reflexes and your esophagus, and it’s a risk that stomach contents would come up into the airway, which is something that we call aspiration, and it can potentially be fatal or make you very ill,” explains Dr. Ross Martini, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences & University in Portland, Oregon.
“We tell people before any surgery or anaesthesia that they shouldn’t eat or drink anything. Anything that goes in the stomach not only increases the volume of stuff that’s in the stomach, but it also causes the stomach to make stomach acid.”
Okay but really, like, could I have just a black coffee if it was five hours before?
The length of allowable time between food or drink and anaesthesia can vary, Dr. Martini says. Anything with fat in it—like toast with butter—is best spaced out eight hours before anaesthesia according to most guidelines. However, Dr. Martini says, the interval for waiting after consuming clear liquids is shorter. “If you’re drinking black coffee,” he counsels, “you would only have to fast for two hours.”
However—and this is something not everyone remembers—that sneaky cup absolutely has to be black.
“It’s the most common thing that makes us delay surgery,” says Dr. Martini. “Someone gets up at 4:00am and they have a cup of coffee—and they put milk in it.”
**As in all things, please consult your own doctor for proper instructions pertinent to your individual circumstances.**
What about intermittent fasting? Does coffee count or can I have it?
Intermittent fasting—most commonly, restricting food and drink consumption to a a limited, set timeframe each day, like between 10:00am and 6:00pm—has grown tremendously in popularity as a tool for weight loss and general health improvement. But does coffee count? Registered Dietician Julia Zumpano tells the Cleveland Clinic’s Health Essentials podcast that coffee lovers who take it black are good to go.
Zumpano says in the podcast, “Generally, fasting means that you should not be eating any solid food and also not consuming any beverages that have calories. Coffee is an exception and so is tea.” She adds that even taking your coffee with a little bit of cream would be okay, if it does not add substantial calories.
Bad news for latte lovers and Bulletproof coffee enthusiasts trying to fast… good news for just about everybody else.
How about having coffee during Ramadan?
Consuming coffee between dawn and dusk is prohibited during the month of Ramadan, but that doesn’t mean coffee-loving Muslims don’t partake when they’re able. Sajjad Shah, founder of the midwest-US based Muslims of the World (MOTW) cafe chain, assures Sprudge coffee is still very much a part of daily Muslim life during this time—but it may not be first thing in the morning.
“Generally speaking it’s around 4:00am that we wake up, and have to stop eating at 4:30am,” explains Shah, who is based in Indianapolis. “A lot of people don’t want to drink coffee in the morning because they won’t be able to go back to sleep. Generally you go back to nap, and then go to work,” says the cafe owner.
Getting through the day can be harder for those who suffer caffeine withdrawal—though remember, people are also foregoing cigarettes and everything else, too—but Shah says skipping morning coffee still works out.
“Many Muslims will tell you,” he says, “the month is so special, we oftentimes have more energy, maybe because we’re not eating the crappy food we usually eat during the day. We often times just feel refreshed, because it’s a spiritual month.”
But after dark is when the Ramadan coffee magic really happens, he says. For many Muslims, on the weekend, coffee becomes part of the post-prayer evening social ritual. “After night prayer people are like, where’s the hangout, where are we grabbing coffee?” says Shah.
“What you’ve seen is all these Muslim coffee shops now across the world are now, during Ramadan, extending their hours from 7:00am until 3:00 or 4:00am on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We were the first Muslim coffee shop in Indiana, and when we put these hours out, all our non-Muslim customers were like, ‘Who’s going to get coffee at that time??’ but I kid you not, we will have lines wrapped around the building til 2:00am or 3:00am Ramadan time.”
And… is it all caffeinated?
Shah laughs: “We get a LOT of people asking for decaf because it is 2:00am.”
Liz Clayton is the associate editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Liz Clayton on Sprudge.
