Last Updated on November 9, 2023 by Fasting Planet
Fasting calls for the omission of food from your diet, but when it comes to fluids, you’re a little fuzzy on the rules. Do you have to forego any beverages during the fasting window too? Could you sip water, or is that not allowed?
You can and should drink water on almost every type of intermittent fast except for dry fasts. As the name implies, this short-term fast calls for no consumption or even interaction with water.
In this article, we’ll explain more about the importance of water when fasting. We’ll also elaborate on which fasts water is allowed so you don’t accidentally break your fast. You’re not going to want to miss it.
Which Types of Fasts Can You Drink Water?
Water is allowed for the majority of intermittent fasting types as well as longer-term fasts. You can also consume beverages like black coffee and some teas if you feel like changing things up.
Here’s an overview of water-safe fasts.
Alternate-Day Fasting
The alternate-day fast entails you fasting for one consecutive period of 24 hours and then eating for the next 24 hours. You would repeat this throughout the week, perhaps taking an extra non-fasting day if you felt inclined.
16:8 Fasting
With 16:8 fasting, also known as the 16:8 method, you spend a portion of your day eating and the rest fasting. The eight-hour eating window here is quite generous, but it doesn’t need to be only for eight hours. You could do an 18:6 fast if you want to limit your eating time even further.
The whole point of this fast is to plan for a 24-hour span and spend more time fasting than eating.
5:2 Fasting
The 5:2 method of fasting involves you dividing your days of the week into fasting periods rather than the hours of those days. For two days every week, you’re in a fasted state, consuming water and other allowable fluids and abstaining from food.
The other five days of the week are yours to eat and drink regularly, but you should stick to a low-carb, nutritious diet to reap the benefits of fasting (such as weight loss, autophagy, and a healthier immune system).
Water Fasting
Of course, you would expect that you would be allowed to drink water on a water fast. Water fasting involves you consuming nothing but water, using it almost as a type of meal replacement. You can do this for days at a time, weeks, months, and even years.
Back in 1971, a young man decided to go on a water fast for more than a year. He fasted with nothing but supplements and water for 382 days, and in that time lost nearly 300 pounds.
Which Types of Fasts Should You Not Drink Water?
Water may have no calories, sugar, carbs, or sodium, but that doesn’t mean it’s automatically allowable for every type of fast. As we said in the intro, dry fasting restricts even water consumption. Both types of dry fasting require these strict rules. Here’s an explanation of those two types.
Soft Dry Fasting
With soft dry water fasting, you still can’t drink water, but you’re permitted to use it in other ways. If you want to brush your teeth, wash your hands, cleanse your body in the shower, or clean your face at the end of the day, you can safely do any of these activities without breaking your fast. Even if you accidentally swallow some water in the shower or when brushing your teeth, you’re still considered to be in a fasted state. You should not intentionally drink water though.
Hard Dry Fasting
If you opt to do a hard dry water fast, expect much stricter guidelines. Those activities in the paragraph above are not allowed. Not one of them. For that reason and because it’s not necessarily healthy to go too long without water, hard dry fasts should be quite abbreviated.
Even still, a Times of India article from 2018 found that a 24-hour dry fast can produce the same results as water fasting for three days.
How Much Water Should You Consume a Day When Fasting?
When you rely mostly on water during a fast, you might find that you consume more than usual. For most types of intermittent fasts, your consumption may be anywhere between two and three liters a day, perhaps even four or five liters if you’re especially thirsty.
On a water fast, you have to up your intake even further. Women should aim for about eight to nine ounces of water a day and men up to 13 ounces. To make the water last longer, take slow, concerted sips of each glass rather than chug it.
Why Drink Water on a Fast?
Although it’s difficult to go from having a full range of drinking options to water and maybe coffee and tea, you can’t skip drinking as well as eating on your fast. That would be terribly unhealthy.
You will enjoy these benefits from water, so make sure you keep sipping.
Satiety
Drinking water can create that full feeling in your belly that you’re not getting from food right now. That’s why it’s important to increase water intake during a fast.
Hydration
According to data from EatRight.org, a portion of our daily hydration, 20 percent, comes from food. Although 20 percent may not seem like a lot, foregoing food and drinking water only sporadically can easily put you at risk of dehydration.
At its most serious, dehydration can be fatal. When you feel thirsty then, make sure you drink.
Weight Loss
If you’re fasting for weight loss, drinking water can aide you in your efforts. Water contains zero calories, as we said, so it’s not contributing to your body’s supply of glucose. You can burn fat and even enter an autophagic state without water interrupting it.
Conclusion
You should drink water every day, but consumption becomes even more paramount on an intermittent fast. The only types of fasts that preclude water consumption are hard and soft dry fasts. For any other fasting type, no matter how long, you can safely drink water, so make sure you do!