How to Stay Hydrated While Fasting?

Last Updated on November 9, 2023 by Fasting Planet

Hydration comes not only from the beverages you drink, but the foods you eat as well. Once you eliminate most or all of your regular diet through fasting, you lose about 20 percent of your daily hydration. That’s why, on a fast, it’s incredibly important to stay hydrated. How do you do that?

The following methods will keep you hydrated on an intermittent fast:

• Drink lots of fluids like water, bone broth, tea, or black coffee
• Eat vegetables and fruits
• Avoid water-absorbing foods
• Consume soup

In this guide on staying hydrated on a fast, we’ll elaborate more on the above methods for hydration. Whether this is your first fast or your fifth, we think you’ll be able to learn something. Keep reading!

How to Stay Hydrated on a Fast

According to the Hamad Medical Corporation, in those who observe Ramadan, “fasting creates a greater risk of developing dehydration if the holy month of Ramadan occurs in high summer temperatures.” This 2003 publication of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition confirms as much as well.

Ramadan is a strict means of fasting in which no food or water are allowed until sundown each day of the monthlong observance, so the above statements make sense. Even if you’re following a less strict type of fast, like intermittent fasting, you’re still at risk of dehydration. That goes for any time of the year.

The following measures are recommended to combat dehydration. If your intermittent fast allows you to eat, then the foods we suggested are best to consume. If you can’t eat, then the fluids you ingest are of the utmost importance.

Drink Fluids

Above all else, whether your intermittent fast has eating windows or not, you need to drink plenty of fluids. These can restore the lost hydration you get from eating less (if at all) and keep you healthy enough to continue your fast to completion.

What are your beverage options? Believe it or not, you can drink more than just water, although water is important too. Here are a handful of beverage suggestions that all won’t break your fast.

1. Water

No creature can live without water. More than half of your body is water, 60 percent in all. Water has tremendous benefits crucial for everyday health as well. Here’s a list.

• Healthy bowels: By staying hydrated, your gastrointestinal tract functions normally, allowing you to make regular bowel movements and avoid uncomfortable and sometimes painful constipation. Why does constipation happen when you’re dehydrated or close to it? Your colon needs fluid, typically from stools, and without water, your stool is harder, drier, and more tough to pass.
• Kidney functioning: Your kidneys also rely on water within your body. When you prioritize hydration, your kidneys can remove blood urea nitrogen and other toxic sources of waste that can’t stay in your system. As the name blood urea nitrogen suggests, each time you urinate, you remove this toxin from the body. When you become dehydrated, toxins can build up in the kidneys.
• Fresher-looking skin: You probably use pricy creams and serums to maintain skin youthfulness. You might even fast to keep your fibroblasts recycling through autophagy so your body can continually make elastin and collagen. Drinking water is also a key part of skin health, as without it, your skin can become wrinkled and dry. This is mostly due to the buildup of toxins in the kidneys.
• Keep your muscles strong: Muscle fatigue makes it hard to exercise and do other daily activities. Your muscles need both electrolytes and fluids in proper balance to keep the cells performing well. Without this fluid balance, such as during dehydration, you’ll have sorer muscles.
• Weight loss: One of the most beneficial reasons to reach for a glass of water or several when fasting (and truthfully, when not fasting too) is to augment your weight loss efforts. Most people who count calories tend to forget the caloric load of their beverages, considering only their food. Soft drinks may be the worst caloric offenders, but they’re far from the only ones. Sugary juices, cream-laden coffee, and even milk will all add to your daily calories.

Water is always calorie-free, and it contains no fat, sugar, or carbohydrates. Since it has no taste, water is not jarring to drink first thing in the morning or late at night. If you get tired of water, you might try infusing the flavors of real fruit with water. Let the fruit steep in your water overnight and enjoy the variety!

2. Bone Broth

You can also branch out into other low-cal beverage options. Bone broth is one of these. Also known as stock, bone broth takes the bones of animals and simmers them in a water-based broth. Aromatics and mirepoix­–a diced vegetable base with fat or oil–can add flavor, or you can drink the bone broth plain.

We’ve written about bone broth on this blog before, and we always recommend making your own. A cup of the store-bought stuff has 86 calories, 8.5 grams of carbs, 2.9 grams of total fat, 6 grams of protein, 0.34 milligrams of zinc, 252 milligrams of potassium, 10 milligrams of magnesium, 0.5 milligrams of iron, 7 milligrams of calcium, and 343 milligrams of sodium.

It’s the sodium content that’s so egregious with store-bought bone broth, and the high number of calories may be enough to break your fast. If you need a refresher, when you fast, you limit calories to burn through your body’s supply of glucose, or sugars sourced from food. With no glucose left, your body switches to burning fat.

However, adding too many carbs, sugars, or calories to your fasting diet can cause an insulin response that releases more glucose that your body burns instead of fat, which you don’t want. Homemade bone broth will be fresher and less salty, plus it won’t contain nearly as many carbs or calories.

Bone broth is also beneficial for your health in the following ways.

• Could help you sleep better: In a study published in 2015 in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, glycine, a type of amino acid in bone broth, was used as a natural sleep aid. The results were quite successful. With glycine, you could wake up the next day less fatigued and enjoy more restful sleep when your head hits the pillow.
• Promotes gut healing: Besides the amino acid glycine, other bone broth amino acids are healthful in their own ways. For instance, glutamine supplements were proven to heal the intestinal barrier in animals and humans, says this study in Current Opinions in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care from 2017.
• May improve osteoarthritis symptoms: The connective tissue called type 2 collagen that’s in some chicken tissue and thus chicken-based bone broth could be a good enough source of collagen to reduce joint pain, especially in the knees.
• Lots of nutrients: The collagen and amino acids in bone broth aside, the broth also contains manganese, zinc, selenium, fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin K, and iron through bone marrow, although in which quantities depends on the type of broth.

If you’re feeling hungry and you want something that tastes like a meal while you fast, bone broth will satiate you and keep you hydrated.

3. Tea

Tea lovers can enjoy all sorts of tea while they go through a short-term or long-term intermittent fast. A steaming cup of tea can even ward off that cold feeling you may get in your extremities while fasting.

The first type of tea to try is oolong tea, which comes from a Chinese word that means black dragon. This tea undergoes some oxidation and plenty of time in the sun. Then the tea leaves are twisted and curled in manufacturing, giving the oolong tea leaves their distinct shape.

Why drink oolong tea? Besides for hydration purposes, this tea variety has the following health benefits.

• Might reduce eczema symptoms: Although eczema has no cure, the redness and other symptoms associated with it could be reduced through oolong tea’s polyphenols according to a case study from the Archives of Dermatology.
• Stronger bones and teeth: Oolong tea’s many antioxidants have been proven to improve bone density across several studies, including this one from JAMA Internal Medicine.
• May ward off cancer: Like many other teas, oolong tea is packed full of polyphenols. These polyphenols could safeguard you from colorectal, liver, pancreatic, esophageal, lung, and oral cancers.
• Lower Alzheimer’s risk: This report from 2015 and a series of others have stated that oolong tea’s ability to boost the functioning of your brain could even extend to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

Oolong tea isn’t your only option, by the way. You could always brew a mug of green tea, which undergoes some oxidation and withering, but not to the extent of oolong tea. The refreshing taste of green tea makes it a favorite, and we’ve written about the very extensive list of green tea benefits on this blog before.

Black tea is another safe option for hydration on a fast. Despite its name, black tea tends to have a red color that comes from its higher level of oxidation. The strong degree of flavor in black tea can certainly sate you on a fast.

4. Black Coffee

Fasting on its own can be difficult to do, but fasting without coffee? You’re not sure you can handle it. Fortunately, you don’t have to. By skipping the sugar, milk, or creamer and drinking your coffee black, you can hydrate yourself and get your daily hit of caffeine.

Black coffee isn’t only for more caffeinated energy, by the way. Although it’s an acquired taste, drinking black coffee has the following health perks.

• Lower cancer risk: Like oolong tea, black coffee may prevent the development of certain cancers, among them colorectal and liver cancer. If you consume black coffee often, this 2007 report from Gastroenterology notes that you may cut your cancer risk by as much as 40 percent.
• Could combat depression: By upping your black coffee consumption to at least four daily cups every day, you could reduce your depression risk. So found this 2011 study published in the Archive of Internal Medicine. The participants in that study, all women, had a reduced rate of depression by 20 percent through drinking black coffee.
• Might prevent type 2 diabetes: Although experts still aren’t quite sure why it is, many studies have repeatedly shown that those who drink coffee tend not to develop type 2 diabetes. This 2008 report from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is one such study.

Eat Water-Containing Foods like Fruits and Vegetables

If you’re on an intermittent fast such as the OMAD diet, the 16:8 fast, the 5:2 diet, or the alternative-day fast, you get to eat at varying times. By centralizing your diet around fruits and vegetables that contain a lot of water, you could restore at least some of that lost 20 percent of hydration you’re missing from your regular diet.

Not all fruits and vegetables necessarily have enough water that they’re worth eating on your fast. Here is a list of fruits and veggies to add your shopping list as well as the water content of each.

• Grapefruit: In a 123-gram serving of grapefruit, you get 118 grams of water, with an 88 percent water content overall. Further, grapefruit is packed with folate, potassium, vitamin A, and antioxidants for better health. That same serving has 53 calories though, so eat grapefruit sparingly.
• Cabbage: Whip up a salad with cabbage for lunch or dinner. Its 92-percent water content is great, not to mention it has vitamin K, vitamin C, and folate.
• Cauliflower: Another tasty veggie with lots of water is cauliflower. A cup’s worth of cauliflower nourishes with 59 milliliters of water, and the veggie has an overall water content of 92 percent. It’s also a great source of fiber!
• Bell peppers: Most veggies don’t contain vitamin C, but bell peppers do. They’re also full of potassium, B vitamins, fiber, and carotenoid antioxidants. A pepper’s water content is 92 percent.
• Tomatoes: You also can’t go wrong with tomatoes, with a water content of 94 percent. By eating one whole mid-sized tomato, you’re hydrating your body with 118 milliliters of water as well as vitamin C and vitamin A.
• Celery: Nearly calorie-free and yet packed with water (95 percent of celery is water), eating celery is a great way to stay hydrated on your intermittent fast. A half cup of the green veggie gives you 118 milliliters of water.
• Zucchini: You’ll feel fuller longer thanks to the fiber in zucchini. This tasty veggie will also hydrate you, as a 124-gram serving, which is the equivalent of a cup, has 94 percent water in it.
• Lettuce: Lettuce is one of the wateriest veggies you can eat, with a water content of 96 percent overall. A cup of the stuff fills you up with 59 milliliters of water, but that’s not all. You can also get folate and fiber from lettuce.
• Cucumber: Also with a 95-percent water content is cucumber, a low-cal vegetable that contains magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K.
• Oranges: Switching back to fruit now, oranges have a water content of 88 percent, with 118 milliliters of water in half a cup of this tart fruit. Most known for its rich vitamin C content, oranges also contain potassium.
• Peaches: Save peaches for an occasional treat, as a medium peach contains nearly 60 calories. You will hydrate yourself as you munch on this summery fruit, as its water content is 89 percent overall. Peaches also have potassium, B vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin A.
• Cantaloupe: A few pieces of cantaloupe will also keep you from breaking your fast, which is great, as this fruit’s water content is 90 percent. A single cup or 177 grams has 118 milliliters of water. You’re also ingesting lots of vitamin A, 120 percent of what you need in a day through one serving of cantaloupe.
• Strawberries: With about 4 calories per strawberry, you’re safe to eat this fruit bountifully, enjoying its water content of 91 percent. You’ll also ingest plenty of healthy minerals with your strawberries, among them manganese and folate.
• Watermelon: The fruit with the most water is undoubtedly watermelon, with a water content of 92 percent. A 154-gram or half-cup serving of watermelon will provide you with 118 milliliters of water. Watermelon is a sweet treat that contains magnesium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

You don’t only have to enrich your diet with fruit and vegetables, by the way. For instance, plain yogurt contains 61 calories a serving and 88 percent of water.

Avoid Water-Absorbing Foods

As you prepare a meal to nourish you for your fast, you want to be careful that the foods you choose to eat don’t absorb water. When you make brown rice, whole-grain pasta, and oatmeal, for instance, these foods suck up water as you cook. You also want to limit your consumption or refrain from eating the following foods:

• Sugar
• Margarine and butter
• Fats
• Passionfruit
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Bread
• Cornflakes
• Pies
• Crusts and pastries
• Dried fruits
• Canned meats
• Dried skim and whole milk
• Nuts such as Macadamia nuts, raw peanuts, desiccated coconut, cashews, Brazil nuts, and almonds
• Sesame seeds
• Oxo cubes
• Peanut butter
• Butterscotch
• Chocolate bars
• Plain unsalted popcorn

Here’s a handy food data chart about the quantities of water in all the foods you might eat when fasting and not fasting alike.

Have Some Soup

The last option we recommend for staying hydrated on a fast is to sip on soup. Like with fruits and vegetables, you have your pick of soup options so your fasting diet never gets boring. Remember also that bone broth works as either a soup itself or as the base of a soup.

The following list of soups includes their calories in an 8-ounce serving as well as the water percentage of each.

• Cream of mushroom soup: 97 calories, 92 percent water
• Hot and sour soup: 91 calories, 91 percent water
• Chicken and rice soup: 89 calories, 90 percent water
• New England clam chowder: 87 calories, 91 percent water
• Vegetable chicken soup: 84 calories, 92 percent water
• Beef noodle soup: 83 calories, 92 percent water
• Minestrone: 82 calories, 91 percent water
• Manhattan clam chowder: 75 calories, 92 percent water
• Tomato soup: 74 calories, 91 percent water
• Mushroom barley soup: 73 calories, 92 percent water
• Cream of potato soup: 73 calories, 92 percent water
• Beef mushroom soup: 73 calories, 93 percent water
• Turkey vegetable soup: 72 calories, 93 percent water
• Wonton soup: 71 calories, 91 percent water
• Vegetable soup: 67 calories, 92 percent water
• Egg drop soup: 65 calories, 93 percent water
• Chicken noodle soup: 62 calories, 94 percent water
• Fish broth: 39 calories, 96 percent water
• Beef broth: 31 calories, 96 percent water
• Chicken broth: 15 calories, 98 percent water
• Soup broth: 11 calories, 98 percent water

Even some of the more calorically high soups such as cream of mushroom soup or beef noodle soup aren’t so high that you can’t eat a cup of soup a day. As you go further down the list and the number of calories decreases, you could eat those soups practically all day.

Also, the veggies like tomato, potato, and mushroom make some of these soups especially nutritious, as does the addition of chicken and clams. Like we recommended when ingesting bone broth, it’s better if you can make your soup at home to control preservatives and sodium levels.

Conclusion

Since fasters may miss out on as much as 20 percent of their daily hydration as they restrict their diets, it’s important to prioritize your hydration. Whether you prefer to drink beverages like black coffee and tea or you’d rather eat fruits, veggies, or soups, you can stay hydrated on your fast. Best of luck!