What you can drink without breaking a fast

A clean fast is water, black coffee, and unsweetened tea. Sparkling water counts. A pinch of salt counts. Cream, milk, bone broth, and “just a splash” do not. Neither do diet sodas if your goal is metabolic quiet rather than a technical calorie count.

Coffee is useful because it is bitter and habitual. It occupies the morning ritual that used to be breakfast. Two cups is plenty. Past that you are borrowing against afternoon anxiety.

Electrolytes matter once you pass sixteen hours or if you train fasted. Sodium first, then potassium and magnesium. Skip the sweetened packets. A quarter teaspoon of salt in warm water is unglamorous and effective.

If a drink has a nutrition label with calories, it is food. Treat it as the start of your eating window.