Rest assured, matcha tea will not break a fast. 

Read on to not only learn why your matcha tea won't break a fast but also how matcha actually enhances your fast. 

You won't want to fast without it. 

Why matcha won't break a fast 

The simple explanation is that matcha tea has virtually zero calories and therefore it does not break your fast.

As long as you're not mixing your matcha with milk as a liquid base, or adding sweeteners, you won't biochemically break your fast. 

That's right...no MCT OIL, no oat milk - just plain matcha in water. 

But, here's the thing - matcha tea can also enhance your fast, too.

How matcha green tea enhances your fast

Drinking matcha while fasting can do everything from improving cognition to providing a feeling of being focused and calm boost.

It does this from the unique amounts of natural caffeine and the abundance of L-theanine in this special form of green tea. 

Matcha tea during your fast also helps kill appetite. Even the water you consume it with helps to expand your stomach, sending signals to your brain that you're full.

And caffeine, since it works on our adrenaline system, often has a mild appetite regulating effect. 

That's because if we're running from a tiger, there's no time to stop and eat.

Sort of like how your appetite can often get reduced after a hard workout. Adrenaline fires off and we just don't have a huge appetite. 

But the major benefit of matcha while fasting is in the way that this type of green tea powder gives your metabolism a boost.

There are high amounts of the polyphenol known as EGCG in matcha powder. 

Read on to learn the major benefits that this superfood tea has in store for your fasting protocol.  

What is fasting? 

Fasting is popular these days. It's touted as being a way to lose more belly fat and increase lifespan. 

It also makes sense for working professionals or parents who often have busy mornings - it's just easier to push meals until later in the day. 

But what is it exactly? 

Think of fasting as a little downtime for your body. It's a moment in time without food coming into your system so that your body gets a chance to focus its efforts on critical repair. 

Sort of like a 24 hr restaurant that takes 1 day a month to close and give everything a nice deep clean. Doing this every so often keeps all systems running better long term. 

A fast is no different.

It's a chance for the body to go through a clean up while clearing out any dead and damaged cells.  A sort of 'cellular recycling' known as autophagy occurs, or even apoptosis - or death of cells that aren't needed if they can't be salvaged. 

When a Spring cleaning is freshly completed or the closet is newly organized - this is what autophagy and apoptosis are for the body. 

What ways can you fast? 

16:8 Fasting Schedule

The most popular form of fasting for weight loss is known as the standard 16:8 fasting shedule. You fast 16 hrs of the day and only eat in an 8 hr window, typically later in the day. 

This method means you'll eat dinner about 8 pm and fast, without food, until 12 noon the next day. Then, you'll consume all of your meals between noon and 8 pm.  

Noon to 8 pm is the eating window. 

It's a popular method and can work wonders for some people. Although, the reason it tends to be effective is that you're simply shrinking the eating window.

Therefore, you're too full to eat that much. So intake drops overall and weight loss follows.

It's up in the air as to whether or not you can get enough 'autophagy' or cellular recycling benefits in this short time frame. 

And it's autophagy where the longevity benefits lie - removing the sticky gook that builds up and wreaks havoc down the road. 

3 Day Fast 

Self explanatory here - don't eat for 3 days.

This one is best to talk with your Doctor about first. But it's likely the better method for fully activating autophagy. 

It's enough downtime without food for the beneficial fasting mechanisms that promote cell health and longevity to really kick in and take effect. 

But a word of caution - if you're not practiced in fasting, this may not be the method you wan't to jump into right away. 

The better you are at fasting in general, the better your body will be at regulating blood sugar and keeping blood sugar stable without food coming in. 

If you've never been more than a couple of hours without snacking, your blood sugar regulation may need some practice before going 3 days without food. 

A big fast out the gate can make blood sugar drop too low and you may experience wild cravings and big mood swings.

So start with a 16:8 fasting schedule or maybe try a 24 hour fast first...

And of course, drink plenty of water no matter which option you choose. Water is the great facilitator in the body that allows for all that cellular cleaning. 

And remember, it's water that expands your stomach and tells your brain "I'm full" so that you don't get so darn hungry. 

Matcha when fasting is smart

Matcha is rich in the polyphenol EGCG and it's the main mechanism in which matcha tea boost metabolism. 

The EGCG is a powerful fat burning plant compound that mitigates spikes in blood sugar that signal fat storage. And it boosts hormones that promote greater weight loss. 

Of course, caffeine is also a potent fat burner as well. It frees up fat from fat cells to be used as fuel, especially during exercise. 

So that is why matcha's naturally occurring EGCG and caffiene are such a potent combo. 

But wait, there's more benefits of matcha while fasting

One major reason why matcha tea helps when fasting is how it stimulates  autophagy.

Fasting popularity has skyrocketed for its proposed benefits on longevity, which requires greater accumulation of healthy cells as we age. 

Essentially, keep the good cells. Get rid of (apoptosis) or clean up and recycle (autophagy) the bad cells. 

Bad cells are dead and damaged and need to be resolved. Fasting accelerates this process. But so does the compound EGCG. So matcha compliments these fasting benefits. 

And even though your stomach is empty, you won't have to worry about jitters while drinking matcha when fasting. 

The L theanine helps to make the caffeine disperses slowly in the body. Think of a nice and steady release over time. 

Whereas with synthetic caffeine in pre workouts or energy drinks, it's likely you'll get jittery without food because it hits all at once. Increasing anxiety and feelings of overwhelm from too much caffeine firing the adrenals all at once. 

Now, here's the thing... 

Fasting alone will improve cognition. That's because if we didn't have food, we'd like die. So while fasting, there's an innate response in the body that helps us focus in case we need to go hunt for food to survive. 

This is why people say they are their most productive in their work when fasting through out the morning. 

Add in the signature, "alert but calm" feeling of matcha to the naturally cognitive enhancing abilities of a fast - you've got productivity rocket fuel! 

Just be sure to choose our unsweetened matcha tea. 

Even though our matcha drinks don't have sugar or calories, our flavors are sweetened with monk fruit. 

It technically won't break a fast since it's calorie free, but you don't want to kick off sweet receptors in the brain while you're fasting so that you get the optimal benefits of going without food. 

Which matcha tea is best for weight loss fasting? 

 

If you're fasting for weight loss, go with pure matcha tea in water. As mentioned above, Moontower Matcha Unsweetened works great for this. 

The big thing to avoid is added sugar and even added fats. That's because the purpose of fasting is to go without food for a set period of time. 

You're gonna want to avoid any artificial sweeteners as well. Although they are calorie free, these sweeteners are so sweet, the brain thinks it's getting sugar. 

It begins to secrete insulin in preparation to clear the incoming sugar from our body. And part of the whole reason for fasting is to keep insulin LOW! 

When insulin is too high, the body is signaled into storage mode - ie. create body fat and hoard calories. 

When insulin is close to baseline, like when fasting, the body is in a mode of calorie burning and using fat for fuel. 

So that is why it's important that artificial sweeteners don't make it into your matcha tea when you're fasting for weight loss. 

Why matcha is healthy when fasting

If you're fasting, then you're likely doing it for your health. There's not many things on the planet that can boast the benefits of matcha tea. Things like...

• Loaded with whole body nutrients - magnesium, b vitamins, potassium and more. 

• Rich in chlorophyll - this supports the natural detoxification processed in the body. It also helps boost your skin's glow. 

• Lower your caffeine - if you're hitting those adrenals hard with multiple cups of coffee or energy drinks, it's time to taper back. Or maybe you're just sensitive to caffeine. Matcha is great because it only has half the caffeine of coffee, but it's released more slowly for a steady boost that's jitter-free.  

• Crazy antioxidant support - 17X more antioxidants than blueberries and 10x more than regular green tea. The antioxidants in matcha help you fight cellular aging and neutralize damaging free radicals that we're all exposed to daily in our environments. 

•  Excellent addition to your fasting and weight loss protocol - for all the reasons mentioned in this article, matcha is a great compliment to fasting.  

Enhance your fasting with matcha today

Most people fast because they are too busy to eat in the morning. Save time with matcha without the hassles. Pick up a case of our Moontower Matcha ceremonial grade drinks in the Unsweetened flavor today. 

Like you, we want ceremonial grade matcha that quick and easy on the go!

And if you don't have time to eat, then you definitely don't have the time to deal with the mess of measuring, whisking, and cleaning up matcha powder.