Will Creatine Break A Fast?

Are you using intermittent fasting to lose weight? But what about your supplements? Will Creatine break a fast or will it not be considered as food? Answers to all these questions in the article below.

Many bodybuilders fast due to its various health benefits. Fasting is a quick and easy way to lose fat and reduce your weight. 

Thousands of people also use creatine every day. It is one of the most widely used and effective supplements by strength and bodybuilding enthusiasts. Creatine helps to build muscle, increase performance and strength. 

So the natural question that comes up is: will creatine break a fast? The generally accepted myth is that creatine consumption should be avoided during fasting because it will end up breaking your fast and destroy all the effort you have put in to reduce your weight.

We are here to tell you that this is all false. Most creatine supplements are completely safe to use during fasting. Read on to find out what creatine does to your intermittent fasting. 

You might like to read: Does Creatine Make You Thirsty?

Does Creatine Break Fast?

No, creatine doesn’t break fast.

Creatine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid and doesn’t cause insulin spikes in the body. However, other supplements, especially ones that are proteinogenic amino acids, will cause insulin spikes and contribute to breaking your fast. 

You should avoid supplements such as isoleucine, leucine, and valine. Creatine doesn’t break your fast because Creatine is a natural substance already available in your liver, kidney, and pancreas produce creatine within the body.  

Creatine in its pure monohydrate form doesn’t break your fast because it has zero calories. However, if you are taking oral creatine, you will need to consume it for its absorption in your body. 

Unfortunately, some ingredients in your creatine supplement such as sugar will break your fast as it will spike your insulin level. When you take creatine supplements, ensure that you are using the right product that contains only pure creatine.

You should read the nutrition labels before you buy creatine supplements. You should also look at the nutrition label of other products you use during your fast. Look out for any additional sugar or artificial sweetener. Artificial sweeteners, flavors, and sugar alcohol will have an impact on your fasting.

You can use pure creatine during fast but it should contain zero macronutrients and absolutely zero calories. Some creatine capsules may contain other ingredients such as magnesium, gelatin, and stearate. 

These ingredients have no impact on insulin, so you can take creatine capsules.  Creatine doesn’t break an intermittent fast, but it can still count in breaking your fast for medical or religious purposes.

You might like to read: Does Creatine Go Bad?

What Foods Are Suitable To Eat When You Fast?

Fasting means refraining from eating food. Many people use intermittent fasting as a way to lose weight and prevent numerous chronic diseases. Fasting also promotes autophagy, in which your body eliminates unneeded, harmful, and damaged cells. 

Fasting has many health benefits, but some foods may break your fast. On the other hand, there are some foods that you can eat while fasting without losing their benefits, including:

Coffee and tea

You can consume coffee and tea as long as they do not contain added sugar, cream, and milk. However, some people add small amounts of milk or fat to their drink because it restrains their fast phase.

Healthy fats

Some people find it suitable to drink coffee by adding fat, including ghee, MCT oil, coconut oil, and butter, while they fast. However, oil keeps ketosis in check, yet it breaks fast.

Water

You will require to stay hydrated when you take creatine. Fortunately, water does not break your fast as it contains zero calories. You can also drink carbonated water to keep yourself hydrated during a fast.

Bone broth

Bone broth will technically break your fast (it is not a zero-calorie food), but you can take a small amount of this rich source of nutrients. It will help you replenish electrolytes lost due to drinking only water for an extended period.

Diluted apple cider vinegar

You can mix 1 to 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar into water and drink it during a fast. It will help you prevent cravings and keep you hydrated during a fast. 

How To Take Creatine When Fasting?

You can take the usual dose of creatine that you normally take during fasting. Generally, people intake more creatine during the loading phase, and your body must get used to and respond to creatine. If you start fasting during your creatine loading phase, you can take 20 grams a day over 2 to 4 servings. 

After the loading phase, you must lower your creatine dose to 5 grams a day in a single serving. 

Follow the exact dosage of creatine while you fast and maintain your health and body. You can fast for 20 hours between your meals and take creatine between that period to experience excellent results. 

This combination helps you build muscle and get stronger and enables you to recover faster during your training. You should select the appropriate creatine without any flavor as it doesn’t break your fast. 

What Should You Consider When Taking Creatine During Fasting?

Creatine is acceptable to consume during fasting. However, you should make sure that the supplement product you take is completely pure creatine monohydrate.

You should stay extra careful because many creatine supplements have carbs as their ingredient. Carbs are one of the factors that cause an insulin spike in the body. Carbs are beneficial as they help get more creatine into the muscles. 

However, they still break your fasting and destroy the benefits you may earn by fasting. You should not get fooled by carb’s benefits and lose your fasting benefits.   

You should also avoid using creatine with added sugar. If you take creatine supplements of your choice that contain sugar, you will break your fast. Sugar is present in many products. It is the simplest form of carb that will instantly cause an insulin spike in your body. It also kick-starts your body’s metabolism, and you will lose your fasting benefits.

Artificial Sweeteners are also another ingredient that you should avoid during fasting. You can find artificial sweeteners in a flavored creatine supplement. Some studies show that artificial sweeteners may throw you out of your fasted state.

Who Should Take Creatine?

People use creatine because it is one of the safest and most effective supplements that many people use to build muscles and increase their performance and strength. Creatine is very popular, but still, some people think that it is just water weight. 

However, this is not true, creatine sure draws water into muscle cells, but it also makes the muscle more substantial and more prominent. In case you want to get bigger and stronger muscles, you should use creatine. Creatine is naturally produced in our body, but most heavy-weight lifters and bodybuilders take creatine for their high-intensity training.  

When you are fasting to lose weight, you can take creatine and continue your training for building bigger muscles. Most athletes use creatine to improve their performance. 

Various sports players like football players, baseball players, hockey players, professional fighters, and even wrestlers take creatine to build an enormous body and improve performance. Cyclists and runners also drink creatine to achieve its endurance benefits.

When you take creatine, you should stay more hydrated to avoid bloating. Avoid overconsuming creatine as eating more doesn’t mean it has more benefits. 

What Other Supplements You Can Take During Intermittent Fasting?

• Multivitamins: Some multivitamins supplements will break your fast. However, you can take multivitamins that don’t have any added sugar or fillers and contain only a few or zero calories during a fast. 
• Pure collagen: Many people use pure collagen for skin during their intermittent fasting. They experience slight impairment in their autophagy, but it doesn’t affect the fat-burning process during a fast.
• Individual micronutrients: You can also take individual multivitamins, including iron, potassium, vitamin D, vitamin B, vitamin A, and more. However, you should make sure that they contain no sugar. 
• Fish or algae oil: You can take fish oil in regular doses without affecting your ketosis phase during a fast. This oil has few calories but no digestible carbs. A small amount will have no harm to your fasting.
• Probiotics and prebiotics: You should take these supplements during your fast as they contain absolutely no calories and digestible carbs.

Answers To Questions About Fasting and Creatine

A Few Final Words

Creatine is the best supplement that people use to increase their muscle size, strength, and endurance. Creatine is also an acceptable drink while fasting as it doesn’t spike insulin levels in your body. 

However, some creatine supplements on the market contain artificial sweeteners and calories that will break your fast. Remember to check the nutrition labels before you purchase a creatine supplement.  

We hope you got all the information that you need about fasting and how creatine will not hurt your fast as long as you are taking pure creatine with no added sugars and other ingredients. If you have further questions, please write to us in the comments box below and we will answer them promptly.

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