Does anyone know from experience it hot green tea with heavy cream will screw up keto and intermittent fasting at all? Basically I only eat one meal a day. I don't eat until noon. I was having a cup of hot green tea and cream right after my noon meal then one about 6 pm but I read it might reduce absorption of nutrients so soon after a meal and might might keep you from sleeping and I sometimes take an early afternoon nap. So its hard to get two cups of tea (which I like to do) in a day. It would be cool to drink one around 9 am but do you think that would mess with the benefits of fasting? I put no sweetener in the tea just tea and heavy whipping cream.

I love green tea. Meaning I learned to drink it plain, a far cry from years of tea with lemon and sugar or coffee with cream and sugar, lol.

Plain green tea is fine. It's the cream that alters the IF. That is if you are trying to maximize non- eating hours.

If for weight loss or maintenance, you would need to trial the second "meal", or snack.

That's my two cents. Not an expert, but did a lot of reading.

Hi. I read your intro post in your journal, and you are (were?) diabetic, right? I think it depends on what you're trying to get from IF. If it's BG control, your glucometer will probably give you the best answer. If it's better/faster weight loss or the autophagy stuff, I'd say it depends on how much you hate your tea without cream, and whether or not that'll tip the scales for you (pun intended) in terms of compliance. It's probably more worthwhile to enjoy your creamy tea if it helps keep you on track.

That was definitely the case for me. The times I tried to switch to black coffee for the sake of IF perfectionism, it was hard NO... but I was in good health. It just wasn't worth it to me. If I was addressing a worrisome health issue, I'd probably have sucked it up.

FWIW, I maintained a lower weight than this drinking creamy coffee until about 4:00 pm, when I'd take my lunch break at work. Active job, on my feet, and it worked well for me all around. I was rarely hungry earlier than that, and if I was, I gave myself full permission to go ahead and grab something on a break.

HTH.

Welcome back Whited,

For the past past two years, I have been using a Data Driven Fasting program, monitoring BG BEFORE eating to use it as a fuel gauge. The FREE book that is part of it has 190 pages of advice on all types of glucose management and fasting. Agree With Kristine, easiest way to find the answer for you is take your BG a few times after having the tea with cream.



Links to lots of information on the fasting program are in my Success Story, but here is where you can find the DDF book and read more:
https://www.datadrivenfasting.com/book

So I have been away for a while. I hate to admit it but for 2 years I went insane and ate anything I wanted which was everything. I am as much an addict as any drug user. I can't just eat one little thing it is all or nothing. Part of that was lockdown but I wasn't afraid of covid -- just a psychological thing -- felt deprived. I also during that time went on 2 trips to Gulf Shores and allowed myself to cheat during the trip. Then I never stopped. I avoided talking BG readings because I knew it was high. Then in January I checked my fasting BG and of course it was 200. So I went strictly keto again (trying to keep it around 30 grams of carbs) and then blood sugar dropped -- not quite as low as I want but not in the diabetic range and I hope it lowers more. Also I lost 40 pounds since about Feb. I hope i'm not cutting back too much -- but right now I eat noon meal of around 20 grams carbs or so and usually snack around 6 pm ( handful of almonds or a few cashews maybe and the green tea with cream) Usually around maybe 10 grams at the most in the evening.

Thanks for the update! Life happens.
If you have some nagging doubts about cutting back too much ( I worried mostly about insufficient nutrition for 10 years eating so low carb) I’d check out those two threads listed in my success story.

Dr Ted Naiman's Protein to Energy ratio (super simple!) and Marty Kendall's Data Driven Fasting. Also simple, but with lots of glucose testing.

Yup. Me, too. And many many others.

The sugars and carbs hijack our brain.

Whited, the answer to your question should circle around your particular health challenge, and crafting a diet based on what works for you. Let your meter be your guide, and there's plenty of people getting good results with various approaches.

Also, I love heavy cream in my green tea, but I have found I can be as happy with some coconut oil. Blendered in, it mixes and gives you the "body" and mouth feel that turned out to be what I loved with my daily French press of coffee.

Which I gave up for health

MCT oils like coconut aren't digested in a way that will interfere, and sends energy directly to the places which need it. The Drs. Eade of Protein Power swear by it, which is where I picked up the idea.

Also, it's far more than carbs. My own autoimmune was immensely helped by Dr. Teresa Wahls' protocol, which helped me find my trigger foods. Which I'm allergic to.

Now there are doctors and even civilians, who have come up with great ideas about handling diabetes. Looking into some more detail might help you understand how your body is responding.