Can I Take Diet Pills While Intermittent Fasting?

Boost your intermittent fasting results with an effective, fasting-friendly fat burner stack.

The most appealing aspect of the intermittent fasting diet is this: it’s not really a diet - at least not in the traditional sense of “dieting”.

Intermittent fasting is primarily concerned with when you eat, as opposed to what you eat.

Essentially, as the name suggests, intermittent fasting involves temporarily abstaining from food for scheduled blocks of time to allow the body to metabolically recalibrate via fasting-related bio-pathways.

After all, if you’re constantly eating, why would your body ever need to fire up its fat-burning mechanisms? It has a constantly readily available source of energy by way of all that food that you’re continually shoving in your face!

However, does this mean you have to avoid all consumables, including health supplements such as fat burners??

Can you take diet pills while intermittent fasting, or do diet pills break your fast? That all depends on the type of supplements you’re taking.

Fortunately, in this article, we’ll highlight not only one of the best fat burner supplements you can take to maximize your exercise-related fat burns but also one of the best diet pill stacks you can take while intermittent fasting without breaking your fast.

Here’s a quick look at the best diet pill formula for intermittent fasting:

Continue reading to learn more about the advantages of taking a fat burner while intermittent fasting, as well as what to look for in a fat burner supplement, so as not to break your fast and derail your IF efforts.

What Exactly is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

Most weight loss, or “dieting,” strategies involve cutting back on certain foods or on your caloric intake altogether. This is why people often joke that you can’t spell “dieting” without the word “die”… or at least people used to say that joke before it became unbearably cliché.

The point of the joke is that diets that require you to drastically lower your calorie intake or to cut out certain macronutrients altogether are not exactly healthy for you.

Instead, today’s health and fitness strategies take more nuanced approaches to improving your …well, your health and fitness. Once such nuanced approach is called intermittent fasting:

• Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that alternates between scheduled periods of feeding (eating) and fasting (not eating). Unlike traditional diets, intermittent fasting does not dictate what you should eat but rather when you should eat.

As such, intermittent fasting does not necessarily require that you restrict your total caloric intake, only that you limit your total caloric intake to a designated “feeding” window.

Although you should ideally orient your diet towards whole foods and nutrient density, intermittent fasting can be adopted by virtually everyone, regardless of their diet or calorie count. However, one of the (many) upsides of intermittent fasting is how, as with the adoption of all significant health habits, it indirectly impacts many other aspects of your health and fitness.

Related Post: Weight maintenance after weight loss

To better understand the workings of intermittent fasting, here are a few frequently asked questions on IF:

Frequently Asked Questions: Intermittent Fasting

Which is Better: Intermittent Fasting or Caloric Restriction?

You can practice intermittent fasting without caloric restriction, and you can practice caloric restriction without intermittent fasting. And, of course, you can also practice both.

However, because caloric restriction (i.e., eating less) is a natural consequence of intermittent fasting, given that you’re likely to eat less when you’re not constantly eating throughout the day, it’s better to orient your diet towards intermittent fasting over restricting your daily calorie count.

Is Intermittent Fasting Related to the Keto Diet?

A lot of people ask this due to intermittent fasting’s association with ketogenesis. What is ketogenesis, you ask?

• Ketogenesis is a metabolic process that breaks down fatty acids and ketogenic amino acids into ketone bodies, which serve as energy fuel under conditions of fasting or calorie restriction.

Essentially, in the absence of food energy fuel, namely glucose, the body resorts to ketogenesis, the use of stored fat, for energy fuel. Whereas the keto diet encourages ketogenesis through a high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate meal plan, intermittent fasting encourages ketogenesis through the temporary abstinence of food altogether.

Naturally, the two go hand-in-hand, but you don’t have to practice the keto diet to adopt intermittent fasting; however, intermittent fasting can greatly improve your keto diet results.

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What is Fasted Training?

As part of an intermittent fasting strategy, fasted training essentially involves exercising on an empty stomach to further enhance calorie-burning and expedite fat loss. Ideally performed early in the morning, fasted exercise encourages the body to burn fat for energy, resulting in a “well-fed” body throughout the day to promote appetite control and lower excess eating.

• In a 2016 study on the effect of fasting prior to morning exercise on 24-hour energy intake (eating), researchers observed that “fasting before morning exercise decreased 24-hour energy intake and increased fat oxidation during exercise.”

Is It Safe to Exercise on an Empty Stomach?

For the most part, yes.

So long as you’re taking care to eat enough (and eat well enough) during the feeding portions of your intermittent fasting regimen, exercising on an empty stomach is safe.

However, the safety and effectiveness of your fasted training also largely depends upon when you choose to exercise, not only in reference to the 24-hour daily cycle but in reference to your fast-feed schedule.

What is the Best Intermittent Fasting Schedule?

The ideal intermittent fasting + fasted training schedule involves:

• Early-Morning Exercise – to encourage increased fat oxidation and decreased 24-hour energy intake (i.e., excess eating) during the daytime.
• Early-Morning Eating – in two weight-loss interventions, participants who reported consuming more calories in the morning than the evening demonstrated greater weight loss.

With that in mind, there are several different intermittent fasting schedules that range from daily 14-16 hour fasts to weekly 24-48 hour fasts. Certainly, the ideal schedule for you greatly depends on your personal schedule—e.g., your working hours, family commitments, etc.

Even so, research suggests that early-morning exercise and eating are best for increased fat loss and appetite regulation. So, if you’re committed to a, say, 14-16 hour daily fast, it’d be best to work out first thing in the early morning and begin your daily feed with a post-workout breakfast, starting the fast in the evening.

Can I Take Supplements While Fasting?

Getting back to the titular question at hand—can I take diet pills while intermittent fasting—for the most part, yes, you can take some supplements while fasting.

Of course, macronutrient supplements, such as protein powders and intra-workout carbohydrates, are a no-go to take while fasting—although, they’re fine to take immediately after the fast. In fact, it’s perhaps preferable to end your fast with a post-workout protein shake.

But formulas powered by micronutrients, such as many nootropic supplements, caffeine pills, diet pills, fat burners, and even, to a degree, BCAA stacks, may help improve your health and performance without breaking your fast. Although, in this article, we’re primarily focusing on the IF advantages of taking a fat burner supplement.

Related Post: Does Prebiotic Fiber Break a Fast? - A Complete Guide

The Advantages of Taking a Fat Burner While Intermittent Fasting

Adding an effective fat burner to your daily supplement stack can go a long way in helping you establish a solid metabolic energy balance. Especially when supplemented prior to exercise, fat burners may help enhance the upsides of fasted training while minimizing its downsides, such as fasting-related muscle catabolism (breakdown).

Taking a fat burner while intermittent fasting, especially in conjunction with fasted exercise, may help improve your fitness results by:

• Sparking Pre-Workout Thermogenesis
• Sparing Hard-Working Muscle Tissue
• Enhancing Exercise Endurance and Muscle Stamina
• Balancing Blood Sugar and Limiting Fat Storage
• Regulating Appetite and Craving Control

Altogether, the combined efforts of an effective pre-workout fat burner stack may help promote fat burning while protecting against the muscle catabolizing effects of fasting. The result is greater fat loss and greater muscle gains in a shorter amount of time.

Which Ingredients to Look for in a Diet Pill for Intermittent Fasting

Though there are plenty of different types of fat burner supplements, most formulas typically amount to just overpriced, overdosed caffeine pills. While caffeine does have its thermogenic advantages, the best stim-free fat burners to take while intermittent fasting include:

1) HMB (β-Hydroxy β-Methylbutyrate)

A bioactive metabolite of L-leucine, the most anabolic BCAA, HMB is one of the best fat burner supplements you can take while exercising on an empty stomach or calorie-deficient diet. This is in large part due to HMB’s protection against muscle catabolism (breakdown) during exercise.

HMB helps maximize fat loss and lean muscle gains by:

• Neutralizing protein-damaging enzymes associated with fasting
• Maximizing oxygen consumption to strengthen performance
• Promoting protein synthesis within the mTOR pathway
• Encouraging the use of stored fat as fuel during calorie restriction

By protecting muscle tissue and promoting fat burning, HMB is the ideal fat burner for sculpting a lean, mean, athletic physique.

Demonstrating the fat loss and ergogenic benefits of HMB, one study from 2017 observed the effect of HMB supplementation on physical capacity, body composition, and several biochemical measures in combat sports athletes, finding results that indicated that:

“supplying HMB promotes advantageous changes in body composition and stimulates an increase in aerobic and anaerobic capacity in combat sports athletes.”

2) Coleus Forskohlii Extract (Forskolin)

The only natural source of forskolin, a labdane diterpene associated with fat loss, Coleus forskohlii is a unique fat burner that’s particularly favored by bodybuilders, given how forskolin seems to work by:

• Optimizing hormonal cell messengers known to regulate metabolism, thermogenesis, and anabolic muscle growth, as well as thyroid and testosterone activity.
• Activating the protein kinase enzyme, which in turn stimulates the enzyme lipase to catalyze lipolysis, or the breakdown of triglycerides, the building blocks of stored body fat.

By increasing activity of cAMP, forskolin initiates a cascade of metabolic bio-effects associated with thermogenic fat loss and anabolic muscle growth.

Specifically looking at the effects of Coleus forskohlii in conjunction with a hypocaloric (low-cal) diet, one study from 2015 found 250 mg of Coleus forskohlii extract, as compared to placebo, to be an effective weight loss tool. The study’s findings suggested that:

“C. forskohlii extract in conjunction with a hypocaloric diet may be useful in the management of metabolic risk factors.”

Best Coleus Forskohlii for Intermittent Fasting: Forslean®

Standardized to a potent 10% forskolin, Forslean® is the best Coleus forskohlii extract for intermittent—as well as the best Coleus forskohlii extract period. Patented and research-backed for motivating body composition away from storing fat towards building lean muscle, Forslean® is a powerful bodybuilding tool when combined with fasted training.

3) Cayenne Pepper Extract (Capsaicinoids)

A type of popular chili pepper commonly used to flavor meals, Cayenne Pepper quite literally burns fat with its spicy promotion of thermogenesis. Supplying bioactive capsaicinoids, a class of “irritating” compounds responsible for the spiciness of chilies, Cayenne pepper helps stimulate fat loss via the non-stimulatory release of catecholamines, namely epinephrine and norepinephrine.

In turn, these catecholamines promote thermogenesis by:

• Stimulating beta-adrenergic receptors that in turn promote energy expenditure for greater exercise-related calorie-burning.
• Signaling for hormone-sensitive lipase to catalyze lipolysis or fat breakdown, and enhance fat mobilization and oxidation during and after exercise.

In a 2010 study on Capsimax®, a potent cayenne pepper extract brand (see below), the effects of Capsimax® on catecholamine secretion and blood markers of lipolysis were observed, with findings suggesting that:

“Low dose (2 mg) Capsimax™ was associated with an increase in blood FFA and glycerol at selected times post-ingestion, as compared to placebo,” with no noted effects on “HR , SBP , or DBP

The above, therefore, provides evidence of cayenne pepper extract’s use as a safe stim-free fat burner.

Best Cayenne Pepper Extract for Intermittent Fasting: Capsimax®

Standardized to 2% capsaicinoids, Capsimax® is a unique cayenne pepper extract brand that uses OmniBead™ microsphere “beadlet” technology to help eliminate the gastric burning effect associated with hot peppers without compromising this extract’s fiery-hot fat-burning benefits.

4) GTF Chromium

More than just chromium, GTF Chromium (Glucose Tolerance Factor Chromium) involves a complex of molecules, in addition to the trace mineral chromium, associated with whole food sources, most notably brewer’s yeast. As a fat loss ingredient, GTF chromium helps by:

• Optimizing insulin activity and fat storage
• Supporting macronutrient metabolism
• Regulating appetite and blood sugar levels

Plenty of research supports the use of chromium supplementation in the context of fat-burning, including two studies—one human and one animal—that found chromium to have “a role in food intake regulation, which may be mediated by a direct effect on the brain.”       

Best GTF Chromium for Intermittent Fasting: NutriGenesis®

NutriGenesis® GTF Chromium is a lab-synthesized, nature-identical mineral form that’s been cleanly complexed with natural cofactors, such as probiotics, fibers, enzymes, and antioxidants, to assist with bioavailability and bio-efficacy.

5) Black Pepper Extract (Piperine)

Often added to supplements to enhance their formulas’ nutrient absorption, Black Pepper Extract also doubles as a fat burner, thanks to the fat loss benefits of piperine, the bioactive constituent of black pepper.

Piperine takes a two-pronged approach to weight management:

1. Stimulates thermogenesis for enhanced energy expenditure.
2. Inhibits adipogenesis, the formation of new fat cells.

In many supplements, black pepper extract simply makes sense, given that, in tiny amounts, this extract may significantly improve ingredient absorption and, thus, ingredient bioavailability. However, in fat burners, black pepper extract is a must.

Best Black Pepper Extract for Intermittent Fasting: BioPerine®

The go-to black pepper extract ingredient, BioPerine® supplies a highly concentrated extract of piperine at a 95% standardization. Compared to raw black pepper, which supplies only 3-9% piperine, BioPerine® is much more potent and effective at aiding with digestion and curbing significant fat storage.

Conclusion

No doubt, the most appealing aspect of intermittent fasting is that it can be performed without any other adjustments to your diet. However, of course, to actually significantly improve your health and fitness, you’ll also need to check all the other boxes required of a healthy, active lifestyle.

One of the best ways to get the most out of your intermittent fasting regimen, aside from eating right and getting better sleep, is to take an effective, fasting-friendly fat burner supplement, such as Burn Lab Pro.

By simultaneously enhancing exercise-related fat loss and reducing fasting-related muscle catabolism, Burn Lab Pro is very much a formula you want to have on your side when you take on intermittent fasting. Not only will you see a drastic shift in your body composition towards shredded muscle growth, but you’ll feel better during that transition.

And, trust me, feeling good is nothing to take for granted while trying to consistently work out on an empty stomach.

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