Keeping oral hygiene while fasting is very important. When you avoid eating or drinking, there’s a high likelihood that bacteria will grow in your mouth and cause bad breath.
If you are fasting for religious purposes, it’s advisable to avoid using toothpaste or mouthwash because you may swallow some fluids accidentally. However, when you are fasting to check your insulin or blood sugar levels using a blood test, it’s alright to use toothpaste or mouthwash.
Let’s look at more information about the importance of intermittent fasting and how you can keep good oral hygiene while fasting.
Does Toothpaste Break an Intermittent Fast?
Before you start intermittent fasting, a lot of questions will cross your mind, some of which you may not know the answer to. For example, you may wonder whether it’s okay to drink coffee or water.
You may also wonder whether artificial sweeteners matter and whether you’ll be able to use toothpaste which often contains these ingredients.
Toothpaste ingredients vary by brand, meaning their composition isn’t the same, but they may have some common basic chemicals. Standard toothpaste brands contain various chemicals, fillers, and sometimes coconut oil, sugar alcohols, and other chemicals meant to keep the teeth strong and eliminate cavities and bad breath.
It would defeat the purpose of using toothpaste if sugar were added to it, so it’s unlikely that manufacturers would add sugar to toothpaste. Usually, manufacturers use an artificial sweetener instead.
Consider Your Reasons for Fasting
Since toothpaste does contain artificial sweetener, does toothpaste break fasting? The short answer is no, but it all depends on the purpose of your fast. If your purpose for fasting is religious, a tube of toothpaste can be considered among the things that can break a fast.
People have different opinions, but the fact remains that any drink, food, or even toothpaste can break a religious fast. However, if you are fasting to reduce insulin levels and stabilize your blood sugar levels, then toothpaste won’t break your fast.
Even if you swallow a small amount of toothpaste accidentally, you need not worry because it won’t significantly affect your blood glucose and insulin levels. In essence, toothpaste doesn’t cause any insulin response, and even if it does, the change in level won’t be measurable.
This means swallowing toothpaste won’t cause any measurable insulin response that can break a fast and cause your body to shift to fat-burning mode.
So, next time you are intermittent fasting and you want to use toothpaste, ask yourself whether your fasting is for religious purposes or to check your blood sugar and insulin levels. But whatever the reason for your fast, don’t consume too much toothpaste.
Can Toothpaste Knock You Out of Ketosis?
The ketogenic diet is very popular because of its many health benefits. Those who’ve tried it claim it works wonders when it comes to improving mental health and weight loss. But, is it possible to lose weight by eating lots of cheese and meat? And, is an extremely low-carb diet good for your health?
The current hype notwithstanding, the ketogenic diet isn’t something new. Doctors have used this diet for almost a century to treat epileptic patients. In the early 1960s, Dr. Atkins used the same diet to deal with weight loss with some success.
The keto diet has many side effects, including bad breath, headaches, and constipation. The diet is very restrictive to the point that even sugar from toothpaste and mouthwash can knock you out of ketosis and interfere with your results.
If you are on the keto diet, or considering the keto diet, it is a good idea to look into a toothpaste which contains no added or artificial sweeteners. You may even want to get the opinion of your dentist as they may be able to suggest a keto friendly toothpaste for you to use during your diet.
What is the Ketosis?
The ketogenic diet is low in carbs but high in protein. This means that by following this diet, you’ll be consuming fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day with low protein.
Generally, when your body derives energy from fat, it will use various energy pathways. Your body will burn fat when it needs energy, rather than rely on carbs and sugar, meaning it will enter into a ketosis state.
To date, it’s not yet clear how the body switches to a ketosis state, but doctors believe the ketogenic diet has many health benefits, including brain protection and blood sugar control among diabetic patients.
Always talk to your doctor before you try the ketogenic diet. Remember that this diet is highly individualized and is not suited for everyone.
Will Mouthwash Break a Fast?
Whether you are fasting or not, it’s imperative to keep your mouth clean. Sometimes your breath can have a bad smell due to the development of bacteria colonies in your mouth. That’s why it’s recommended that you keep rinsing your mouth with mouthwash or water on a regular basis.
Remember, doing this will not break your fast unless you swallow some liquid. If you feel you can’t use a mouthwash without swallowing some liquid, you better avoid it. You can use other alternatives like miswak sticks(on Amazon) to clean your teeth.