In this post, I’m gonna be answering one of the most common questions I get. Can I drink coffee on OMAD?
You can drink coffee on OMAD because it doesn’t have any calories. Drinking black coffee while doing intermittent fasting with plenty of water will help you stay hydrated, maintain energy, and deliver a range of antioxidants.
If your goal is to reduce excess weight, having a couple of cups of coffee won’t jeopardize your results. In fact, it can help you get through the day.
Is It Ok To Eat One Meal A Day And Drink Coffee?
It is ok to eat one meal a day and drink coffee throughout the day. Coffee won’t break the fast because it is a zero-calorie beverage. It is been proven to have plenty of health benefits like improved cognition and mood. Even decaffeinated coffee can increase alertness and decrease tiredness.
In other words, there are plenty of benefits of drinking coffee. Apart from great taste, some studies show that caffeine can help with appetite control (source).
Which is a great news because doing one meal a day one of the common problems is cravings and urges to eat.
So having few cups of coffee during the day can actually suspend those cravings. Even if that’s just for the moment. Not only that.
According to Diabetesjournals.org, high coffee consumption was associated with higher insulin sensitivity (source). This means your body needs to produce less insulin to take care of the blood glucose. And that’s what you want. However, there is a correlation between the concentration of caffeine and those results.
This means that more caffeine is actually linked with adverse effects. A 4 weeks study compared coffee drinkers with non-coffee drinkers. People who drink weaker coffee didn’t notice any significant changes. However, people who drink stronger coffee (more caffeine) got higher fasting insulin concentration (source).
On the other hand, another study done on 17111 Dutch men and women in the ages between 30-60 shows that people who drank at least seven cups of coffee a day were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. So coffee consumption was associated with a substantially lower risk of clinical type 2 diabetes (source).
So the bottom line from those studies we can take is that having a few cups of coffee a day with a good amount of water won’t make any difference.
And as long as you are on track with your one meal a day, having a coffee here and there won’t worsen your results.
What about milk or sugar?
Can You Have Cream In Coffee On OMAD?
You can have a cream in coffee on OMAD. 1 tablespoon of coffee creamer contains 20 calories. The body uses 1500-2000 calories during the 24-hours. Therefore, 20 calories from the creamer will be used within the first 20-30 minutes, after you drink it.
In other words, even when you’re in a fasting state where your body uses an “internal” source of energy (stored body fat) and all of a sudden you have a cups of coffee with creamer, your body will use all those calories from the creamer and then switch back to use body fat.
It’s kind of like driving a hybrid car. You can switch back and forth depending on what fuel you have. It’s called “being metabolically flexible”.
However, if you would have an extra grande frappuccino with extra cream, sugar, and caramel from a popular cafe shop, then you are looking at whooping 400-500 calories per pop.
That’s a big difference.
So you can add cream to your coffee on OMAD, but make sure you are the one who actually makes it. This way you’re in control.
Think about it. Even if you have 3 normal cups of coffee with cream during the day, your body will immediately use that extra calorie for energy and continue doing its work.
Even if you’re already in ketosis, having a cup of coffee with cream won’t “kick you out” from it. It’s not the fasting that puts you into ketosis. It’s the caloric deficit. Your body enters ketosis for one and only reason. There is no food coming in anymore. So we must use food that is already on us.
Learn more: Click here to learn more about whether should you drink “hot or cold coffee before workout“.
Can I Have Coffee With Heavy Cream On OMAD?
You cannot have coffee with heavy cream on OMAD. Heavy whipped cream has significantly more calories than regular cream. Adding any more calories than necessary will get you out of your caloric deficit.
Listen.
At some point, you need to be able to draw a line on the sand and make this critical decision about your priorities. That includes having to compromise.
For instance, if you’re used to having heavy or whipped cream with your coffees, then going on the compromise is reducing one notch down and changing your whipped cream with regular cream or milk. This will kill two birds with a single stone.
In other words, it’s all about eating a cake and having a cake at the same time.
What people don’t get is they think they need to make some radical changes and eliminate everything. Nope.
You can still enjoy your freedom but you need to be smart about it.
Can You Drink Coffee With Milk And Sugar On OMAD?
You can drink coffee with milk and sugar on OMAD. 1 serving of sugar has 9 calories and a splash of milk have 15 calories. Therefore having a couple of cups of coffee won’t ruin your results, but it can help you stay more consistent and follow the process.
This may feel contrary to what you read online and what some popular celebrity doctors are preaching. But I look at life through the lenses of an actual realistic standpoint.
Doing one meal a day is hard. So it is psychologically healthy to have your coffee with milk and sugar to satisfy your cravings if you believe this will help you tolerate hunger a bit better.
Because doesn’t matter how you cut it. One or two coffees a day with milk and sugar during OMAD won’t make any difference. But it can help you feel better.
In other words, look for ways to help you to enjoy the whole process, rather than be totally radical about having a dry fast all day long.
Still, remember about the dosing. Don’t waste all that hard work doing one meal a day and go over the board. Just because a single serving of milk and sugar doesn’t have many calories, it doesn’t mean you can go 10x. That’s called being silly.
Can I Have One Meal A Day And Bulletproof Coffee?
You cannot have one meal a day with bulletproof coffee because it has over 400 calories from grass-fed butter and MCT oil. Bulletproof coffee doesn’t have any sugar that can spike insulin, but it’s high in calories that can halt the progress.
That’s why some people may get really frustrated. Because one bulletproof coffee has the same amount of calories as an extra grande frappuccino. And if you’ve been told by the keto community that it’s ok to drink that as long as you don’t eat carbs, this may be the reason why you’re not seeing the results.
Keep in mind that those estimates are average. But nevertheless. Calories are calories. Doesn’t matter if that’s from fat or sugar. If you drink 2 cups of bulletproof coffee a day with a meal, that’s almost 2000 calories.
So as you can see, sometimes a simple serving of sugar and milk has less damage than “keto” bulletproof coffee.
Conclusion
Having an black coffee, coffee with cream or coffee with milk and sugar while doing OMAD isn’t the worst thing. As long as you are in control of the servings, it can be helpfull to maintain those uncomfortabel hunger pangs.
Having a drop of cream or milk, even if it contains few calories won’t make any difference in your results. Your body will use that calorie immediately.
Go Further with OMAD
This article is part of the What To Drink On OMAD.
In the following articles, I show you everything there is to know about drinks and how to stay hydrated with OMAD for the best results.
Learn more: Click here to read the article about can I drink diet coke on omad