A science-based guide to advanced water fasting tips and tricks

Written by
Updated on November 21, 2020
Medically reviewed by Daniela Svetic, DMD

Hey and welcome to my science-based guide that contains some advanced water fasting tips and tricks.

You can use either of these tricks (or a combination of them) before or during a water fast.

These tips won't "just" help you laser-target your body fat, they will also help prevent the loss of muscle mass during a water fast (and help you feel more energized and focused).

But before we get to it, here's a short overview of everything that I've covered in this part of the guide (use this list for faster navigation).

Enter ketosis faster

You can use this first water fasting tip to speed up your entry into a state of high fat burn, water fasting ketosis.

All you have to do to make this trick work, is simply eat less calories than usual before your begin a water fast.

If you do this, your body will have to wipe out less energy reserves in your body before it can focus almost exclusively on your body fat reserves.

So eating less calories before a water fast means that you can start burning off that stubborn body fat at the highest possible speeds a lot sooner than if you didn't do anything.

But eating less calories before your fast can help you enter a state of ultra-high fat burn called water fasting ketosis, 1-3 days earlier.

But restricting calories right before a water fast isn't the only thing that can help you start enjoying that state of high fat burn as quickly as possible.

Exercise before a water fast

Exercising right before a water fast is another awesome tip that will help you reach that highly sought-after state of extreme fat burn 1-3 days sooner.

How does this work?

Exercise also helps you wipe out the energy reserves in your body that prevent your body from focusing exclusively on your body fat reserves (that would be the energy from undigested foods and your glycogen reserves).

So you can simply eat less, you can rely on exercise, or use a combination of both to enter water fasting ketosis much faster as you being your fast.

On to the water fasting tip that can be used by those who aren't fans of eating less or exercising.

Stick with keto meals

You can use this tip right before you begin a water fast, to speed up your entry into water fasting ketosis.

You don't have to eat less (or exercise), you only have to stick to "ketogenic" meals.

Again, ketogenic meals can help you start burning off your body fat reserves at a high rate much sooner, and without necessarily eating less calories or exercising.

So before a water fast, you can use any combination of calorie restriction, exercise, or ketogenic meals, to be able to reach the highest possible fat burn up to 3 days sooner.

Let's continue with some tips you can use during a water fast.

Take caffeine

If you really want to speed up fat burn during water fasting, here's a science-based tip that can help you out:

You see, research[1] has proven that taking just a tiny amount of caffeine, can literally double the release of fat from your body fat reserves.

To find out more about how caffeine actually speeds up fat loss, how many calories it can help you burn, and how to make caffeine work on ANY diet, go to my science-based guide to caffeine and weight loss.)

In other words, if you do a water fast without caffeine, your highest possible fat burn rate will be limited by your body's natural ability to release fat from your body fat reserves.

But if you take caffeine during a water fast, you can reach a state of extremely quick fat burn.

That's because caffeine can help you both body release more body fat and burn it off faster.

Also, because caffeine will help you release more energy from your body fat reserves, you'll feel more energized and mentally focused during a water fast.

And because of both of these benefits, this is definitely my number one trick to use during water fasting.

Time to take a look at a drink, that's also been scientifically proven to speed up weight loss.

Drink green tea

Green tea is another zero-calorie drink you can use to speed up weight loss during a water fast.

You see, science[2] has proven that green tea can speed up fat burn by over 35%!

And the best part?

Burning off more body fat also means you'll destroy less of your lean body mass during water fasting, simply because your body will be able to extract more energy from your body fat reserves.

The ability of green tea to protect your lean body mass while helping you burn away more body fat during a water fast is amazing in and of itself.

If you want to discover a few more benefits of green tea, you can read all about them in my science based guide to drinking green tea for weight loss.)

On to another tip for quicker fat loss during a water fast:

Drink oolong tea

Oolong tea works pretty much like green tea, so this is just another option at your disposal.

According to science[3], oolong tea contains the so called "polyphenols", a substance that has been proven to speed up weight loss.

Furthermore, teas like green tea or oolong tea also contain caffeine, and you've already seen the science on what caffeine can do for you.

Needless to say, the fat burning combo of polyphenols and caffeine you can get in by drinking some oolong tea, can boost fat loss during a water fast even further.

If you want to find out how many calories oolong tea can help you burn, how it can help your body specifically target your body fat, and discover even more benefits of oolong tea, then you can go to my science-based guide to drinking oolong tea for weight loss.

Time to wrap tings up.

Summary (actionable takeaways)

This part of my science-backed guide includes some advanced water fasting tips and tricks.

According to science, you can:

  • enter water fasting ketosis faster up to 3 days sooner by exercising, eating less calories or sticking to ketogenic meals before you begin a water fast (or do a combination of any of those),
  • take caffeine (or drink it down as coffee or tea) to speed up the release and burning of fat stored in your body fat reserves,
  • drink green tea or oolong tea to get in a fat burning combination of caffeine and polyphenols, both of which have been proven to speed up fat loss.

Written by

Rok Sprogar is a NASM Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC) and a NASM Certified Weight Loss Specialist (NASM-WLS) who has been contributing highly actionable and science-based content to Leanhigh.