Do Chia Seeds Break a Fast?

If you like sipping on some chia seed water during your Intermittent Fast, you might want to hit pause until after you’ve read this post. Today, I’m sharing whether or not chia seeds break your Intermittent Fast.

Do Chia Seeds Break a Fast?

Chia seeds are amazing whole food sources of fiber, vitamin K1, omega-3 fats and various minerals. However, will it break your fast? It depends on the type of Intermittent Fast that you’re following and how many chia seeds you’re using.

If your goal with Intermittent Fasting is improved gut health and motility, then any amount of chia seeds will break a fast. Complete abstinence from food and drinks (except for water) is required to stimulate the Migrating Motor Complex and clean out the left behind food and bacteria that typically lead to bloating.

If your goal is weight loss with Intermittent Fasting, then we have a bit more flexibility. During the fast, Intermittent Fasting can result in a natural dip in our storing hormone insulin. This turns on fat burning (aka lipolysis) and can contribute to weight loss. So when determining what you can have during the fast without stopping this “fat burning” process, then you want to make sure you don’t raise the storing hormone insulin. Both carbohydrates and protein can raise insulin. Fat, on the other hand, does not raise insulin.

In the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle, we follow the “One Gram Rule”. This rule allows for one total gram of protein and carbohydrates during the fast. This small amount of both carbs and protein should be low enough for most people to not trigger an insulin response.

One teaspoon of chia seeds contains about .25 grams of net carbohydrates and .55 grams of protein. This totals to about .8 grams – less than one gram.

So if your goal is weight loss and you’re sticking to one teaspoon of chia seeds in your water (or less), then this shouldn’t break your fast. Just remember to keep it at one teaspoon or below to make sure you’re in the clear.