Does Vaping Break a Fast?

When you’re Fasting, you probably know that eating a sandwich breaks your Fast. That’s a no-brainer. But things get a little murkier when we start talking about chewing gum, drinking diet sodas, and even vaping. 

So, does vaping break a Fast? Let’s dive into that. 

What’s actually in a vape?

Most vape liquids contain some combination of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), flavourings, and nicotine. There are also nicotine-free varieties. 

Vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol can provide calories when consumed as food ingredients. However, vaping them isn’t the same as drinking or eating them. The amount you are exposed to through normal vaping is not comparable to sitting down and consuming a meal. 

Nicotine itself does not provide a meaningful source of calories. 

That means vaping is unlikely to provide enough energy to stop a Fast in the traditional sense. However, whether it interferes with your Fast may also depend on why you’re Fasting in the first place.

Fasting for weight loss or Fasting for health and longevity

If you are Fasting primarily for weight loss, vaping is unlikely to hinder your results. There simply isn’t good evidence showing that normal vaping provides enough usable energy to suddenly switch your body back into a fed state. 

If you are Fasting to prevent or reverse metabolic health, for longevity, or other health benefits, you may prefer to keep your Fast as clean as possible. In other words, water, electrolytes, and unsweetened tea or coffee. 

Insulin is the key

One of the biggest reasons Fasting can be such a powerful tool for weight loss and metabolic health is its effect on insulin. As you Fast and insulin levels fall, your body gains greater access to stored body fat for energy. Over time, Fasting may also help improve insulin sensitivity and reduce disease risk. But what happens when your vape tastes sweet?

It’s not just food that can trigger insulin. Sweet tastes can be enough to cause an insulin response because the body anticipates incoming food. This is sometimes called a cephalic insulin response. That means that flavoured vaping could potentially trigger insulin. Would it be enough of a bump to break your Fast? Again, that depends largely on your reason for Fasting. 

Nicotine itself can also affect blood sugar regulation and insulin sensitivity, especially with long-term use. But that is a different question from whether or not taking a few puffs from a vape immediately ends your Fast. We shouldn’t confuse the two. 

Vaping can change how you feel during your Fast

Even if vaping doesn’t technically break your Fast, that doesn’t mean it can’t affect how you feel while you’re fasting.

Nicotine is a stimulant, and its effects may feel more noticeable when you haven’t eaten. Some people may experience things like:

• Nausea

• Dizziness

• Headache

• Shakiness

• Racing heartbeat 

Those symptoms can already occur during a Fast for other reasons, including dehydration or electrolyte imbalances. Adding nicotine to the mix may make it more difficult to figure out what your body actually needs. 

But nicotine curbs my hunger!

It’s true that nicotine can suppress appetite for some people. That might sound helpful when you’re Fasting, but vaping shouldn’t become a tool for making your Fast easier. 

If you don’t already vape, don’t start because you think it will help you push through hunger. Using nicotine as an appetite suppressant introduces an entirely different set of health concerns. 

Breaking a Fast and being healthy aren’t the same thing 

There’s another important distinction here that we need to talk about.

Something can technically not break your Fast and still not support your overall health.

Vaping exposes your lungs and body to nicotine and other substances in the aerosol. It isn’t harmless simply because it doesn’t contain the calories of a meal. And Fasting doesn’t somehow erase the potential risks associated with vaping. 

We come to Fasting to look and feel better, and hopefully live a longer, healthier life. Regular vaping works against many of those same goals.

And we’re not here to shame anyone. If you vape, that’s your choice. If you want help reducing or quitting nicotine or vaping, speak with your healthcare provider about the options available to you.

Final thoughts

Does vaping break a Fast? 

For someone practicing Fasting mainly for weight loss, vaping probably won’t interfere with your Fast in a meaningful way. If you’re practicing a clean Fast or Fasting for longevity and cellular benefits such as autophagy, leaving the vape alone is the better choice. 

Most importantly, if you don’t already vape, don’t start now just to suppress hunger. There are much better ways to make Fasting easier without introducing another habit that may be difficult to quit.