Adaptogens are specific herbal extracts that help your body thrive, adapt and build resilience to stress. These plants and mushrooms help create healthful normalizing or improved cellular function effects so you can maintain higher physical and mental performance, feel better, strengthen the immune system and they promote longevity.
Fasting is when your avoid macronutrients like fat, protein and carbs, which gives your body a break so it can heal. Intermittent fasting is when you extend how long you fast at night - usually about 16 hours or more not eating and about an 8 hour window of eating. One eats dinner earlier and/or eats their first meal of the day later for better energy, health, digestion, weight loss, ketosis and other benefits.
Intermittent fasting also frees you up to eat more generously during your eating window so you don't feel like you have to be restrictive during the day. It's a surprisingly psychologically friendly way of improving your diet.
Macronutrients break a fast. Micronutrients don't. In fact, consuming plenty of water and micronutrients on an empty stomach during the fasting window has many benefits and makes it easier to feel energized and not so hungry.
Lat's say you wake up and don't intend to eat your first meal for a few hours but need something to get you going. Hydrating with pure water is important but doesn't quite give one the Uumph to fully take on your morning. Herbal tea might help but it doesn't quite have the power I look for either. Green vegetable juices work for some but can leave some people feeling a bit spacey or irritated by the high-oxalate content. That's where adaptogens come in...
Adaptogens almost always DON'T count as breaking a fast and can help you extend your intermittent fast too while feeling nourished, cognitively vital and focused and physically energized with stamina for your morning work or workout.
This is because adaptogenic herbal extracts (which we specialize in with our line of 10 foundational Longevity Power adaptogen formulas) are nearly all micronutrients with just a trace amount of protein and carbs that don't induce a digestive process that would break a fast.
I recommend making delicious and potent water based adaptogen elixirs which are effectively hardcore but easy to make biohacking high performer tea-like blends! By the way, these are all caffeine free so they give nothing but a smooth sustainable energy with zero nerve frazzle or crash.
Check these adaptogen elixir recipes out. Feast on these elixirs without breaking your fast:
The Longevity Power Elixir
Vanilla Mushroom Immunity Chill Focus Elixir Recipe
Goji Joy Power Elixir
Epic Reishi Espresso
The Instant Dark-Green “Juice” Elixir Recipe
The Ultimate Biohacker's Daily Pumpkin Spice Tea
The Elixir Recipe for the Overworked Who Needs to Chill, Beautify and Enjoy Life!
Cheers and may you continue to master the way you eat and the way you don't eat!
-Christian