It’s a question that seems to be a on a lot of people’s minds when it comes to intermittent fasting: Can I have a drink?

The answer, with some caveats, is yes!

In Life in the Fasting Lane we talk a little bit about alcohol while fasting, and the first rule is if you’re going to have a drink, it should always be in your eating window, and definitely after you’ve already eaten something. You don’t want an alcoholic beverage to be the first thing you consume after any length of fasting!

So, have something to eat, and if you want to have a drink, Dr. Fung recommends dry wines or spirits with no added sugars. Alcohol can raise your insulin levels, especially when you add sugar to your drink, so steer clear of fancy cocktails which are a double whammy of alcohol and sugar.

Women’s Health recently published a great article called “Drinking Alcohol While Doing Intermittent Fasting…Yes or No?”. They expand on this topic and there’s a lot of great information about the effects of alcohol on the body. More information may help you to make decisions about how or if you want to make room for alcohol in your diet.

One of the things we love about intermittent fasting is that eating windows don’t have a lot of hard and fast rules—you can tailor your diet and fasting routine to what works for you. There is almost always room for thoughtful indulgence!