We recommend using your PHD Fasting Essentials throughout the day to support your body by staying hydrated, boosting your ketones and replenishing vitamins and minerals. Each supplemental drink is super low calorie, as well as gluten, soy and dairy-free and has been carefully formulated to help you achieve fasting success. Containing fewer than 30 calories per serve (or just 15 per half serve), they will have a negligible impact on your insulin; also, they should not inhibit autophagy. However if you prefer to take a hardline (zero calorie) approach then we would recommend drinking only water in the mornings, and using your PHD Fasting Essentials products only during your chosen eating window. 

Side note: every person is unique and so the only way to truly know what ‘works for you’ is to test. We fully support the use of technology to track and measure your own personal response not only to our products, but indeed to all of your nutrition. For more information about measuring blood glucose, ketones, A1C and more, please refer to our resources page for links to excellent articles that discuss this in detail..

See above.

Similarly, the answer to this depends on the person, your goals/fasting philosophy - and on the specific supplements themselves. Some supplements, while providing excellent support nutrients (such as Fish Oil for example) are of course, an oil (i.e a lipid/fat) and therefore contain calories that we normally don’t think about. It is good practice to get to know the ingredients in all your supplements, and consider whether you need to upgrade them to avoid extra sugar, gluten, soy or other fillers. 

Sorry, but no - not if you want the real benefits of fasting. Whilst blending coconut oil, butter or other fats into your morning coffee is both nourishing and delicious, the reality is that by doing so you turn a zero calorie coffee into one that might contain upwards of 200, even 300 calories. If your goal is to switch on autophagy and regulate your insulin, you’ll need to keep it simple - black!

Each serving has 12g of BHB - a very significant dose. If you are unused to supplementing with exogenous ketones, you may wish to start with a half dose and work your way up from there

Absolutely not! We never use any synthetic colours, artificial flavours, sweeteners or preservatives in any of our products. The amazing colour comes from a unique strain of blue marine spirulina!

Ask ten different nutrition professionals this question and we can guarantee you’ll get ten different answers! Some have zero tolerance for any kind of sweetener, even high-quality, plant-based ones like monkfruit or stevia. 

Most would say, if you can handle straight water/black coffee/tea then do that, so you can retrain your body and brain away from the love of sweet things. At the same time, there is the important psychological/behavioural component of making changes to your 

lifestyle that are achievable and sustainable. For example, personal trainers often say that there is no ‘best’ workout plan as such - the best one is one that people can and will commit to! In other words, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If having a small amount of zero calorie stevia in your coffee, tea or other drinks such as your PHD Essential Cleanse mineral blends makes your fast more successful, then go for it. Again, if you want to take a zero-zero approach, then you will need to either go water only all the time; or simply consume your support products (including collagen in coffee, bone broth etc) within your eating window exclusively.

Intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating is generally safe for most people. However, there are some people for whom it may not be wise, unless under the supervision of their primary health care practitioner. Most nutritionists and medical experts agree that you should not begin fasting if you are pregnant, breast-feeding, immuno-suppressed or under 18. Diabetics - especially those on diabetic medications - also need to be very cautious and seek appropriate medical guidance.

Disclaimer

PHD’s Products and Programmes are not intended for use by minors, pregnant or breastfeeding women, or individuals with medical conditions including but not limited to medication-dependent diabetes. Such individuals are specifically recommended to seek professional advice before embarking on significant changes to their nutrition and exercise regimes.

Absolutely! In fact, there are specific additional benefits to exercising whilst in a fasted state. Glycogen (stored glucose) depletes while sleeping and fasting - and exercise helps to deplete it even more rapidly, leading to improved insulin sensitivity. If you exercise whilst in a fasted state, the energy from the meal will be used immediately for recovery and any remainder will be stored as glycogen, with little leftover to be stored as fat. Conversely, if your glycogen stores are full, and you have topped up the glucose in your blood (as is the case after a meal), then the food/fuel is more likely to be stored as fat.

Aerobic exercise can accelerate the autophagy that happens when fasting and promote the creation of new mitochondria (energy powerhouses). Strength or resistance training will help with muscle preservation. Finally, exercising will also fill up time and give you something else to think about/focus on during your fast. 

PHD’s Products and Programmes are not intended for use by minors, pregnant or breastfeeding women, or individuals with medical conditions including but not limited to medication-dependent diabetes. Such individuals are specifically recommended to seek professional advice before embarking on significant changes to their nutrition and exercise regimes.