Dr. Mindy Pelz publicly recommends these 7 drinks for the fasting window: each one is designed to support fat burning, autophagy, and metabolic health without breaking a fast.
Dr. Mindy Pelz, D.C., is one of the most widely followed fasting educators in the United States, with over 4 million YouTube subscribers and a body of public content spanning intermittent fasting, hormonal health, and metabolic wellness. Her fasting drink recommendations have been shared across her podcast appearances, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels since 2021, and they remain among the most searched fasting-related topics in 2026.
The core question her audience asks most consistently is straightforward: what can I actually drink during my fasting window without breaking my fast and undoing the metabolic work I am trying to do? The answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no list because different drinks affect different fasting mechanisms, including insulin response, cortisol levels, autophagy signaling, and hunger hormone regulation, in different ways.
This guide covers every drink Dr. Mindy Pelz has publicly recommended for the fasting window, the science behind why each one works, the drinks she explicitly warns against, and three homemade Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink recipes you can build into a daily tonic ritual starting this week. If you already follow our morning tonic benefits guide, these fasting drinks integrate directly into that ritual at specific time points.
What You Will Learn
Dr. Mindy Pelz defines a fasting-safe drink as any liquid that does not spike insulin, stimulate the hunger center of the brain, or trigger a significant caloric response. Water, black coffee, plain teas, yerba mate, and carefully prepared mineral drinks all meet this threshold according to her public recommendations.
Yerba mate is Dr. Pelz’s most consistently recommended fasting drink. She cites its hunger-suppressing properties, fat oxidation support, and a 2020 study finding that daily yerba mate consumption significantly improved insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control.
Apple cider vinegar water with lemon and cayenne is her recommended blood sugar regulation drink. She describes this combination as one that simultaneously detoxifies, regulates blood sugar, and speeds metabolism when taken before or after meals.
Drinks that break a fast according to Dr. Pelz include any juice, diet sodas with artificial sweeteners (which stimulate the appetite center of the brain), flavored waters with additives, coffee with creamers or sweeteners, and protein shakes during the fasting window.
During a 3-day water fast, Dr. Pelz publicly states that specific mineral-supportive drinks including electrolyte water, certain herbal teas, and bone broth can be used to support the nervous system and metabolism without disrupting the deeper fasting state.
What Is a Dr Mindy Pelz Fasting Drink?
A Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink is any beverage she has publicly endorsed as safe to consume during a fasting window without disrupting the metabolic benefits of fasting, specifically without triggering insulin secretion, spiking blood sugar, or activating the hunger hormone ghrelin at the hypothalamus level.
Dr. Pelz frames the fasting window not as a period of deprivation but as an active metabolic state that can be strategically supported with the right liquids. Her public recommendation framework divides drinks into three categories: drinks that actively support the fast by enhancing fat oxidation or autophagy, drinks that are neutral and simply maintain hydration, and drinks that break the fast by triggering an insulin or appetite response regardless of their caloric content.
A Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink is a zero or near-zero calorie beverage that maintains the fasted metabolic state while supporting fat burning, autophagy, electrolyte balance, or hunger suppression. The seven drinks she most consistently recommends publicly are water, black coffee, green tea, yerba mate, lemon ginger water, apple cider vinegar water, and mineral electrolyte water. Each works through a different biological mechanism and is most effective at a specific time within the fasting window. Consumed correctly, these drinks make fasting significantly easier to sustain without compromising the metabolic outcomes the protocol is designed to produce.
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Dr Mindy Pelz Fasting Drink: 7 Approved Daily Tonics
Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink made with yerba mate, lemon, and sea salt. Suppresses hunger, supports insulin sensitivity, and enhances fat oxidation during the fasting window without breaking the fast.
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
Ingredients
1 yerba mate tea bag or 1 tablespoon loose-leaf yerba mate
12 oz filtered water
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 pinch Himalayan sea salt
Ice cubes for iced version
Instructions
1. Heat 8 oz of filtered water to 160°F. Do not boil. Pour over yerba mate tea bag or loose-leaf strainer.
2. Steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Do not over-steep or the drink will become bitter.
3. Remove tea bag or strain loose-leaf. Add lemon juice and sea salt. Stir well.
4. Pour over ice for the iced version Dr. Pelz recommends, or allow to cool to room temperature.
5. Drink any time during the fasting window. Batch version: cold-brew 2 tablespoons loose yerba mate in 24 oz cold water overnight in a sealed jar. Strain and refrigerate. Makes 2 to 3 daily fasting doses.
Notes
Use only plain unsweetened yerba mate. Commercial canned yerba mate products contain added sugars that break the fast.
Dr. Pelz drinks this iced during her fasting window.
The sea salt adds sodium to replace electrolytes lost during fasting.
Safe for fasting windows of any length. Does not trigger insulin response at this preparation.
If caffeine sensitive, limit to one serving per fasting day or switch to the lemon ginger water recipe instead.
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Fasting Drinks
- Method: Steep
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12 oz
- Calories: 8
- Sugar: 1
- Sodium: 95
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 2
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: dr mindy pelz fasting drink, yerba mate fasting, what to drink during intermittent fasting, fasting window approved drinks, dr mindy pelz approved drinks, yerba mate fasting benefits, drinks that break a fast, fasting drink recipes, electrolyte water fasting, green tea autophagy
7 Dr Mindy Pelz Fasting Drink Approved Options
These are the seven drinks Dr. Pelz has explicitly endorsed across her public podcast appearances, YouTube channel, and social media content. Each entry includes the mechanism, her specific recommendation, and the science behind it.
Drink 1: Filtered Water
The foundation of every fasting protocol. Dr. Pelz recommends adding a pinch of sea salt or a trace mineral supplement to plain water during extended fasting windows because the kidneys excrete electrolytes more rapidly during fasting, and electrolyte depletion is the primary cause of the fatigue, lightheadedness, and anxiety that people mistakenly attribute to hunger.Plain filtered water is fully fast-safe with zero insulin response and no hunger stimulation.
Drink 2: Black Coffee
Dr. Pelz publicly endorses black coffee during the fasting window with one specific caveat: black only, no creamers, no sweeteners, no flavored syrups. The moment any additive enters the coffee, the risk of triggering a blood sugar response increases significantly.She also recommends pairing coffee with healthy fats for people who experience cortisol spikes from coffee on an empty stomach, particularly for women in the second half of their cycle.Coffee consumed black stimulates fat oxidation and is one of the few compounds shown to enhance autophagy signaling.
Drink 3: Organic Green Tea
Green tea is Dr. Pelz’s recommendation for a slower, gentler caffeine lift during the fasting window. She notes that green tea takes the longest of the three caffeinated options (coffee, black tea, green tea) to release caffeine into the system, providing a more sustained energy curve without the cortisol spike pattern some people experience with coffee. Green tea’s EGCG content also supports autophagy and fat oxidation independently of its caffeine content, making it a dual-mechanism fasting support drink.
Drink 4: Yerba Mate
Yerba mate is the drink Dr. Pelz recommends most enthusiastically for the fasting window. She describes it as “amazing” for killing hunger and cites multiple studies supporting its metabolic benefits. A 2019 study of 119 overweight women found those who drank yerba mate daily showed significant improvements in fat oxidation and body composition. A 2020 study found daily yerba mate consumption significantly improved insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control. Dr. Pelz drinks it iced during her fasting window and considers it the most effective hunger suppression tool available without breaking the fast.
Drink 5: Lemon Ginger Water
Dr. Pelz publicly recommends lemon and ginger juice as a fasting-safe detox and anti-inflammatory combination, describing it as “detoxifying and anti-inflammatory” that keeps digestion on track without spiking insulin. The lemon provides vitamin C and supports liver detoxification pathways active during fasting. The ginger supports gastric motility and reduces the nausea some people experience during longer fasting windows. Both components are calorie-negligible at the doses used in a fasting drink.
Drink 6: Apple Cider Vinegar Water
Dr. Pelz has spoken about ACV water publicly across multiple platforms. Her recommended combination is 1 to 2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar in water with lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne pepper, which she describes as simultaneously detoxifying, blood-sugar-regulating, and metabolism-accelerating. She recommends it before meals in the eating window primarily, but notes it is fasting-safe during the fasting window as well. For the full ACV tonic protocol used alongside this fasting drink framework, our asian honey protocol recipe covers the complete morning ACV ritual in detail.
Drink 7: Mineral Electrolyte Water
During extended fasting windows of 24 hours or longer, Dr. Pelz explicitly recommends electrolyte water to prevent the mineral depletion that makes extended fasting unnecessarily difficult. Her public recommendation for a 3-day water fast specifically includes electrolyte water as one of the permitted drinks because it supports the nervous system and metabolism during the deeper fasting state without triggering an insulin response. The key is using unflavored, unsweetened electrolyte formulations. Any sweetener, including artificial sweeteners, moves the drink into the fast-breaking category.
All nutritional and biochemical data for the fasting drinks covered in this guide is cross-referenced with the USDA FoodData Central nutritional database for ingredient composition accuracy.
Drinks That Break a Fast According to Dr. Mindy Pelz
Dr. Pelz has been explicit across multiple public appearances about which drinks break a fast. Understanding this list is as important as knowing the approved list because the most common fasting mistakes involve drinks people assume are safe.
Any juice including green juice and orange juice. All juices are high in sugar and spike insulin immediately, ending the fasted state. Dr. Pelz is explicit that green juice, despite its health halo, breaks a fast and should be consumed in the eating window only.
Diet sodas and artificially sweetened drinks. This is the most counterintuitive item on the list. Dr. Pelz explains that artificial sweeteners stimulate the appetite center of the brain and can trigger ghrelin release, making the fasting window significantly harder to maintain and potentially spiking an insulin response in some individuals. This includes diet sodas, flavored sparkling waters with sweeteners, and zero-calorie energy drinks with sweetener additives.
Coffee with creamers, sweeteners, or flavored syrups. The moment any additive enters black coffee, the fast-safe status is compromised. This includes oat milk, almond milk, coconut creamer, stevia, and flavored syrups.
Protein shakes and meal replacement drinks. Any drink with significant protein content triggers an insulin response and amino acid absorption that ends the fasted state. Protein shakes belong in the eating window, not the fasting window.
Bone broth during shorter fasting windows. While Dr. Pelz permits bone broth during extended 3-day water fasts for mineral support, she clarifies that bone broth does technically break the fasted state in shorter intermittent fasting windows because of its protein and caloric content. For the full bone broth mineral protocol and recipe, our bone broth recipe guide covers timing, ingredients, and when to use it in a fasting protocol.
Dr Mindy Pelz Fasting Drink: Fast vs. Breaks Fast Comparison
| Drink | Fast-Safe | Insulin Response | Hunger Effect | Best Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filtered water with minerals | YES | None | Neutral | All day throughout fast |
| Black coffee | YES | Minimal | Suppresses hunger | First 2 to 4 hours of fast |
| Organic green tea | YES | None | Mild suppression | Mid fasting window |
| Yerba mate (unsweetened) | YES | None | Strong suppression | Any point in fasting window |
| Lemon ginger water | YES | None | Neutral to mild suppression | Morning or mid-fast |
| ACV water with lemon | YES | None | Mild suppression | Before eating window opens |
| Electrolyte water (unsweetened) | YES | None | Neutral | Extended fasts 24h+ |
| Juice (any type) | NO | HIGH | Spikes then crashes | Eating window only |
| Diet soda / artificial sweeteners | NO | Variable | Increases hunger | Avoid during fasting |
| Coffee with creamer or sweetener | NO | Moderate | May increase hunger | Eating window only |
The insulin response data referenced in this table is consistent with findings from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases insulin resistance reference, the primary NIH resource for understanding blood glucose and insulin dynamics relevant to fasting protocols.
For a complete overview of how morning tonics interact with fasting windows and metabolic health, our kefir weight loss guide covers fermented drink timing relative to eating and fasting windows in detail.
3 Homemade Dr Mindy Pelz Fasting Drink Recipes
These three recipes are built directly from Dr. Pelz’s publicly stated drink recommendations. Each one can be prepared in under 5 minutes and incorporated into a daily fasting ritual as a morning, mid-fast, or pre-eating-window tonic.
Recipe 1: The Yerba Mate Fasting Tonic
Dr. Pelz’s most recommended fasting window drink. Research published in PMC confirms yerba mate’s significant effects on insulin sensitivity, blood sugar control, and fat oxidation in overweight adults.
Ingredients: 1 yerba mate tea bag or 1 tablespoon of loose-leaf yerba mate, 12 oz of filtered cold or room temperature water, juice of half a lemon, optional pinch of sea salt for electrolyte support.
Method: Steep yerba mate in 8 oz of hot water (not boiling, around 160°F) for 3 to 5 minutes. Pour over ice or allow to cool to room temperature. Add lemon juice and sea salt. Drink any time during the fasting window. For a batch version, cold-brew 2 tablespoons of loose yerba mate in 24 oz of cold filtered water overnight in a sealed jar. Strain and refrigerate. Makes 2 to 3 daily fasting doses.
Recipe 2: The ACV Lemon Cayenne Fasting Drink
This is the combination Dr. Pelz describes publicly as simultaneously detoxifying, blood-sugar-regulating, and metabolism-accelerating. She recommends it immediately before the eating window opens to prime digestion and stabilize the blood sugar response to the first meal.
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar with the mother, juice of half a lemon, 1 pinch cayenne pepper, 8 oz of filtered water, optional pinch of sea salt.
Method: Add all ingredients to a glass. Stir well. Drink 10 to 15 minutes before your eating window opens. Always use a straw to protect tooth enamel from the ACV acidity. Never drink undiluted ACV. The 1 tablespoon to 8 oz water ratio is the standard safe dilution used in published ACV research. For a deeper analysis of ACV’s blood sugar and gut health mechanisms, our benefits of okra water guide covers parallel blood sugar management mechanisms from a different plant-based source.
Recipe 3: The Mineral Electrolyte Fasting Water
Dr. Pelz recommends this for fasting windows of 18 hours or longer and for all extended 3-day water fasts. The mineral support prevents the electrolyte depletion that causes fatigue, lightheadedness, and anxiety during longer fasting periods.
Ingredients: 16 oz of filtered water, juice of half a lemon, 1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt or Celtic sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar (potassium source), optional: 1/8 teaspoon of magnesium citrate powder.
Method: Combine all ingredients in a glass or bottle. Stir or shake until salt dissolves. Sip slowly throughout the fasting window rather than drinking all at once. This formula provides sodium, potassium, and optional magnesium, the three electrolytes most rapidly depleted during fasting. For the complete mineral tonic reference and a deeper look at how minerals interact with gut and metabolic health, our detox soup recipes guide covers mineral-dense food protocols that complement this fasting drink framework in the eating window.
Dr Mindy Pelz Fasting Drink Daily Ritual Schedule
The most effective way to use these drinks is in a structured sequence across the fasting window rather than choosing one drink and using it exclusively. Dr. Pelz’s public content suggests a natural progression through different drink types at different points of the fast.
Hour 0 to 1 (fasting window opens, typically evening): Plain filtered water with a pinch of sea salt. Stop eating at least 3 hours before bed. Sip mineral water or herbal tea during the early fasting window.
Hour 12 to 14 (morning wake-up): Black coffee or organic green tea. This is when the caffeine-based appetite suppression is most effective for maintaining the fast through the morning. Coffee first if you want the faster cortisol-lift effect. Green tea if you want a gentler sustained energy curve.
Hour 14 to 16 (mid-fasting window): Iced yerba mate. This is Dr. Pelz’s own preference for the mid-fasting window. The hunger-suppressing properties of yerba mate are most useful at this point when the body is approaching the eating window and hunger signals begin to increase.
Hour 16 to 18 (30 minutes before eating window opens): ACV lemon cayenne drink. This primes the digestive system for the first meal, stabilizes blood sugar before eating, and activates bile production for fat digestion.
Extended fasts 18 hours and beyond: Add the mineral electrolyte water at any point where fatigue or lightheadedness appears. Lemon ginger water throughout as needed for digestive comfort.
For the complete daily morning tonic ritual that integrates this fasting drink framework with a broader wellness protocol, our gelatin drink recipe for weight loss is the most complementary eating-window tonic to consume immediately after breaking the fast. Our kimchi benefits guide covers the probiotic reintroduction protocol for the eating window that works well alongside Dr. Pelz’s fasting approach.
5 Mistakes People Make With the Dr Mindy Pelz Fasting Drink Protocol
These are the five most common errors that undermine fasting results, drawn directly from Dr. Pelz’s public warnings across her podcast appearances and social content.
Mistake 1: Drinking diet soda thinking it is fast-safe. This is the single most common fasting mistake Dr. Pelz warns against publicly. Artificial sweeteners stimulate the appetite center of the brain even with zero calories, making hunger management significantly harder and potentially triggering a partial insulin response in sensitive individuals. When in doubt, plain water, black coffee, or plain tea are the only fully reliable options.
Mistake 2: Adding anything to black coffee. Oat milk, almond milk, coconut creamer, stevia, monk fruit, vanilla syrup, and flavored protein powders all carry the risk of breaking the fasted state or stimulating a hunger response. If you cannot drink coffee black, green tea or yerba mate are the better fasting window alternatives.
Mistake 3: Drinking green juice during the fasting window. Green juice, regardless of its nutritional content, contains enough natural sugars to spike insulin and end the fasted state. Dr. Pelz is explicit that green juice belongs in the eating window only. Lemon water is the fasting-window alternative for people who want something with color and flavor that does not break the fast.
Mistake 4: Not adding minerals to water during extended fasts. Plain water without electrolytes during fasting windows of 18 hours or longer depletes sodium, potassium, and magnesium faster than most people expect. The fatigue and brain fog that people attribute to fasting difficulty is most often electrolyte depletion, not true hunger. The mineral electrolyte water recipe above solves this at near-zero caloric cost.
Mistake 5: Drinking yerba mate with sweetener added. Commercial canned yerba mate products almost universally contain added sugars that break the fast. Only loose-leaf or plain unsweetened tea bag versions are fasting-safe. Read every label. If a sweetener of any kind appears in the ingredients, it does not belong in the fasting window.
For the complete safety and clinical reference on intermittent fasting protocols and metabolic health, the NIH National Institute on Aging intermittent fasting health benefits review provides the most comprehensive publicly available summary of human and animal evidence on fasting protocols, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and hosted on the official NIA.NIH.gov domain.
For a complete fermented drink protocol to use in the eating window alongside this Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink framework, our kefir weight loss guide and our Jillian Michaels gelatin recipe are the two eating-window companions used most by readers following a structured daily tonic plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink?
The Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink refers to any beverage she publicly recommends as safe during the fasting window without breaking the fast. Her seven approved options are filtered mineral water, black coffee, organic green tea, yerba mate, lemon ginger water, apple cider vinegar water, and unsweetened electrolyte water. Each targets a specific fasting mechanism including hunger suppression, fat oxidation, autophagy support, or electrolyte balance. None trigger a meaningful insulin response at standard preparation doses.
Does yerba mate break a fast?
No. Unsweetened loose-leaf or plain tea bag yerba mate does not break a fast. Dr. Mindy Pelz considers iced yerba mate her personal fasting window drink of choice, citing its hunger-suppressing and insulin-sensitizing properties. A 2020 study found daily yerba mate consumption significantly improved insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control. The critical caveat: commercial canned yerba mate products almost universally contain added sugars that do break the fast. Only unsweetened versions qualify as fasting-safe.
Does lemon water break a fast?
No. Lemon water at the standard preparation of the juice of half a lemon in 8 to 16 oz of water contains approximately 6 to 10 calories and negligible sugar, insufficient to trigger a meaningful insulin response. Dr. Mindy Pelz recommends lemon water as a fasting-safe detox and digestive support drink. She combines it with ginger for anti-inflammatory benefit and with apple cider vinegar and cayenne for blood sugar regulation support before the eating window opens.
Does apple cider vinegar break a fast?
No, at the standard diluted dose of 1 to 2 tablespoons in 8 oz of water, apple cider vinegar does not break a fast. Dr. Pelz publicly recommends ACV water as a pre-eating-window drink that simultaneously stabilizes blood sugar, supports detoxification, and primes the digestive system for the first meal. Always dilute in water and drink through a straw to protect tooth enamel. Never consume undiluted ACV. The 1 tablespoon to 8 oz water ratio is the standard safe preparation documented in published ACV research.
What does Dr. Mindy Pelz say about coffee during fasting?
Dr. Mindy Pelz endorses black coffee as a fasting-safe drink that suppresses hunger and supports fat oxidation during the fasting window. Her caveat: black only. Any creamer, sweetener, or flavored additive risks triggering a blood sugar or insulin response that compromises the fasted state. She also notes that coffee can spike cortisol in some people, particularly women in the luteal phase, and recommends pairing it with healthy fats or switching to green tea when cortisol sensitivity is a concern.
How many drinks can you have during a fast?
Dr. Pelz places no strict limit on the quantity of fasting-approved drinks consumed during a fasting window. The guiding principle is that each drink must not trigger an insulin response or stimulate the appetite center of the brain. Water is unlimited. Coffee, green tea, and yerba mate are typically consumed one to two servings each per fasting day to avoid excessive caffeine intake. The ACV drink is recommended once before the eating window opens. Electrolyte water is consumed throughout extended fasts as needed for mineral support.
Can you drink during a 3-day water fast according to Dr. Pelz?
Yes. Despite the name, Dr. Mindy Pelz publicly states that a 3-day water fast permits specific supportive drinks beyond plain water. She endorses electrolyte water, certain herbal teas, and specific mineral-supportive drinks during extended fasts to support the nervous system and metabolism. She explicitly distinguishes between drinks that trigger insulin or appetite responses, which are prohibited, and mineral-supportive liquids that help the body sustain the deeper fasting state safely. Bone broth is permitted in 3-day fasts but not in shorter intermittent fasting windows.
Building Your Daily Fasting Drink Ritual
Research published in multiple peer-reviewed journals supports the individual mechanisms behind the drinks Dr. Mindy Pelz recommends: yerba mate’s effects on insulin sensitivity, ACV’s blood sugar modulation, green tea’s autophagy enhancement via EGCG, and electrolyte water’s role in sustaining extended fasting states without the mineral depletion that makes fasting feel harder than it needs to.
Your body responds to daily ritual more than occasional effort. The most effective application of the Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink framework is a consistent daily sequence: mineral water overnight, black coffee or green tea in the morning, iced yerba mate mid-fast, ACV lemon water before the eating window opens. That sequence requires no supplements, no special equipment, and under 10 minutes of total daily preparation.
For the complete eating-window tonic plan to pair with this Dr Mindy Pelz fasting drink framework, our gelatin drink recipe for weight loss is the most complementary first-meal tonic, our dairy free overnight oats are the ideal first meal after breaking the fast with the ACV drink, and our lipojaro jello recipe is the most popular eating-window functional food on the site to follow your morning fasting protocol.
Medical and Nutritional Disclaimer
The content on dailytonicplan.com is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical or nutritional advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. The Dr. Mindy Pelz fasting drink recommendations described in this article are based on her publicly available podcast appearances, YouTube content, Instagram posts, and social media statements.
Dr. Pelz herself states on her official website that “the entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mindy Pelz, D.C.” and are not intended as medical advice. Daily Tonic Plan has no affiliation with Dr. Mindy Pelz or her programs. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before starting any fasting protocol, especially if you have a diagnosed medical condition, take medications, are pregnant, or are breastfeeding. Nutritional values are estimates based on USDA FoodData Central standard data sources.
