Some toothpastes may contain artificial sweeteners. Whilst these don't have any calories as such, they can trigger an insulin reaction, which is counterproductive to one of the main benefits of intermittent fasting. So we advise, keep brushing your teeth but be careful of swallowing any of the toothpaste itself!

Can toothpaste break your fast?

Brushing your teeth does not break your fast, according to scholars. Mr Hassan says that sometimes people who are fasting erroneously believe that the slight minty taste from toothpaste is enough to break the fast.

Does brushing teeth affect fasting blood sugar?

Relative to brushing teeth at least twice a day, we found that rarely or never brushing teeth is associated, on average, with a rise of 0.50 mmol/L in fasting plasma glucose among urban residents, and a rise of 0.26 among rural residents.