Does cigarettes break a fast?

A cigarette has no calories, sugar or protein that you swallow. By calories alone, smoking does not break a fast, and nothing in it reaches your gut as food. On the four goals this site uses to sort answers, cigarettes are still grey for weight loss, blood sugar, autophagy and gut rest.

The grey verdict is a rule this site sets for tobacco, vaping and alcohol. None of them is ever marked safe, because the fasting question is the smallest part of the answer. Tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year, and over 1.6 million of them are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. No tobacco product is safe, and that includes e-cigarettes.

Smoking also delivers nicotine, which is highly addictive and harmful to health. A long gap between meals is no reason to smoke more, so keep an eye on how many you have during a fasting window.

If you want to stop, a doctor or pharmacist can help. Ask what stop-smoking support is available where you live. Nicotine gum is one stop-smoking medicine, and it has its own entry in this database. If you use it during a fast, keep using it as directed and never ration it to protect the fast.

Vaping has its own entry too, since e-cigarettes have no calories but carry their own health risks. Alcohol is never marked safe either, and beer, wine and spirits each have an entry. Do not fast without medical advice if you are pregnant or under 18.