Does Vaping Break a Fast?

Does Vaping Break a Fast?

Whether vaping breaks a fast depends entirely on the type of fast you're observing. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer—fasting for religious reasons is very different from fasting for health or weight loss. The impact of vaping also depends on what’s in your vape, how often you use it, and why you’re fasting in the first place.

In general, if your fast is for intermittent fasting or health-related goals, vaping may not break your fast in the strictest sense, but it could interfere with your progress. If you’re fasting for religious reasons, such as during Ramadan, most religious scholars and authorities agree that vaping does break the fast.

Vaping and Intermittent Fasting

For people doing intermittent fasting to lose weight, manage blood sugar, or promote metabolic health, the main goal is to avoid triggering an insulin response or taking in calories during the fasting window. Most e-liquids are very low in calories, especially those without added sweeteners, but they are not completely calorie-free.

Nicotine itself does not contain calories, but the base liquids in e-juice—vegetable glycerine (VG) and propylene glycol (PG)—do. These ingredients technically contain energy, and if absorbed in meaningful amounts, they could slightly disrupt the metabolic state of fasting. That said, the amount absorbed through inhalation is extremely small, and most people would not consider it enough to “break” a fast for weight loss purposes.

However, vaping flavoured or sweetened liquids might trigger cravings or increase appetite, making it harder to stick to your fasting window. While it might not technically break your fast, it could undermine the benefits you’re trying to achieve.

Vaping During Religious Fasts

Religious fasting, such as during Ramadan, has much stricter boundaries. Fasting during Ramadan means abstaining from all oral intake—including food, drink, and anything else that enters the body—between sunrise and sunset. In this context, vaping is considered to break the fast, because the act of inhaling vapour introduces foreign substances into the body.

Most Islamic scholars agree that using a vape during daylight hours invalidates the fast, even if the liquid contains no nicotine or calories. The intention of religious fasting goes beyond nutrition; it’s also about spiritual discipline and self-restraint, which includes avoiding habits like vaping, smoking, or chewing gum during fasting hours.

For those observing religious fasts, vaping is best limited to non-fasting hours, such as after sunset or before dawn. The same principle applies to other religions or spiritual practices where fasting has symbolic or ritual significance.

Does Nicotine Make a Difference?

Nicotine doesn’t contain calories, but it does affect the body. It can suppress appetite, increase heart rate, and trigger a dopamine response. For those doing a fast that aims to reset metabolic or hormonal balance, nicotine might not be ideal—even if it doesn’t technically count as breaking the fast.

Some people also report that vaping increases thirst or dry mouth, which can be especially uncomfortable during long fasts without water. If you’re struggling to stick to your fast, even physically, reducing or pausing your vape use during fasting hours might help.

Psychological vs Physiological Fasting

It’s worth distinguishing between the physical act of fasting and the mental discipline it requires. Even if vaping doesn’t technically break a fast from a biological standpoint—because it contains negligible calories—it can still affect your psychological relationship with fasting. Many people use fasting as a reset, a detox, or a mental challenge to strengthen willpower. In that context, continuing to vape may undermine the sense of abstinence and self-control that fasting is meant to support.

This is especially true for those trying to break habits like smoking or snacking. For these individuals, vaping might not "break the fast" nutritionally, but it could reinforce the same patterns they’re trying to change.

Vaping and Appetite Control During Fasting

Some users report that vaping helps suppress hunger, which can make fasting easier—particularly in the early stages of intermittent fasting. Nicotine is an appetite suppressant and may reduce the urge to eat during long fasting windows. For this reason, some intermittent fasters continue vaping during fasts without issue. However, this approach is not without drawbacks.

Vaping—especially with sweet or dessert-flavoured liquids—may still stimulate appetite or create cravings once the effect of nicotine wears off. This can lead to overeating during the eating window, which can counteract the goals of fasting. In other words, while vaping might help you delay eating, it might also increase the temptation to overcompensate later.

Are Zero-Nicotine Vapes a Better Option While Fasting?

For those who fast and still want to vape, switching to a zero-nicotine e-liquid may seem like a safer compromise. These liquids reduce the physiological effects associated with nicotine and carry less risk of suppressing or stimulating the appetite. However, even zero-nicotine vapes often contain flavourings and base liquids (VG and PG) that can technically break a fast, especially in strict religious or medically supervised cases.

Still, for non-religious intermittent fasting, zero-nicotine vaping is unlikely to have any measurable impact on metabolic fasting and may be more acceptable than regular vape liquids.

Advice for Fasting Vapers

If you want to fast and vape, the best approach is to first identify why you're fasting. If it's for metabolic health, choose flavourless or minimal-sweetness liquids and use your device sparingly. If it's for religious purposes, it’s safest to completely avoid vaping during fasting hours and restrict use to before dawn or after sunset.

If your goal is to combine fasting with breaking other habits—such as nicotine use, sugar intake, or late-night snacking—then continuing to vape may hinder your progress. In those cases, using fasting as an opportunity to cut back or take a break from vaping can be part of a broader reset.

Final Word

Whether vaping breaks a fast depends on the reason you're fasting. For religious fasts like Ramadan, vaping during daylight hours does break the fast and should be avoided. For intermittent fasting, vaping likely won’t disrupt your fast significantly—especially if you’re not using sweetened or flavoured liquids—but it may reduce the effectiveness or make it harder to stay on track. If in doubt, follow the guidelines for your specific fast, and when needed, consult with a health professional or religious authority for personal advice.