Surprise: Caffeinated Tea Does Not Dehydrate You
Fire up the kettle! Siobhan tweeted this study the other day, and I’m just tickled by it. It turns out that good old black tea—something I quite enjoy (for all you vegan challengers, I recommend trying it with some coconut milk for creamy deliciousness)—is just as hydrating as water.
Conventional wisdom says that caffeinated beverages are diuretics, i.e. that they cause water loss. But in research conducted on 21 male subjects—females weren’t used because of how menstrual cycles influence water retention (tell me about it, right?)—and controlled for all kinds of variables, it appears that tea is just as good as water when it comes to keeping us hydrated. The outcome according to the study abstract:
It was concluded that black tea, in the amounts studied, offered similar hydrating properties to water.
You might be thinking (as I was): How can that be? Drinking tea and coffee makes me pee all morning long! But then I realized something: Drinking anything makes me pee. Deep thoughts, I know.
So, have you avoided caffeinated tea because you’re worried about dehydration? Pass the cucumber sandwiches.
A tea party we can get behind: image via
I avoided all caffeine for a while because of perimenopausal symptoms. I was advised to do that by an herbalist. But recently I started drinking (mostly green) tea again because it felt right. Yeah, and there was no way I was giving up dark chocolate anyway so it was impossible to completely eliminate caffeine. Tea feels cleansing and is delicious. In fact I’m drinking it right now. So far so good. And I think you are right about drinking anything making you pee (well alcohol is definitely dehydrating at least for me). I wonder if there’s a study about green tea specifically…
I was ill recently and really overloaded on tea. I have some difficulty even thinking about having any type of tea right now for that reason. However, I am weaning myself from coffee (1/2 regular/1.2 decaf), which is not an easy task for anyone who loves loves loves it. I’m substituting hot lemon water. My craving is for something hot in the morning, not necessarily the caffiene. As much as I would love to substitute tea for coffee, it just doesn’t do it for me and I grow to resent that tea kettle more and more. I like the taste of a good cup of coffee, along with the aroma in the house. When I was pregnant, I used to brew it just for the smell and to lighten the morning sickness, but I never drank it. I know, pretty strange stuff.
I drink 1 – 2 cups of black tea a day. I am psyched to hear this! Here I thought I was doing myself a disservice because I don’t drink enough water… but it sounds like I can count my tea (or at least not count it against me) – YAY!
I love black iced tea, and drink it fresh brewed and unsweetened all day long when I can. Glad to hear studies confirm that it hydrates just fine, which is what I’ve experienced.
When I was 14, I spent two very cold and foggy weeks in England (for some reason they would only turn on the heating on a certain date, the weather wouldn’t play a role in this…), and I was woken every morning with a wonderful cup of hot, steaming tea and two cookies. Lovely! I’ve been loving (and drinking) black tea ever since. And I don’t like coffee – love the smell, always find the taste extremely disappointing.
I like herbal tea or roiboos too, but I’d die without a few cups of black tea in the morning!
comagirl, I never have been a coffee drinker, but when I was pregnant the smell of coffee made me feel so much better from the nausea! I specifically went by the bean grinder at the grocery store, and the flight attendant brewing coffee was the only thing that kept me from barfing on a plane. : )
Awesome!! :D Now I can resume drinking my green tea.
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Hi–I love your website and book (life changing, and wonderfully so!). I haven’t commented before, but I just had to thank you for the info about black tea. I drink a big mug every morning and actually always worry about its dehydrating effects. Now I can stop worrying and enjoy my tea all the more. Hurray!
Right? It’s so good to have one less thing to worry about. Welcome to comment land!
Thanks Rebecca. I thought maybe it was just me.
I recently discovered this too. I did a segment on hydration and found caffeine counts, isn’t that fantastic? I love your blog, so glad I found it.