Good News! Coffee Doesn’t Dehydrate You After All

Shutterstock

I knew I was on to something all those times I’ve chugged a mug of coffee before a run. Not only does the caffeine improve my performance, coffee gives me about the same level of hydration as drinking a glass of water, according to a review of recent studies reported in a “Medical Myths” column on the BBC.

Listen to this:

Then came new research earlier this year from Sophie Killer at Birmingham University in the UK, who not only measured the volume of urine [after drinking coffee], but tested their blood for signs of kidney function as well as calculating the total amount of water in the body. The men in the study drank four cups of coffee a day, far more than the average coffee-drinker. Yet there was no evidence they were any more dehydrated than those who drank water alone.

Holler! And same goes for tea. BBC writer Claudia Hammond concludes that “although we might notice needing the loo more when we’ve been drinking coffee, the mistake is basing our observations on a comparison with the time we’ve drunk nothing, not with a similar amount of water.”

Read the full review, and rejoice with me, here.

Like what you’re reading? Stay in touch with Be Well Philly—here’s how:

• Like Be Well Philly on Facebook
• Follow Be Well Philly on Twitter
• Follow Be Well Philly on Pinterest
• Get the Be Well Philly Newsletter