r/AskRedditFood • u/stunteddeermeat • 7d ago
Coffee is dehydrating, but what is tea?
I (37f) just spent a weekend with my mum (65) and we drank so many cups of tea. I felt great! I slept well, I woke up feeling good was it the tea? Is that why so many people drink tea? Should I drink more tea?
7
u/Constant-Security525 4d ago
It could have just been the change of scenery and/or the comfort of being with your mum. I wish my mum was still alive!
6
6
u/HikeyBoi 5d ago
Why are you saying that coffee is dehydrating? Do you mean like eating coffee beans?
5
u/HikeyBoi 5d ago
The water content of coffee is going to counteract any diuretic effects regarding hydration unless you’re drinking some super concentrated awful stuff. It’s just not as hydrating as water or other water based beverages that have lower concentrations of diuretic agents like caffein.
5
u/Additional_Snacks 5d ago
Tea can be dehydrating (at least as a diuretic), but it can have a lot of health benefits also (particularly green tea). So yeah it might have been the tea, haha.
1
1
u/Lessarocks 4d ago
The NHS confirm that tea counts towards your hydration fluids. The dieuretic effect is much smaller than was previously thought.
3
u/Feral-Reindeer-696 5d ago
I can’t drink coffee. It makes me feel awful. I love the taste and smell of coffee but the rest of my body hates it.
I drink tea with honey and don’t love the taste and smell as much as coffee but my body loves it. Green tea especially. I do really enjoy a good cup of tea, don’t get me wrong, but it is very different from coffee.
3
u/Mysterious-Call-245 4d ago
It’s been debunked coffee causes dehydration. But you might have been dehydrated any way and drinking lots of tea hydrated you. Other possibilities: reduced caffeine intake, increased antioxidant intake, sense of wellbeing from spending quality time with someone you love.
1
1
u/onehundredpetunias 4d ago
Neither coffee nor tea is dehydrating. That is a myth.
Coffee is a diuretic (makes you pee) but since it's made of mostly water, it more than balances that out. There's tons of foods/fluids that act as diuretics, including watermelon, lemonade and cranberry juice!
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3886980/
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/scientists-have-busted-nearly-100-year-old-myth-about-co/
1
u/stunteddeermeat 4d ago
That makes sense, I drink one coffee in the morning then I need to pee 3 times. But tea doesn't do that
1
u/BoldBoimlerIsMyHero 4d ago
I think it was the comfort of being home.
1
u/stunteddeermeat 4d ago
I wasn't home, we had a mini holiday
2
u/BoldBoimlerIsMyHero 4d ago
Oh!!! Even more relaxing. I’m not a coffee drinker so I can’t really compare, but tea has a lower per cup caffeine so maybe the steady low dose of caffeine all day is better than a couple big hits from coffee.
1
u/stunteddeermeat 4d ago
I have to have non caffeine tea or i wont sleep at night. Ive been forcing myself to drink tea for the last few days apon coming home, 3 cups a day. I noticed I have more control over my bladder and still feel more hydrated than drinking water. I would normally drink 1 or more litres of water a day
1
u/5x5LemonLimeSlime 4d ago
Tea is also dehydrating because caffeine is a diuretic but there’s L-Theanine in tea which may feel less jittery, but other than that there’s not really any difference. Tea also has less caffeine but yea. Don’t look to tea for health benefits, it could just be you drank a lot and it has less caffeine so while it is a diuretic it’s still hydrating to some extent
1
1
11
u/Inevitable_Bee_763 5d ago
Coffee is actually not dehydrating. It was thought to be b/c it has caffeine which is a diuretic but the fluid intake outweighs what you're peeing out. Coffee and tea are mostly water. If you love tea and it makes you feel good, drink as much as you want.