Dehydrated - will drinking tea help?

newthrift

Tea/coffee are both diuretic's, something to do with the caffeine (I can't remember the technical bit) but if your drinking de-cafe then that's not a problem. Try limiting yourself to 2-3 a day or try having a herbal tea if you want more hot drinks. Overall just try and make sure you sip water through the day. Carry a little bottle with you and if whilst you get in the habit set an alarm on yor phone to bleep every hour to remind you. A pain at first but you'll get in to the habit of drinking water!!

Mojisola

newthrift wrote: »

Tea/coffee are both diuretic's, something to do with the caffeine

I know this from the Beverage Institute (and they have a vested interest) but it's an interview with Ann Grandjean, a "hydration expert" -
http://beverageinstitute.org/us/expert/laying-the-caffeine-dehydration-myth-to-rest/
"Our clinical trial results included a counterbalanced crossover study involving 18 healthy adult males who consumed water or water plus varying combinations of beverages, including carbonated, caffeinated caloric and non-caloric colas and coffee, on four separate occasions. We found no significant differences in the effect of various combinations of beverages on the hydration status of our volunteers.

In a second study, we measured the effect of two regimens — one that included drinking water as part of the dietary beverages and one that did not. Again, we found no significant difference between the regimens on indicators of hydration status. As a result, we concluded that the popular notion that caffeinated beverages cause dehydration is a myth. Subsequently, other studies and reports have confirmed our findings.

Interestingly, a study from way back in 1928 involving subjects who normally consumed caffeine-containing beverages also showed that these beverages did not increase 24-hour urine output."

DigForVictory

First establish a drinking habit (of water, tea, etc!)

Then increase the size of cup. I was given a half litre tin mug & as if by magic most of my dehydratyion issues disappeared. As I was putting away a couple of litres in office hours & barely noticing.

All the very best, & keep up with the assorted teabag freebies - there are some delightful brews to be enjoyed by post!

Lgas

I only drink tea and coffee (mostly tea), and i'm never dehydrated!

trailingspouse

Do you ever feel thirsty? I hardly ever do.

I drink tea regularly through the day, have no more than one cup of coffee in a day, drink no fizzy pop at all, and have the occasional glass of wine. In hot weather I might have a bottle of water on the go if I remember. BUT - I have a very low salt diet. I eat very few processed foods, and I don't add salt to food at the table or when I'm cooking. The only time I feel actually thirsty is if I've eaten something high in salt, such as a bacon butty, or a Chinese takeaway.

thehappybutterfly

Fruit tea is amazing and really refreshing. Just make sure you let it steep for a good five mins before drinking and leave the teabag in the cup. Twinings have got a Winter Spice one out just now which tastes just like mulled wine! Yum!

km1423

Fruit or herbal teas - brilliant. Redbush tea is great, and doesn't contain caffeine. Steady as you go with that, can induce headaches due to natural caffeine elimination. Water is your best bet.

Have you tried a sports cap water bottle and drink from that, i.e. Buxton with sports cap? It holds about 500ml, and you can slurp from it during the day. Try to drink a minimum of two of these, then along with your hot beverages, you should easily be drinking a minimum of 2 litres then there is still your food.

Have water by your bed when you retire at night, say another 500ml sports cap bottle - less likely for it to go everywhere in the dark. A few good gulps before bed.

InsideInsurance

sweaty_betty wrote: »

I've been told that tea is a diuretic so might be undoing the good effects of drinking water. This doesn't seem quite right to me! I'd have thought any fluids were ok.

Tea is a mild diuretic but the dehydrating impact of that is much less than the hydrating effect of drinking the liquid is. There are few drinks where the diuretic effect is sufficient to outweigh the hydration from the liquid.

So drinking tea will help hydrate you just not quite as much as plain water would

sweetcheeks33

We barely recognise our thirst response and a lots of time confuse it with hunger... According to research therefore we eat when we are actually thirsty. If you are only drinking when your thirst feeling is very strong.. You will end up a 'little' dehydrated. Carry a bottle around with you, I have started this and it makes a big difference .

FBaby

I looked into this recently as I started taking up running on longer distances, but drink almost nothing but tea all day and worried about effect of dehydration. I read that tea was not dehydrating unless drinking more than about 10 cups or so, and that is mainly because it will indeed make you go to the toilet more.

I don't drink 10 cups a day, more like 6-7 but have decided to reduce intake and introduce drinking squash more. It's still nice to know that I can have a couple of cups of tea (to wake me up) before I go running without worrying I am making myself dehydrated before I even start!