Coffee: How Do They Compare?īecause the caffeine in regular coffee can have a slight diuretic effect, many believe that coffee is dehydrating, but that’s not actually the case. Here is everything you need to know about coffee and hydration. According to the National Coffee Association 62 percent of Americans kick their day off with a cup of coffee (or three), so it would be helpful to know if those fluids are helping us meet our hydration goals or not. The purported benefits of being a regular coffee drinker (between three to five 8-oz cups a day) include a lower risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, according to Harvard Medical School. There is plenty of evidence that drinking coffee is good for your health in general. RELATED: 10 Things You Need to Know About Caffeine But because caffeine is a diuretic (it’ll send you to empty your bladder more often), there is a persistent belief that coffee isn’t as effective as other beverages when it comes to meeting your hydration needs - or may even have the opposite effect. Coffee is the third most popular beverage in the world (after water and tea), according to National Geographic, and if you’ve ever brewed it, you know that it is mostly water. While good ol' H20 - bottled or tap - is your best bet, it’s not the only beverage most of us are drinking in a day. You can use a hydration calculator for an estimate of how much fluid you need to drink. About 20 percent of that comes from the foods you eat, so that leaves about 2.2 L (nine 8-oz cups) for women and 3.0 L (thirteen 8-oz cups) for men coming from the fluids you drink. The gold standard of hydration comes from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which recommends that women get about 2.7 liters (L) of fluid per day and men get about 3.7 L per day. So how do you know how much you should aim for? While the recommendation to drink eight 8-oz glasses of fluid per day is certainly a good starting point, it’s mostly used because it’s so easy to remember, but it is not the most recent or accurate measure. RELATED: The Truth About Hydration: 5 Myths and 5 Facts Plus, roughly 20 percent of our fluids come from the food we eat. You may have heard the old adage that you should have eight 8-ounce (oz) glasses of water each day, but hydration needs vary by gender, activity level, and even the climate. (So swigging some H20 may be a good way to fight off brain fog!)Īdding to the confusion is the fact that there is no recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for water or fluids. Scientific literature indicates that cognitive function can take a hit when you’re running a mere 1 to 2 percent low on bodily fluids. Even mild dehydration can lead to fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and muscle cramps according to the Cleveland Clinic. And the effects of dehydration go beyond thirst. Most of us don’t think to drink until we feel thirsty - and by then, we may already be dehydrated. And, according to the Sleep Foundation, being well-hydrated may lead to better sleep.īut hydration can be surprisingly tricky. Why are all those fluids so critical? Well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) they play a role in regulating body temperature, mood, and cognition. In a national survey of 2,000 American adults conducted by OnePoll for the brand Evian, less than one-quarter reported drinking eight or more glasses of water a day. “Stay well-hydrated” is one of those time-tested pieces of nutritional advice you’ve been hearing your whole life - and likely still fail to follow.
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