Does Coffee Really Cause Dehydration?

I recently read an article about coffee and its potential of causing dehydration. Even the title had me wanting to share it immediately with my coffee dependent friends. In fact, here is the title and the link to the article from the National Center for Biotechnology Information website: No Evidence of Dehydration with Moderate Daily Coffee Intake: A Counterbalanced Cross-over Study in a Free-Living Population.

I’ll add a few takeaways here, but I would encourage any coffee drinker read the article, maybe over your morning joe. For starters, I think we can agree that coffee often gets a bad rap when discussions about healthy living gain steam. And, if you’ve even been on a long road trip with someone who has pre-gamed their trip with a few cups, you can unscientifically assume their frequent requests to stop at every roadside Rest Area makes a strong case for potential dehydration. However, this article allows science to step in and clear up a few misunderstandings about this beloved aromatic beverage.

For the study, they ran people of all backgrounds and habits through the paces of drinking coffee and testing key levels for dehydration and maintaining healthy fluid ranges. If I may summarize, the findings had a familiar tone —moderation can be a loyal friend to the many things we enjoy in life. However, the moderation line comes quick, and things go south even quicker once it’s crossed. But again, the article goes on to show that when coffee was consumed in moderation — in one case it was with males who’ve been drinking coffee for years— it actually showed similar hydrating qualities as if one had ingested water instead.. Hmmmm.

Anyway, don’t just read my summaries here, but rather read through the article and see where you stand. You might be able to justify your next stop at road trip gas station as just a healthy effect similar to one who just ingested water.