re: coffee by CakeOrDeath

July 21, 2008 09:14 AM

dear internet,

We all know that coffee is a delicious, but ultimately evil and unhealthy beverage. Today someone told me that caffeine is so dehydrating, that for every cup of coffee you drink, you have to drink six to eight glasses of water. I think she's cooked in the head. What do you think?

results 37 votes

yep - six to eight glasses is about right (2 votes)
 5%
nah - one or two glasses should do it (18 votes)
 49%
every time you drink a glass of water you should drink six coffees to correct the imbalance (10 votes)
 27%
maybe you should take up yoga instead (7 votes)
 19%
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comments

  • LiniLearns says:

    Depending on how much coffee you drink, if you drink 6-8 glasses of water on top of it, you're risking water intoxication:

    http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1770067

    How much fluid should we have a day?

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/water/NU00283/METHOD=print

    Caffeine is a diuretic (makes you pee more), but that does not automatically equal dehydrating. And when you need fluids you need more than just water, you need salt and whatnot.

    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000394.htm

    Go ahead and enjoy your coffee. :-)

    Jul 21, 2008 09:57 AM
  • alex says:

    If it was true, I'd be crispy by now.

    Jul 21, 2008 01:36 PM
  • CakeOrDeath says:

    Yes that's what I thought too... Wouldn't bet my life on it, but I'm pretty sure I don't pee 2 litres every time I have a cuppa.

    Jul 22, 2008 03:44 AM
  • LiniLearns says:

    That would be an amazing party trick. "Hold my cup and watch this."

    Jul 22, 2008 08:08 AM
  • laner says:

    my husband would live in the bathroom. or by the tree out back. probably by the tree out back, as we only have one bathroom and i would get annoyed if he were always in there.

    have i digressed?

    Jul 26, 2008 10:57 AM
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