Drinking Coffee has several health benefits because it contains antioxidants and vitamins such as riboflavin, magnesium, and potassium. It can also help reduce depression, promote a healthy heart, and lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disease, and liver cancer. Tea also has similar benefits. But is consuming coffee and tea dehydrate you?
Caffeinated coffee and tea are thought to dehydrate you. Caffeine is a weak diuretic, but the water in the drink itself offsets the loss. When you drink a caffeinated coffee or tea.
The Truth Behind the Myth
Caffeine is a mild diuretic, which means it causes your kidneys to excrete excess sodium and water in the form of urine. It’s natural to believe that if you pee frequently and thus lose a lot of liquid, you’ll become dehydrated but when consuming coffee this assumption isn’t true.
When you drink a cup of coffee or you drink a glass of iced tea, you are necessarily taking in a volume of fluid along with that dose of caffeine. Even though caffeine is a mild diuretic, you won’t lose more fluid through urine than you take in by drinking a caffeinated beverage. Your body is able to absorb as much fluid as it needs and expel the rest.
David Geffen, School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles.
As a result, your morning pick-me-up hydrates you rather than dehydrates you. According to Vigil, coffee and tea can and should count toward your daily eight-or-so cups of water.
If you get headaches or other symptoms after drinking your morning coffee, dehydration is unlikely to be the cause. You might be caffeine sensitive or dehydrated for reasons unrelated to your coffee or tea consumption. (Source: Time)
Where Did Coffee Originate From?
There are numerous stories about the discovery of the first coffee bean and its uniquely energizing effect. According to a 1671 account, the 9th-century Ethiopian goat-herder Kaldi discovered coffee.
He noticed his goats acting strangely while eating the fruits of a medium-sized, dark green shrubbery with yellow and red berries while roaming the Ethiopian kingdom of Kaffa with his goats.
He took some of those stimulating magic berries to the next monastery to have the chaplain explain their effects to him. The berries were thrown into the fire by the chaplain, who referred to them as a devilish temptation. The distinct and aromatic aroma of roasted coffee rose from the fire soon after, enchanting the monks. They quickly extinguished the fire and brewed the first cup of coffee.
The story of the prophet Mohammed is told differently. He was overcome by sleep one day while praying. Archangel Gabriel descended quickly from the sky, bringing fresh coffee to Mohammed so that he could continue his prayers. Mohammed threw 40 men from their saddles and slept with 40 women on the same day.
The Arabs, not the Ethiopians or the Italians, were the first to start roasting and grinding coffee beans to brew with hot water about 1000 years after Christ. They were also the first to cultivate coffee plants and establish plantations in Yemen. Coffee has had a long, successful, and fascinating journey, beginning with discovering the first specimen of Coffee arabica and ending with the refinement of Italian Espresso as we know it today. (Source Espresso International)