Ah, tea—the answer to most of life's many questions. But does it hydrate you or will your organs shut down and your skin start to resemble some kind of dried grape or plumb based fruit? We all know we’re supposed to drink a certain amount of water each day to stay hydrated, but does your cup of tea chip in towards that?
Spoiler alert: Yes, yes of course it does. But like most things, there are a few details to cover before you go replacing every sip of water with tea (but you’d probably be fine).
Let’s dive in.
Tea and hydration: it’s mostly water, after all
Tea is essentially water with a bit of flair—a splash of leaves, a dash of herbs, maybe a little milk and sugar if you are, unlike your humble author, not already sweet enough.
Contrary to old myths dreamt up by Pure NZ, the caffeine in tea won’t leave you parched.
Yes, caffeine is a mild diuretic, but unless you’re mainlining espresso shots, the amount in tea isn’t going to undo all the hydration benefits. The water in tea still counts, and studies back this up. In fact, you’d have to drink an absurd amount of tea for the caffeine to noticeably affect your hydration. Challenge accepted?
Let’s not.
But what about the caffeine?
Caffeine is always the thing people bring up in this conversation, so let’s clear it up: a typical cup of tea has about 30-50mg of caffeine, compared to 95mg in coffee. Most of us would have to drink a serious amount of tea to be at risk of dehydration from caffeine alone.
And if you’re one of those people who runs on nothing but tea (we see you), your body likely has a tolerance built up anyway.
Herbal teas: caffeine-free-flowing
Now, if you're sipping on herbal teas, like chamomile or peppermint (which, ahem, we sell here), you're golden. These teas are caffeine-free, so you get all the hydrating goodness without any concerns. They also taste delicious.
The extra perks of drinking tea
Beyond hydration, tea brings a lot more to the table. Rooibos, green tea, peppermint—they’re all packed with antioxidants and health benefits that go far beyond what you’ll get from your average glass of tap water. So yes, your cup of tea is doing double duty, hydrating and helping to keep your body ticking over nicely.
Want to stay hydrated and feel virtuous? Go for one of our naturally caffeine-free teas, like Peppermint or Rooibos, and sip away to your heart’s content.
Read: Immune boosting tea
How much tea should you drink?
As much as you want. Just ask anyone over the age of about 65 if people ever worried that they weren’t drinking the fabled 8 cups of water per day when they were growing up and they will laugh in your face and probably call into question the wisdom of your generation.
Final thoughts
In short, yes, obviously your daily cuppas count as water intake and in most cases, it’s probably doing more for you than boring old hydrogen oxide.
So go fill your expensive double walled, straw equipped, NASA designed water bottle with English Breakfast, Chamomile, Rooibos or Earl Grey and stop worrying so much!
Next time someone tells you to drink more water, just smile, raise your mug, take a sip then laugh smugly in their stupid face. Alternatively, politely send them this blog post and make them a cuppa.