It seems that information around coffee, water, soda, and hydration changes like the tides.
It should come as no surprise that we recommend drinking water to stay hydrated, but if you need a substitute, Men’s journal listed the best (and worst)drinks to help maintain and stabilize your hydration.
Men’s Journal based its article off of this study, which is an attempt to create some sort of hydration matrix for beverages. The study looked at 13 different drinks and their effects on their subjects.
According to study author Stuart Galloway, “Many people believe that drinking fluids such as tea and coffee causes them to become dehydrated, but we found that when drunk [sic] in normal amounts and frequency these drinks do not stimulate any additional fluid loss compared to drinking water.”
That was quite the shocker, but as the article reports, drinking tea is equal to drinking water in regards to hydration and also provides an added benefit of tea’s naturally-occurring antioxidants. The key is not adding any refined sugar to your tea to maintain that hydration.
Coffee was found as the fourth-best option to stay hydrated. While Seattle’s favorite brown bean may cause you to have to go more frequently, the study does not suggest that drinking black coffee hydrates you any less than water. Like tea, you just have to avoid “polluting” your java.
Naturally, diet soda would find itself close to the bottom of the rankings. In some cases, sodas and diet sodas were shown to worsen dehydration. Coincidentally, sparkling water is equally as hydrating and calorie-free as plain tap water so if you need those bubbles, give sparkling water a try.
However you choose to hydrate, you’ll probably need a healthy snack as well. We have those! Click here to get set up with a free trial so we can show you what we’ve got!