T Nation

Coffee/Caffeine Don't Cause Dehydration?

Supplements and Nutrition
#1

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--13105-0,00.html?cm_mmc=nutrition--2009_04_23--nutrition-_-DIET:%20Five%20Benefits%20of%20Caffeine

Article doesn’t provide a link to any studies confirming this. Wondering what you all think.

“Hydrate Smart
Many people have heard caffeine causes dehydration. Most studies, though, show you can have up to 550 milligrams of caffeine (or about five cups of coffee) without affecting hydration levels. That means you can have quite a few caff einated sports drinks and gels while running without risking dehydration; more than 550 milligrams will have a diuretic effect.”

#2

I think that if you need five cups of coffee to get 550 milligrams of caffeine you’re a Mediterranean connoisseur drinking 100% Arabica in tiny cups and you don’t care about its diuretic effects. Or you’re drinking nothing but that godawful piss-coffee from Keuring machines and your life is meaningless so all issues are irrelevant.

But really, I want to see details on these studies. One cup of coffee is all it takes to loosen my bowels and bladder. Five cups and I might as well just get catheterized so I don’t wear out the floor between my desk and my bathroom.

#3

[quote]supabeast wrote:
I think that if you need five cups of coffee to get 550 milligrams of caffeine you’re a Mediterranean connoisseur drinking 100% Arabica in tiny cups and you don’t care about its diuretic effects. Or you’re drinking nothing but that godawful piss-coffee from Keuring machines and your life is meaningless so all issues are irrelevant.

But really, I want to see details on these studies. One cup of coffee is all it takes to loosen my bowels and bladder. Five cups and I might as well just get catheterized so I don’t wear out the floor between my desk and my bathroom.
[/quote]

Yeah, but drinking 5 cups of water will make me pee too.

#4

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
supabeast wrote:
I think that if you need five cups of coffee to get 550 milligrams of caffeine you’re a Mediterranean connoisseur drinking 100% Arabica in tiny cups and you don’t care about its diuretic effects. Or you’re drinking nothing but that godawful piss-coffee from Keuring machines and your life is meaningless so all issues are irrelevant.

But really, I want to see details on these studies. One cup of coffee is all it takes to loosen my bowels and bladder. Five cups and I might as well just get catheterized so I don’t wear out the floor between my desk and my bathroom.

Yeah, but drinking 5 cups of water will make me pee too.[/quote]

The extra fluid in coffee,(apart from the caffeine) is what you are peeing

#5

I am not so convinced that coffee is a diuretic. I have an espresso now and then and don’t notice much of an effect. I have also seen how Europeans drink coffee even in the heat with little to no ill effect.

#6

in my personal experience, caffeine (pills) is an anti-diuretic.

#7

To convince me that coffee is meaningfully dehydrating to a regular coffee drinker, then someone needs to show me a study where people who drink coffee every day are dehydrated compared to people who don’t.

#8

[quote]Stength4life wrote:
DoubleDuce wrote:
supabeast wrote:

The extra fluid in coffee,(apart from the caffeine) is what you are peeing[/quote]

No way, coffee makes me piss far more than just drinking a couple cups of water. From my experience coffee (possibly something other than caffeine) is certainly a diuretic.

#9

We had a panel discussion on this, two nutritionists, strength coach, and two MD’s.

Apparently Caffeine is NOT a diuretic. It does NOT increase the volume of urine excreted, it simply increases frequency.

Studies showed that while people ingesting anywhere up to 200mg of caffeine a day urinated more frequently, their total VOLUME of urine was not more than those of the caffeine-free control group
(Nancy R. Rodriguez, PhD, RD, FACSM)

#10

We had a panel discussion on this, two nutritionists, strength coach, and two MD’s.

Apparently Caffeine is NOT a diuretic. It does NOT increase the volume of urine excreted, it simply increases frequency.

Studies showed that while people ingesting anywhere up to 200mg of caffeine a day urinated more frequently, their total VOLUME of urine was not more than those of the caffeine-free control group
(Nancy R. Rodriguez, PhD, RD, FACSM)

#11

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=active&q="Nancy+R.+Rodriguez"+The+potential+ergogenic+effects+of+caffeine+may+be+more+closely+related+&fp=CbAyCS9qaiY

#12

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
supabeast wrote:
I think that if you need five cups of coffee to get 550 milligrams of caffeine you’re a Mediterranean connoisseur drinking 100% Arabica in tiny cups and you don’t care about its diuretic effects. Or you’re drinking nothing but that godawful piss-coffee from Keuring machines and your life is meaningless so all issues are irrelevant.

But really, I want to see details on these studies. One cup of coffee is all it takes to loosen my bowels and bladder. Five cups and I might as well just get catheterized so I don’t wear out the floor between my desk and my bathroom.

Yeah, but drinking 5 cups of water will make me pee too.[/quote]

Good point.

#13

[quote]FWG65 wrote:
We had a panel discussion on this, two nutritionists, strength coach, and two MD’s.

Apparently Caffeine is NOT a diuretic. It does NOT increase the volume of urine excreted, it simply increases frequency.

Studies showed that while people ingesting anywhere up to 200mg of caffeine a day urinated more frequently, their total VOLUME of urine was not more than those of the caffeine-free control group
(Nancy R. Rodriguez, PhD, RD, FACSM)[/quote]

we had a panel becaue nobody knows for sure. and every few years theres going to be a contrasting study. There are a million variables that can effect what nutrients do. For me like someone else said I piss and shit alllloottt after half a cup, therefore I don’t drink coffee more than once a week so it may be a diuretic for me, versus someone who drinks it every day.