I have been a coffee drinker all my life and I really don’t think that I could make it through a day without that familiar taste of coffee in my mouth. I have tasted all types of coffee from the simple instant brands to the more expensive and rare ones. I like my coffee to be strong. The blacker and richer the brew the better it is for me. So I do not drink any decaffeinated drink. I think that takes out the essence of coffee. It’s like drinking wine without alcohol. But I do understand why people would prefer to drink decaffeinated coffee. Those who have medical conditions would have to refrain from drinking such strong concoctions as full coffee. I could also understand why they would still prefer to have a taste of coffee even if it does not have the usual bite.
There has been some controversy about drinking decaf though. The major decaffeinated coffee controversy has raised ome questions about the the effects of coffee on health. I have heard several of these questions about coffee drinking and some of them are quite ridiculous but a few of them could really cause some worry to some people.
Does decaffeinated coffee dehydrate you?
I have heard that question often enough that I have started to wonder whether there is really some truth behind the question. As a coffee drinker I need to find out the answer to it, because if it does, then that would mean that I am risking my health by drinking a lot of coffee. I did some research on my own in order to find out the real effects of coffee drinking on the body and whether it really does cause dehydration.
Coffee is a natural diuretic, which means that induces the body to urinate more but since coffee is usually taken with water then that effect is somewhat reduced. Decaffeinated coffee still contains some amount of caffeine and so that means that it will enhance urination in some ways. Scientific studies have shown that coffee drinking will not have the effect of excessively dehydrating the human body. It would not reach that stage yet. The truth is that further research still has to be conducted to explore the effects of coffee. Some factors like the possibility of delayed effect has not been checked in the previous researches. In fact other substances in the coffee might cause the same amount of dehydration as caffeine. Sugar for one is another substance that is normally included in coffee and it almost has the same effect as salt. So you have to watch the amount of sugar that you put into your coffee as well if you do not want to experience any dehydrating effects.
There is some connection between coffee drinking and dehydration but the effect is too small to cause any severe effects on the body. A coffee drinker like me therefore has very little to worry about being dehydrated by caffeine. That is the truth behind that coffee controversy which has been puzzling a lot of people. The quick and dirty answer to your question “does decaf coffee dehydrate you?” is no, not enough to be concerned about.