Coffee DOES count!

OK, I take it back: I apologize to anyone I've ever told, that "coffee and tea don't count toward our liquid intake, because they're diuretics."  

 

 

I learned something new this week, while researching things to do about a medical condition I've been fighting for the past month. Firstly, yes it's true that caffeine is a diuretic, so that part was never wrong. But in the course of all my searching, I've learned something new to me: Modern medical research has concluded that the fluid in your coffee or tea easily balances out the mild diuretic effect of the caffeine. It absolutely counts toward keeping you hydrated and flushing out your kidneys and gall bladder. Which is a great idea for me, these days...

 

So drink up, enjoy your morning latte (which DOES count toward all those glasses of water we're supposed to be drinking), and forgive me for my years of spreading old information!

Of course, as my cousin mentioned, fluid intake is one thing, and the effects of caffeine itself are another thing entirely. Don't forget that the FDA recommends limiting your daily caffeine to 400mg, unless you're a fan of irregular heartbeat, chest pain, and stroke. And, of course, for those that are sensitive to it, adverse effects on sleep, especially when drinking caffeine late in the day.

 

Here's a good reference from the Mayo Clinic for the curious.