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Medically reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes, RDN
Key Takeaways
- Tea generally counts toward your daily hydration. Even caffeinated teas are mostly water, and their relatively low caffeine content makes them unlikely to cause meaningful dehydration.
- Drinking large amounts of strongly caffeinated tea in a short time may slightly increase urination, but it would take a lot of tea to noticeably affect hydration.
- Herbal teas are the most hydrating option.
Tea can hydrate you, as its water content usually outweighs the caffeine’s diuretic effect. Drinking excessively—more than eight cups at once—might counteract this and lead to dehydration.
How Tea Affects Hydration
Caffeinated beverages are often considered dehydrating due to their diuretic properties. However, research suggests that herbal and green teas might aid hydration. The water content in tea contributes to your daily fluid intake, offsetting any potential loss from caffeine’s diuretic effect.
Additionally, many teas contain trace minerals and electrolytes, such as potassium and magnesium, which help restore fluid balance in the body.
Consuming enough fluids daily keeps you hydrated, supporting key bodily functions and overall health. While the amount of water you need depends on several factors, most healthy adults should aim for between 9 and 13 cups of fluid daily.
What’s the Effect of Caffeinated Teas?
Coffee beans and tea leaves contain caffeine, a stimulant that is considered a mild diuretic. This means that it can cause more frequent urination. Caffeinated drinks dehydrate more than non-caffeinated beverages because they trigger you to urinate more often and lose fluids.
However, given tea’s relatively low caffeine content, it would take a large amount to significantly impact hydration, though it is possible. Experts recommend a caffeine intake of under 400 milligrams (mg) daily for most adults.
How Much Caffeine Is In Tea?
Exactly how much caffeine is in a tea will vary based on a few factors. A particular batch of tea may contain more caffeine than another, depending on:
- The type of tea
- The quality of the tea leaves
- Where they were grown
- Brewing temperature
- The length of time you brew your tea leaves
Caffeine concentrations in tea infusions, made by pouring hot water over the tea and steeping it, can range from about 3 mg to 18 mg per 8-ounce cup. Specifically, the amount of caffeine in different teas includes:
- Black tea: A higher caffeine content, with 13 to 15 mg per 200 mL (a cup is 240 mL)
- Yellow tea: About 14 mg per 200 mL, similar to black tea
- Pu-erh tea: Between 10 and 16 mg per 200 mL, also similar to black tea
- Green tea: Slightly more hydrating than black tea, with 9 to 13 mg per 200 mL
- Oolong tea: About 2.5 to 5.5 mg per 200 mL
- White tea: About 5 to 6.5 mg per 200 mL
As a comparison, a cup of black coffee provides around 90 to 200 mg of caffeine.
Some tea products add caffeine during manufacturing and might only list the amount of caffeine added, not the amount of natural caffeine included. This could have a slight effect on how hydrating a particular tea is.
Herbal Teas and Hydration
Herbal teas contain a single herb, like peppermint or chamomile, or a blend of multiple herbs. Most herbal teas are caffeine-free or contain minimal caffeine.
While higher doses of caffeinated tea may increase urination and slight dehydration, low doses of caffeine haven’t been linked to this effect. Herbal teas, such as chamomile, rose, and hibiscus teas, may be great options for additional hydration because they contain virtually no caffeine.
What About Hybrid Varieties?
Some teas may be hybrids, combining caffeinated and herbal teas. Herbs like yerba mate and guayusa, which do contain caffeine, could potentially be added to an herbal tea blend. The caffeine content in a cup of yerba mate tea could be as high as 80 mg, similar to a cup of brewed coffee.
Check the ingredients labels on store-bought hybrid teas so you know how much caffeine you may be getting with a particular brand.
Read the original article on Verywell Health
