Can coffee replenish water?

No one knows exactly when coffee was discovered, but according to the National Coffee Association, there are many legends about its origins. The most popular story has it that a shepherd discovered the potential of the bean after noticing his goats behaving strangely after eating the berries.

From these humble beginnings, an industry has grown into something incredibly large. According to data collected by World Atlas, the top three coffee-consuming countries in the world are Finland, where citizens drink 12 kg (26.4 lb) of coffee per person per year. Norway is next, with 9.9 kg (21.8 lb) of coffee per person per year, followed by Iceland, with 9 kg (19.8 lb) per person per year.

The United States ranks 25th, consuming 4.2 kg (9.2 lb) of coffee per person per year, behind countries such as Portugal, Lebanon, Croatia, Greece and Brazil. Coffee consumption in the United States remained flat last year, but consumption of specialty coffee is increasing, according to the latest data collected by the National Coffee Association, Daily Coffee News reports.

According to Daily Coffee News, for the first time in Coffee Trends’ 69-year history, consumption of specialty coffee has surpassed non-specialty coffee. Another fun factoid: If you frequent your local coffee shop for your morning coffee, you could be waiting up to 45 hours per year for your cup of coffee.

But whether you're waiting in line at a café or brewing your own coffee at home to get yourself going every morning, have you ever considered that the mild diuretic effect you're experiencing could be triggering dehydration?

Don't Believe the Myth That Coffee Dehydrates You

Although it may be considered a myth by many at first, scientific evidence has proven that coffee, even when consumed in moderation on a daily basis, does not cause dehydration. Historically, there have been recommendations that coffee and other caffeinated beverages may cause dehydration and should be avoided in order to maintain an optimal fluid balance.

To assess physiological factors, the researchers found 50 men who habitually drank three to six cups of coffee a day. The researchers tested the men with either water or caffeinated coffee. During the study, the researchers controlled the participants' activity, food, fluid, and coffee intake.

They measured total body water and used urine and blood hydration markers to assess hydration status. Interestingly, they concluded that "a range of blood and urine markers of hydration status did not change significantly between trials."

Data suggests that habitual coffee drinkers can get the same hydration benefits from drinking coffee as from drinking water. Dr. Daniel Vigil of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California explains to Time Magazine that, rather than causing dehydration, caffeine's mild diuretic effect can actually increase your hydration levels.

It seems logical that frequent urination after drinking coffee could lead to dehydration, but Vigil explains that caffeine is only a mild diuretic and your body doesn't lose more water than you put back in when you drink coffee. A headache after a morning cup of coffee, he explains, could be a sign that you're either sensitive to caffeine or that you're already dehydrated.

Coffee Benefits: More coffee can further hydrate you

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition sought to evaluate the effects of different beverages on hydration status and determine a hydration index. They believe that it is important to categorize beverages that can help promote fluid balance in a clinical setting to help those who are unable to hydrate at all times or have frequent bathroom breaks.

They analyzed the effects of 13 common beverages on optimally hydrated participants and found that if a drink empties from the stomach more slowly, it continues to replenish the body with water for a longer period of time. Factors that slow water absorption include protein, whole milk, and lower levels of sugar, which is what you get from drinking raw pastured cow's milk or coconut water , CNN explains.

The researchers found that increasing the sugar content of the beverages did not increase the benefits of hydration. In fact, it not only led to insulin resistance , but by the time the fluids reached the small intestine, the higher the sugar content, the more dehydration they experienced.

Every cell in your body needs to stay hydrated to stay healthy. Hydration is essential for cardiovascular health because it allows your muscles to work efficiently and helps your heart pump blood more easily throughout your body.

But the key to hydration is not to drink more water, but to get more water into your cells.

Coffee stimulates brown fat and metabolism

Most people drink coffee in the morning just to get themselves going, but researchers have also found that a standard cup of coffee contains enough caffeine to stimulate brown fat activity , burning more energy and potentially improving your insulin sensitivity. These cellular activities may help improve weight management.

Brown adipose tissue participates in thermogenesis and burning of glucose and fat in mitochondrial reactions mediated by mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). If UCP1 is upregulated, it could help reduce the risk of obesity. The researchers analyzed the effects of caffeine exposure in cell cultures and healthy humans.

In both trials, the data showed positive results. UCP1 expression increased in cell cultures treated with caffeine. In healthy adults, imaging studies showed an increase in the temperature of brown fat tissue in the supraclavicular region after drinking coffee, but not after drinking water.

More Health Benefits of Coffee

If you want to experience the many health benefits of properly grown, harvested, and roasted coffee, avoid flavored cream and sugar. Harvard University details the history of coffee and health. In 1991, the World Health Organization classified coffee as a possible carcinogen. By 2016, research data showed that coffee may reduce the risk of certain cancers.

When people think of the benefits of drinking coffee, they associate it with mental stimulation, especially in Western cultures. The researchers found that when exposed to cues about coffee, such as images, participants showed a response similar to that after drinking coffee. Participants perceived shorter times and could think of more specific and precise terms, indicating that their thinking was more agile.

In another meta-analysis of 30 opinion studies between 2002 and 2015, Swedish researchers concluded that coffee drinking was inversely associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes . The researchers followed participants aged 20 to 70 for an average of 5.8 years and found that regular coffee drinkers had a lower risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes than non-coffee drinkers.

Another long-term study showed that it was coffee, not tea, that lowered the risk. Over a period of more than 20 years, researchers collected detailed information from participants in three large studies every two to four years. The data showed that for every extra cup of coffee a volunteer drank per day for four years, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next four years dropped by 12%.

A meta-analysis found that coffee's effects can also improve athletic performance, which is very beneficial for athletes; another study found that caffeine can reduce muscle soreness after exercise.

Choose organic or biodynamic dark roast coffee beans

There are countless benefits to drinking coffee, but there is a very important premise: you must choose coffee beans that are deeply roasted and grown in an organic or biodynamic way. The packaged coffee beans you buy are brown or black, but during the growth period, they are actually green. After being roasted at high temperatures, they will exude a unique flavor.

Coffee can be lightly or darkly roasted, and each type of coffee bean has a unique flavor and acidity. Carbon roasted coffee has the highest antioxidant content and lower acrylamide levels, thus providing the most health benefits.

When choosing coffee, the color of the coffee after roasting should not be your only selection criteria. You should also choose coffee beans that are ground organically or biodynamically. For example, when monitoring chemical residues, the Nestle brand found that:

“Some green coffees contain high levels of chemical residues, with levels approaching regulatory limits. We are strengthening controls on our suppliers to ensure our green coffee continues to comply with regulations around the world.”

The chemical residues are a result of glyphosate use in the countries where the coffee beans are produced. Nestlé will begin implementing new procedures on October 1, 2019, until glyphosate contaminants in coffee beans are reduced. According to Bloomberg, this "could complicate global coffee trade processes."

Brazilian producers report that they are working hard to reduce chemical residues to meet European requirements, which are much stricter than those in the U.S. Remember, the quality of the food you eat depends largely on how it is grown.

Even organically grown food, meaning it's grown without the use of pesticides, can be grown in soil that lacks nutrients.