A gastroenterologist went viral talking about the best ways to drink coffee. Harvard’s Dr. Saurabh Sethi talked about the pros and cons of coffee in his video.
“Coffee is absolutely wonderful for your brain, gut and liver,” Dr. Sethi said. He went on to talk about the polyphenols that aid good bacteria in the gut and aid focus and memory.
He talked about the dangers of turning coffee into a sugar bomb. Adding sugar and syrups to coffee can spike blood sugar and increase inflammation.
Dr. Sethi also warned that “Coffee is one of the most pesticided crops and you really don’t want to consume the pesticides.” Dr. Sethi recommended organic coffee.
He recommended that people with acid reflux switch to darker roasts as they have less caffeine.
He also said, “For every cup of coffee, general guidance is to drink two cups of water.”
Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it can cause you to urinate. That means that coffee and tea are often believed to be dehydrating. The myth has been debunked, yet it persists. The amount of water you drink in a cup of coffee or tea offsets the amount you lose because of the caffeine. If you are a habitual coffee drinker, it is even less likely to dehydrate you. You grow tolerant to its diuretic effects.
On average, women need 91 ounces of water, and men need 125 ounces of total water a day. The amount varies by weight, activity level, health conditions and the weather. “Total water” means all the fluid you get from drinks and food. Tea and coffee count toward that total amount.
Studies have found regular coffee drinkers find it as hydrating as water, even when exercising. One study found that people urinate the same amount after drinking soda, tea, coffee or water.
“You would need to consume more than 500 milligrams of caffeine per day — that’s five cups of coffee — to see a significant diuretic effect in the first place,” said registered dietician Maria Sorbara Mora. She explained that you would have to drink them all at once back-to-back for them to impact your urine output.
If you are already dehydrated, you shouldn’t reach for coffee. But you also shouldn’t reach for water. Your best option is a rehydrating drink with electrolytes. Something like Gatorade is your best choice when you are dehydrated. Gatorade, along with its competitors, has zero-sugar flavors.
We like Dr. Sethi’s advice to pair your cup of coffee with two glasses of water because we love finding ways to add more hydration to the day. If you are usually dehydrated, you should use this as a trick to remind yourself to drink more water! But, if you habitually drink enough water, don’t worry: your coffee isn’t drying you out.
