Is Coffee Actually Dehydrating? Here's What a Doctor Had to Say

Coffee has a whole host of health benefits: living longer, decreased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and protecting your heart. But one of the downsides of your java addiction — aside from how weird your pee smells after you drink it — is that it supposedly makes you dehydrated.

But does it? If you drink a glass of water but then follow it with a cup of coffee, does that offset the water you just drank? We asked a doctor for answers.

"Caffeine has a diuretic effect, meaning it makes you pee more than normal," Charlie Seltzer, MD, an internist and obesity medicine specialist, told POPSUGAR. "Therefore, anything with caffeine in it is going to cause more water elimination than drinking the same amount of water."

No wonder you need to hit the restroom ASAP after your morning cup of joe. But it's not just coffee that's the culprit; any caffeinated beverage, such as tea or soda, will have the same effect. Fortunately, it's not as if drinking coffee will counteract any water that you're drinking.

"The amount of liquid ingested from coffee more than offsets the dehydrating effect of caffeine," Dr. Seltzer added. "Drinking eight ounces of coffee leaves you with more hydration than drinking nothing at all, but less than if you drank eight ounces of water."

So is coffee actually dehydrating? Technically, yes, but it's such a minimal amount, it doesn't impact your body in the grand scheme of things. Even if you're a coffee addict, you should be fine — just be sure to drink plenty of plain old H2O for your overall health, skin, and energy levels.