 |
| Photo by the author. |
I
am sitting here drinking a large mug of good, strong black tea and naturally my
thoughts turned to field disinfection of water and how to avoid dehydration in
the wilderness. Isn’t that what everyone
thinks as they enjoy a cup of tea on a cold February morning? I know, I know, weird, right?
Everyone
knows that hydration and fluid balance are important, not just for modern-day
adventurers, but for everyone. The
reason why hydration is so important is, because, if you get sufficiently
dehydrated you will DIE! And that, is
all together a bad thing. For more
information on the dangers of dehydration read “What is Dehydration and How Do
You Avoid It? ©”, HERE.
And
we all know, or we should all know, that the best way to disinfect water to
drink is by boiling it. For more on
boiling water to disinfect it, read “Water Disinfection: When is boiled, boiled
enough…?”, HERE.
 |
| Boiling water to disinfect it, picture by the author. |
The
biggest complaint about this method of water disinfection, is what do you do
when you are thirsty and want a drink now!
Just what are you going to do with all that hot boiled water?
Why
put a tea bag in it and drink it down of course!
 |
| A cup of tea, photo by the author. |
“Now
wait a moment,” you say, “Ok hydration is important, and boiling is a great way
of disinfecting water, I get that. But aren’t
tea and other caffeinated drinks a diuretic?
Don’t they make you pee out more water than you drink down?” No, not according the latest research, so
read on and “ruminate whilst I illuminate...”1.
It
is a common misconception that if you drink caffeinated drinks like tea, you
will lose more water than you drink, and you will dehydrate. Another misconception is that you have to
drink water with your coffee or tea to keep from dehydrating. According to Dr. Carrie Ruxton and Valerie
Hart, who wrote “Black tea is not significantly different from water in the
maintenance of normal hydration”, these misconceptions are not true.
There
are studies that show a modest diuretic effect occurs when people consume
caffeine pills, with a dosage of between 370 to 612 mg per day for an average
sized adult weighing 154 pounds (70 kg).
However, caffeine pills are not mugs of tea and these studies can’t be
directly compared, because the average cup of tea only contains between 42 and
50 mg of caffeine2 and this caffeine is consumed with seven to eight
ounces of liquid (200 to 250 ml). In Dr.
Ruxton and Ms. Hart’s study, test subject drank either four mugs of tea (an
average daily caffeine intake of 168 mg) or six mugs of tea (a dose of 252 mg
of caffeine) over twelve hours3.
Over the course of the study, it was found that consuming either four or
six mugs of tea a day had no adverse effect on hydration and that water and tea
have the same ability to hydrate your body.
“But
Bandanaman,” you say, “I drink coffee not tea, can I drink coffee with out
becoming dehydrated?”
Yes,
yes you can. However, remember that
coffee contains about three times as much caffeine as tea, and as the Tea
Advisory Panel’s E-Bulletin suggests, as long as you don’t
drink more than 300 mg of caffeine, which is equal to six to seven cups of tea
or up to two cups of coffee, in one sitting, you are okay.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.
Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube,
and if you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either
site. I announce new articles on
Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at
Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 My
apologies to Robin Williams and Genie, but I love the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.
2
42 mg of caffeine is the estimated dosage, for tea prepared by a standardized method,
as calculated by Dr. Ruxton and Ms. Hart for their study and 50 mg is the
dosage of caffeine per cup as calculated by the British Food Standard Agency
Ruxton,
Carrie H. and Hart, Valerie A., “Black tea is not significantly different from
water in the maintenance of normal hydration”, p 1 & 3
3 The
mugs of tea in this study were made by the researchers in a standardized manner;
by adding a tea bag and 7.8 ounces (230 ml) of freshly boiled water to a mug,
stirring the tea bag in the mug three times clockwise before letting it brew
for 40 seconds. After 40 seconds, the
tea was stirred three more times, before the bag was squeezed against the side
of the mug and removed. Just under an
ounce of milk (.7 of an ounce or 20 ml to be exact) was added to the tea,
resulting in a cup of tea that was just over 8 ounces (240 ml). So, four mugs of tea in a day equal just over
32 ounces (960 ml) and six mugs in a day equal just over 48 ounces (1,440 ml) of
liquid.
Sources
Ruxton, Carrie H. and
Hart, Valerie A., “Black tea is not significantly different from water in the
maintenance of normal hydration”, [British Journal of Nutrition, January 19, 2011],
p. 1-8
https://www.teaadvisorypanel.com/assets/uploads/files/news/Tea_ebulletin1_lg_comments_2_docrev_docfinja.doc, accessed 2/8/2020
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