By now most of you tea lovers must surely be aware of the fact that tea is the second most popular beverage in the world (or at least this is what we’ve been told). At the top of this particular heap, of course, is good old-fashioned water.

Putting aside for now the fact that tea ain’t much without water and that a cup of tea is actually mostly composed of water, let’s take a look at another aspect of the relationship between these two substances – hydration. Tea and hydration is a topic we’ve covered before in these pages but it’s important enough that it merits another mention, especially in light of some news that was recently published in the British press.

As reported not so long ago in London’s Daily Mail, researcher Carrie Ruxton has uncovered further evidence that ties in with what we reported in our previous article. To summarize Ruxton’s findings, as reported in the Daily Mail article, “If you fancy a cup of tea on a hot summer’s day, have it. A cup of tea is going to give you the same hydration as a glass of water.”

Ruxton’s study looked at 21 men who were given either tea or warm water for periods of 12 hours at a time and then on different days each group’s beverage of choice was switched. Blood and water samples were collected and tested and researchers discovered that tea drinkers did not lose any more liquids, and perhaps even a bit less, than when they were drinking water.

As Ruxton pointed out, “It’s a common misconception that drinking tea can increase the risk of dehydration because of the caffeine content.” She concluded, “drinking moderate amounts of tea – four mugs a day – offered the same excellent hydration qualities as plain water.”

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