Is Coffee a Diuretic?

by Editorial Staff | Updated on February 16th, 2025

Coffee, which contains caffeine, the main ingredient in coffee, is a diuretic chemical that may cause more frequent urination.

How coffee works

COFFEE is a drug. The drug is “any substance that causes changes in the organism’s body and mind when consumed.” Some people don’t even know that they are innocently ingesting drugs when they sip brewed coffee or whatever coffee drink. We had always known coffee plainly as a healthy and desirable beverage.

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But the truth is that caffeine- like nicotine and alcohol- is categorized as a recreational drug because it is mainly used for pleasure rather than medicinal purposes”; this is why coffee is more popular as a trigger for the happiness-giving dopamine than as a source of caffeine.

Caffeine passes from your stomach into your circulation and liver, where it is utilized to cause metabolic and biochemical changes that increase energy and other well-known caffeine effects.

Caffeine affects your kidneys as well.

Caffeine induces diuresis, generally known as increased urination, according to research. Urine is produced by your body to eliminate waste and maintain fluid levels. Caffeine causes you to pee more often, putting your fluid and electrolyte levels out of whack.

Caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, tea, energy drinks, and sodas, may hasten dehydration by increasing urine and encouraging fluid loss.

Is coffee bad for your kidneys?

Caffeine may also harm your kidneys, which may be found in coffee, tea, soda, and meals. Caffeine is a stimulant that may produce increased blood flow, blood pressure, and renal stress. Caffeine abuse has also been connected to kidney stones.

Does coffee make you retain water?

Have you ever experienced wanting to urinate again after relieving yourself a while following a coffee-drinking spree? The accumulated caffeine you get from coffee is the likely culprit. Caffeine “is a substance that tends to increase the flow of urine, which causes the body to get rid of excess water.” You may regularly enjoy a few cups of your favorite coffee, but you may not need to urinate. So it stands to reason that you gain some tolerance to caffeine if you are a regular coffee drinker.

Do I need to drink more water if I drink coffee?

Your recommended water intake includes all sources – drinking water, sports drinks, and fruits and coffee provide water. But, they also contain caffeine, which can make you lose more water when you pee. Most healthy people can safely drink about 2 to 4 8-ounce cups of coffee each day.

Can you count coffee as water intake?

You can count coffee in your daily water intake. Many believed they were dehydrating, but that myth has been debunked. The diuretic effect does not offset hydration.

Love coffee but worried about dehydration? Caffeine is a mild diuretic, meaning it can slightly reduce hydration levels. The Coffee & Hydration Balance Calculator helps you find out how much water you need to stay properly hydrated while still enjoying your daily brew.

Coffee & Hydration Balance Calculator

Daily Coffee Intake (cups): Your Weight (lbs): Activity Level:

Is coffee a diuretic or antidiuretic?

Caffeine is a relatively weak diuretic because the body has an “anti-diuretic hormone that works with the hormone aldosterone, which stimulates active sodium reabsorption (and water as a result). As a result, caffeine takes as much as 360 milligrams to deliver the diuretic effect.

The usual 8-ounce cup, coffee-depending on whether the brew is regular or strong’- would contain 95 to 200 milligrams of caffeine”. This means that you’ll have to drink 2 cups of strong coffee to experience coffee’s diuretic effect. However, it’s not difficult to prevent water loss to urine by drinking sufficient plain water and preventing potential dehydration.

Caffeine increases urine flow “primarily because it increases blood pressure within the kidney’s glomerular capillaries- which increases filtration, resulting in more urine flow.” To understand how urine flows, you may view how the kidney functions on YouTube:

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/1NtPjzm1-74″]

Here you can visualize how and confirm that the kidney’s 3 fundamental functions- filtration, reabsorption, and secretion- govern the urination process.

“In the filtration process, the kidney’s functional units collect toxic cells, proteins, and molecules from the blood and convert these to urine. Reabsorption is when solutes and water are put back into the bloodstream. Secretion is when toxic substances and drugs are secreted to the tubular lumen.

This formula explains how much urine is produced:

Urinary Excretion/Urination Rate = Filtration Rate – Re-absorption Rate + Secretion Rate

You can see that the by-products of metabolism and bodily wastes minus substances returned for reuse plus the toxic substances secreted into the tubular lumen produce the approximately 800-2,000 milliliters (ML) of urine you eliminate daily.

Therefore, if caffeine is known to reduce filtration- which increases urine flow and potentially causes dehydration- why drink coffee?

Is coffee a strong diuretic?

Caffeine is a diuretic chemical that may cause more frequent urination. However, it takes a substantial volume of brewed coffee, such as 5 cups or more, to have a substantial dehydrating impact.

Caffeine is a mild diuretic.

There is more worry than danger in possibly drinking more coffee than you might need to take; there is a remote possibility of getting dehydrated from drinking excessive coffee. However, the worry would be negligible compared to the good mood or euphoria that the “neurotransmitter dopamine” in your brew, or instant, special, ordinary, plain, grass-fed, yogurt-enriched, milky, chocolaty, or any coffee is certain to deliver to you each morning every day.

How long is coffee a diuretic?

You may also urinate more due to the liquid volume consumed and caffeine’s modest diuretic impact. The remaining half of the caffeine you ingest might keep you up for longer than 5 hours. Caffeine sensitivity may cause symptoms to last for many hours or even a few days the following use.

How do you use coffee as a diuretic?

Suppose you’re planning to lose some water weight for whatever reason. Drinking one to two cups of coffee daily may function as a diuretic, allowing you to shed water weight in the short term. You may, however, develop a tolerance to coffee’s diuretic characteristics and not have any side effects.

Top natural diuretics

Here are the top 8 natural diuretics

Coffee
Dandelion Extract.
Horsetail.
Parsley.
Hibiscus.
Caraway.
Green and Black Tea.
Nigella Sativa.

Conclusion

If you’re worried you might get dehydrated from drinking coffee, take only as much as your body can tolerate or switch to decaffeinated coffee. Then, read our article on coffee health benefits.

Editorial Staff

The editorial staff at Crazy Coffee Crave is a team of coffee enthusiasts & Baristas who enjoy the one thing we all think about as soon as we get up in the morning. Trusted by thousands of readers worldwide.