These Drinks Are Making You Dehydrated And You Didn't Even Know It

Staying hydrated is a big concern for people of all ages and backgrounds, and many studies and surveys have found that a large percentage of Americans don't drink enough water. Among them, a 2015 study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that more than half of U.S. children and adolescents aren't adequately hydrated. It doesn't take much dehydration for harmful effects to set in, either. As noted by the Cleveland Clinic, your body's water levels dropping by as little as 1.5% can be enough to cause symptoms such as headaches, tiredness, mental confusion, and even heat stroke.

So it's time to reach for your favorite beverage, right? Well, maybe not. As it turns out, some types of drinks lead to dehydration without you even knowing it. And according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2009 to 2012, up to 70% of an adult's total water intake comes from liquids and foods other than plain water (via CDC). That means a lot of opportunities for a seemingly refreshing drink to be drying up your body's fuel tank.

Let's look at some of the drinks that cause dehydration and why they might be draining your moisture. Whether you've just put in a heavy workout, have been walking around town on a hot summer day, or are relaxing by a winter fire, knowing what beverages to think twice about will help you feel great both now and later.

Since the first U.S. soda pop was created in 1866 — Vernon's Ginger Ale, according to RFD TV — Americans have loved their soft drinks. Although consumption has trended downward somewhat in recent years, the average adult still drinks nearly 39 gallons a year as of 2018 (via Statista).

And all that pop might be dehydrating you. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that rehydrating with soft drinks and similar beverages made dehydration worse, even if total fluid intake was higher. It also increased the risk of sudden renal injury, such as kidney damage.

The main reason soda can cause dehydration appears to be the sugar. The USDA Food Central database notes the average cola contains 39 grams of sugar per 12-ounce can — this equates to 65 grams for a 20-ounce bottle. Livestrong notes that many sodas also contain caffeine, which can worsen the effects when consumed in large amounts — especially if you live in an area that's hot and dry.

Furthermore, the Cleveland Clinic lists craving sugar as a sign of dehydration. This can lead to drinking more soda and making your hydration issues even worse. One silver lining is that it appears diet soda does not have the same dehydrating effects. Still, you should consume artificially sweetened soda in moderation because of its other potential health risks.

Pumping yourself up now could lead to dehydration later. Energy drinks, along with their even higher-intensity cousin the pre-workout, have been linked to dehydration by experts. A scientific review published in the International Journal of Health Sciences notes the high levels of caffeine found in energy drinks cause an increase in urine production, meaning more water is pulled out of your system.

The review also notes this caffeine intake — 70 to 100 milligrams per 8 ounces in most energy drinks, according to MedlinePlus — leads to losing more sodium through urine, which hurts the body's ability to retain water. Not only that, but many energy drinks contain insane amounts of sugar, such as the 63 grams in one can of Rockstar Original (via Nutritionix). The resulting high blood sugar levels further worsen dehydration by causing your body to urinate more and shift water out of cells, per Medical News Today.

These drinks are rapidly rising in popularity, making dehydration from energy drinks an even bigger concern. Statista reports the drink's sales in the U.S. rose every year from 2011 to 2021 with a 12.6% increase in 2021. And we haven't even mentioned the big irony. As noted by the Mayo Clinic, one of the major dehydration symptoms is fatigue — the exact opposite of why you're having an energy drink. So make sure that trying to get a jolt isn't tiring you out instead.

When discussing dehydration and alcohol, it would be easy to lump wine and liquor in the same category as beer. After all, they both contain alcohol. However, wine, liquor, and spirits are worth discussing separately because their alcohol concentration is so much higher than beer. While the typical U.S. beer is about 5% alcohol by volume (ABV), wine is about 12% alcohol and distilled spirits are around 40% ABV.

What does this mean? As Next Health explains, the higher percentage of alcohol makes these harder drinks more dehydrating since you don't need to imbibe as much to get the same effect. Using the rules of thumb set by Healthline, a shot of liquor or small glass of wine has about the same impact on slowing antidiuretic hormone production and needing to flush out waste products as a glass of beer — but with less fluid intake to help offset these factors.

Considering wine or spirits are the drinks of choice for many U.S. adults according to a 2021 Gallup poll, many people need to be mindful of their effects on hydration. The Mayo Clinic recommends slowing consumption, having water between drinks, and eating food with your alcoholic beverage to help prevent hangovers or other dehydration symptoms.

Ah, hot chocolate. It's a classic, wintertime comfort beverage — but you may be experiencing dehydration from your hot cocoa. According to My Food Data, a standard 8-ounce cup of a hot chocolate drink contains about 33 grams of sugar. That's almost 27% more sugar per ounce than soda based on info from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As previously mentioned, all that sweetness causes dehydration.

Drinking hot cocoa can also lead to the same dehydration cycle as soda, especially if you're already below optimum hydration levels. Everyday Health reminds us that one of the common dehydration symptoms is a craving for sugar and sweets. And as Livestrong notes, sweet things make you thirsty because your body wants fluids to balance out the blood sugar spike. But this can lead to drinking even more of the sugary beverage that helped dehydrate you in the first place.

Looking for good news? We do have some. While cocoa does contain some caffeine — about 12 milligrams per serving — it is not considered a high enough amount to contribute to dehydration. And since people typically drink hot chocolate in cooler weather, you won't need to worry about summer heat removing further moisture from your body. Still, you should consume hot cocoa in moderation and balance it out with water or other non-sugary drinks.

Just as drinking tea by itself does not affect hydration, water and lemon juice by themselves won't cause you to dry out. In fact, a glass of lemon water has many health benefits — hydration being one of them.

But making lemonade adds a third ingredient: lots of sugar. A medium Chick-Fil-A lemonade contains 55 grams of the stuff, while the same size at Sonic has a whopping 64 grams. Like other sugary drinks, lemonade causes dehydration via both decreased cell volume due to higher blood sugar and more frequent urination (via Medical News Today). As Beyond Type 1 points out, the resulting dehydration can also cause blood sugar spikes since the existing sugar in your system is more concentrated, compounding the effects.

It's all enough to cancel out many of the benefits of lemon water, such as the presence of pectin, which normally helps balance out blood sugar. To enjoy a citrusy taste while remaining hydrated, add fruit to your water, or try raw honey, fresh ginger, or mint sprigs.

You may be wondering how you can get dehydrated from protein shakes. After all, they usually don't contain caffeine or alcohol. But as Livestrong notes, while protein has many benefits for post-workout recovery and overall health, you do need to watch out for dehydration.

Most notably, a study by the UConn Department of Nutritional Sciences indicates a high-protein diet is correlated to getting dehydrated (via the University of Connecticut Advance). Notably, tests indicated that high protein consumption caused abnormal levels of blood urea nitrogen, a toxic waste product that is a measure of kidney function. A 2015 scientific review by Advances in Nutrition expanded on this, noting that increased nitrogen levels cause the body to produce more urine to flush everything out.

While research is still being conducted, the safest thing is to pair a protein shake with other fluids. Research in Amino Acids found that whey protein isolate shakes didn't affect post-workout if the person drank 150% of the fluid volume they lost through sweat. The takeaway: Sip lots of water to go with your shake.