Does Green Tea Have Electrolytes?

Green tea has electrolytes, but not many. It’s a useful drink to sip through the day, but it’s not a stand-in for a sports drink or an oral rehydration solution.

What are electrolytes?

MedlinePlus defines electrolytes as minerals that carry an electrical charge when dissolved in water or body fluids. The main ones are sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate and phosphate. Among their jobs, sodium helps control body fluid, and potassium supports your cells, heart and muscles.

How much is in a cup of green tea?

USDA’s nutrient database lists brewed green tea at 8 mg of potassium per 100 g, based on 12 samples, plus about 1 mg each of sodium and magnesium and no measurable calcium. One 8 oz cup weighs 245 g in that dataset, so a cup has about 20 mg of potassium and only a couple of milligrams of sodium and magnesium.

What did a lab study of loose teas find?

A 2021 study from Poland tested 33 plain teas bought at a shop. The researchers steeped 2 g of leaves in 100 mL of boiling deionized water for 15 minutes, then measured the minerals. Here are the averages for each type, converted to milligrams per liter:

Tea type	Potassium	Magnesium	Calcium	Sodium
Green	294	18.9	1.92	0.64
Black	304	16.6	1.50	0.75
White	275	11.3	0.79	4.68
Yellow	299	17.5	1.41	0.74
Oolong	168	5.00	4.33	0.84
Pu-erh	254	10.0	2.54	2.59

A few things stand out:

• Potassium is the main electrolyte in tea. Across all the teas it ranged from about 155 to 455 mg per liter. Green tea averaged 294.
• Sodium is close to zero. Across all 33 teas it ranged from 0.04 to about 7 mg per liter.
• Individual teas vary a lot. The authors say the origin of the leaves and the processing method largely decide the mineral levels.

That brew used 2 g of leaf in only 100 mL of water and steeped for 15 minutes, which is much stronger than a usual cup. Its green tea average works out to about 29 mg of potassium per 100 mL, more than three times the USDA figure for brewed green tea. So use the USDA number, about 20 mg per cup, for a normal mug.

Is tea a good source of electrolytes?

The authors concluded that tea infusions are a fairly adequate but only supplementary source of potassium and magnesium. Using their strong brew, they calculated that a full liter of most teas would supply about 10% of the 3,500 mg daily potassium reference they used. For green tea, they put it at about 8%. At the USDA figure, a normal cup gives well under 1% of that reference.

The study also used deionized water, so the minerals in your own tap water aren’t part of those numbers.

Does green tea hydrate you?

In a 2016 trial, 72 men who were well hydrated and fasted drank 1 L of different beverages. Over the next 4 hours, their urine output after hot tea wasn’t different from after water. An oral rehydration solution and milk left them with less urine, meaning they held onto more fluid.

The trial’s abstract doesn’t say which kind of tea was used, and it tested only men in a short window. It supports tea hydrating about as well as water in healthy, well-hydrated men. It doesn’t show tea replaces electrolytes after heavy fluid loss.

When should you not rely on tea?

If you’ve been vomiting, have diarrhea or are dehydrated, tea is a weak electrolyte source because of its tiny sodium content. MedlinePlus notes that dehydration is one cause of electrolyte imbalance and that abnormal levels can signal a serious problem, so talk to a health care provider if you’re worried.

For everyday drinking, green tea is fine. People also pair it with other drinks, such as in green tea and coconut water. If you want to know what else is in the leaf, see tannins in green tea. More is in our green tea health guides.