There are two different definitions for specifying the mean effective ion charge Zeff in plasmas: a) from the Spizer electrical resistivity of the plasma and b) from bremsstrahlung radiation losses of the plasma. In this paper Zeff in the centre of tokamak ohmic discharges has been determined from information on sawtooth-relaxations of the steady state plasma, based on the analysis for the power balance of the plasma electrons in the plasma centre during the period of recovery after the sawtooth crashes. This method is found to supply reliable results for tokamak parameters. While its application requires some efforts in data analysis, it can provide a reliable determination of Zeff, independent of the information from bremsstrahlung radiation losses of the plasma.