Do you count tea and coffee as part of your water intake?

cocates

I have never counted (or considered) it part of my water intake. I read a post that suggested you could count it.

Please let me know why or why you don't count it. And yes, I've read the links on the myth of tea and coffee dehydrating and therefore shouldn't be counted.

Patttience

I didn't know there was any myth. If you think its dehydrating, then you wouldn't count it. If you think its not, then you would count it.

Personally i don't bother counting how much i drink. You've already got enough to worry about. Just drink enough to ensure that your pee is pale yellow. If its pure clear, then you are overdrinking and if its dark then you are dehydated. Its almost that simple.

earlnabby

I count it but aim for at least 64 oz of fluids above and beyond my coffee.

leggup

Why are you tracking your water? Will counting coffee/tea change your water count a lot? Like, 5-10 cups of tea/coffee? If so, you might want to reevaluate how much tea/coffee you drink.

I think it's a slippery slope. Would you count brothy soups? Watery fruits?

Drink ample water. If you feel dehydrated, drink more. Done.

47Jacqueline

I started logging my water recently, as well as focusing on hydrating more. I do log coffee, but only decaf. I also add flavoring to my water because a practical nurse friend of mine said there's no problem with that. I actually even count frozen fruit bars as a half cup.

The research shows that liquid is liquid. I do find that checking that my urine is very light is helpful to seeing if I'm getting enough fluid.

poppysierra

Count it - and as Patttience said keep an eye on wee colour. Don't forget to track milk etc too!

daviloreana

I don't ever count coffee towards water intake. Whether you're drinking coffee/tea or not doesn't change the fact that you need to be drinking enough straight-up water. However, make sure to log any milk you're adding; it's so many carbs!

katsiavac

Of course! Even jellies and broth. My elderly neighbour told me when they used to be thirsty they would have a cup of tea; to drink just plain water was not a common thing. Tea has minerals in it; it makes sense. They were all thin back then mostly, I think more active with life.

Milton71

I take my weight and divide by 2 (260 pounds/2 =130) 130oz of water I must consume in a 24 hour time frame. I do count Green Tea, but not my 1 coffee a day. And as strange as it sounds i monitor the color of my urine to make sure I am not dehydrated.

Kalikel

I count water as water. Everything else is something else, for me. If I were going to add in anything else as water, it would be tea and coffee. But that would be it. I log juice, milk, soups and other foods in the calories section.

I think the point of counting water is to encourage people to drink water, not just take in any fluid.

Some people count milk, juice, pop, soup, tomatoes, lettuce and even apples or carrots as water. If that works for them, it's great.

It's really a personal decision. It is your diary and you get to make the rules!

sheepotato

I like to log coffee and tea as snacks (especially if I add anything to them), and I track plain water.

a_stronger_me13

Food has water in it and most beverages are primarily water. These all contribute to your overall hydration. The arguments that caffeinated beverages are a diuretic is kind of silly as water itself is a diuretic, meaning it causes an increased passing of urine.

I just try to shoot for a few Nalgene bottles of water each day and while I don't log any non-caloric beverage, I do count my tea and my water towards my overall hydration when I think of trying to get adequate fluids. If you're active, probably drink a little more and if you're fairly sedentary, you can probably get by with a little less.

dedrallee

I wouldnt count tea and coffee. Water is water . coffees will dehydrate you with all the caffeine.

thingal12

The only reason you should be too focused on exactly how much water you're consuming is if you think you're retaining water (water weight). Is this an issue with you?

UpEarly

Yes... I do count tea and coffee. The dehydrating effect of caffeine is negligible (according to multiple peer-reviewed scientific studies) . I see no reason to force myself to drink extra water just so I can formally tally 64 ounces of plain water in my daily food diary. I like to be properly hydrated, but I'm not going to drink so much water that I have to pee every 90 minutes. That's just silly and doesn't provide any health benefits. In fact, when I used to force myself to drink 8-10 cups of water on top my other beverages, it gave me heartburn. The gastroenterologist told me to lay off the extra water and just drink when I was thirsty. Turned out, all the extra liquid was making my stomach contents too voluminous.

Some folks feel differently - I suppose it just boils down to a personal preference. :-)

Ready2Rock206

I don't track my water intake - but if I did of course I would count coffee and tea - I mean it is just water with flavor. Flavor doesn't make it not be water any more.

zyxst

I count water as water. Anything else I drink has calories so I count them in my food intake. If you want to count your tea/coffee with your water intake, go for it, but remember to log any caloric additions like milk, cream, sugar, etc.. Do whatever you want with your diary and water glass as long as it makes sense to you.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

I also take notice of my urine color to help me determine if I need more water. But I do not log water. I don't log diet soda (no calories and I no longer look at sodium), and I don't log usually coffee (too few calories to make a difference in the big picture unless I'm drinking a lot, like on road trips when I'm trying to maximize time and thus driving at night while doing/seeing stuff during the day).

A few weeks ago, I was out hunting/camping in the forest. I put my pack down in the wrong way at camp and the bite valve broke and started releasing water. I didn't notice until several minutes later when most of the water was already gone. It was a mostly full 3L reservoir and that was a problem since there wasn't a good water source without hiking close to 15 miles and it was getting dark out. So I woke up the next morning thirsty. My brother was with me and shared some of his water, but we decided to take a break mid to late morning and drive back to town. I only urinated once that morning and it was very dark yellow - not a good sign. I was parked 4 miles away, and hiked past my vehicle to a different part of the woods and then back before driving into town around lunch time to get some liquid.

stumblinthrulife

People are too obsessed with this water thing.

Drink enough fluids (of any kind) that your pee is a yellow to light straw color. If you feel thirsty, drink. It's that easy. People have been properly hydrating themselves for centuries without formulas and measuring cups.

If your pee is clear, you are drinking more than you really need and your body is just discharging it straight out again. It is possible to drink too much water, so take care.

If your pee is dark yellow, drink more.

If it's brown, you are severely dehydrated or may have liver disease. Drink more and if it doesn't resolve in a few hours, call a doctor.

If it's red or green, seek medical attention.

If it's blue or purple, you may be an alien.

From the Cleveland Clinic - http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2013/10/what-the-color-of-your-urine-says-about-you-infographic/

stumblinthrulife

dedrallee wrote: »

I wouldnt count tea and coffee. Water is water . coffees will dehydrate you with all the caffeine.

This has been thoroughly debunked many times. Yes, caffeine has a diuretic effect, but it's far outweighed by the hydrating effect of drinking 8 to 12 ounces of water with it.

You could survive perfectly well drinking nothing but coffee, though as with any extreme diet there would be ill effects other than dehydration.

ksolksol

If coffee dehydrated you more than it hydrated, I'd be dead by now.

I don't track water, but I would count coffee/tea if I did.

Former_chubby_momma

I do not, I track it separately because (at least according to mfp) my chai tea has about 5 calories per bag.

TNunraveler

I log water only. Water (approx. 72 oz./day) makes me feel so much better that when I'm only drinking coffee coffee, tea (decaf or otherwise), etc. Logging simply motivates me to drink more water. There's something about clicking that water glass icon.

Alisonzina

If you feel thirsty you are already more dehydrated than you should allow yourself to become. The best thing to do is drink fluids throughout the day and never feel thirsty again.(in a perfect world) Basically taking little sips and small glasses throughout instead of going two hours then chugging four cups at once.

Even nutritionist disagree over the whole tea and coffee as water argument. If you drink a variety of beverages throughout the day you will be fine. It's not really worth worrying about unless you are putting a lot of calories into it (cream/sugar)

Water content in food can affect you obviously you will feel less inclined to drink after eating a chicken breast (60% water) than something dry like toast or crackers but that's kind of common sense.

kimny72

If you are tracking water for health reasons, just go by how you feel and as has already been mentioned pee color. Everything you eat and drink technically contributes to your water intake.

If you are logging to motivate yourself, then just log whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. If you are already drinking a lot of beverages, but want to drink more plain water, then only log actual water. If you are drinking too many calories and want to motivate yourself to drink more zero calorie bev, then log water, unsweetened tea, black coffee, and diet soda. It's really up to you!

sheepotato

TNunraveler wrote: »

Logging simply motivates me to drink more water. There's something about clicking that water glass icon.

This! I don't even need to track my water intake because it's such a habit for me that I drink roughly the same amount everyday but I still like to log it because there is just something satisfying about watching the little cup icon overflow.

I might eat more protein if there was a little chicken to color in during the day.

TNunraveler

sheepotato wrote: »

TNunraveler wrote: »

Logging simply motivates me to drink more water. There's something about clicking that water glass icon.

I might eat more protein if there was a little chicken to color in during the day.

Love this! For me, if there was a broccoli floret to check off...

dubird

I never track my water intake. I can tell when I'm getting dehydrated and just drink more fluids. The problem with all your fluids being tea or soda or the like is that those contain other things your body might have trouble with. I mean, soda alone is a big source of calories and sugar you might not be aware of. Once I start tracking, I was surprised by how many of my calories I was drinking. So I swapped out for unsweet tea and G2, and that made no difference to my hydration levels, just my calorie levels. Really, any water-based beverage will hydrate you, just keep an eye on what else it does.

Tedebearduff

cocates wrote: »

I have never counted (or considered) it part of my water intake. I read a post that suggested you could count it.

Please let me know why or why you don't count it. And yes, I've read the links on the myth of tea and coffee dehydrating and therefore shouldn't be counted.

It's like everything people want to do as little as possible while counting as much as possible. What you should be doing is drinking 3 liters of water IMO, I really don't understand why this is so hard... 8 x 8 ounces of water is 1.9 liters that's a 1.5 liter bottle and another glass.... it's really not that hard to do.

dubird

Tedebearduff wrote: »

cocates wrote: »

I have never counted (or considered) it part of my water intake. I read a post that suggested you could count it.

Please let me know why or why you don't count it. And yes, I've read the links on the myth of tea and coffee dehydrating and therefore shouldn't be counted.

It's like everything people want to do as little as possible while counting as much as possible. What you should be doing is drinking 3 liters of water IMO, I really don't understand why this is so hard... 8 x 8 ounces of water is 1.9 liters that's a 1.5 liter bottle and another glass.... it's really not that hard to do.

Because, at least for me, that's getting into micromanagement territory. The more I have to measure and track, the less I'll actually do it. This is because I am lazy and I have other things I would rather do with my time. I know that it's not the best outlook for this site, but you know what? I does work for me, and that's what matters. If a more rigid tracking method works for you, go for it! If it doesn't, but what you're doing helps and is healthy, then don't worry about it.

disasterman

All the water you take in "counts" but I only log water as water. I don't count the water content of my food or other drinks mainly because it would be too much trouble. Logging separately allows me to be sure I get a baseline amount.