Do you guys count black coffee as part of your daily water intake?

Options
2

Replies

  • rachhan90x
    rachhan90x Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    No I don't
  • RedSierra
    RedSierra Posts: 253 Member
    edited August 2017
    Options
    noirelb wrote: »
    RedSierra wrote: »
    I went to the hospital a month ago because I had a severe reaction to caffeine. They talked to me about drinking enough water and said coffee and water are not the same as far as hydrating yourself.

    This is very true! I do count my coffee as an added 10 oz of water BUT I also do need to drink another cup of water due to my coffee intake since the caffeine dehydrates me pretty badly. It is still mostly water but it's like taking 10 oz of water with a caffeine pill. The pill itself could dehydrate you if you are susceptible of that, and then you will simply drink more water.

    I had a severe reaction to caffeine and went to the hospital because my blood pressure was close to 200/100 (normal is 120/80). Water and caffeinated drinks act differently. Caffeine constricts your blood vessels, which makes your blood pressure go up temporarily. Water doesn't do that. I was told water is one of the most beneficial things you can drink.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    Options
    I don't count water or anything else...I just keep myself hydrated.
  • RedSierra
    RedSierra Posts: 253 Member
    Options
    OliveGirl128 wrote: »
    RedSierra wrote: »
    I went to the hospital a month ago because I had a severe reaction to caffeine. They talked to me about drinking enough water and said coffee and water are not the same as far as hydrating yourself.

    How much caffeine were you on when you had your reaction? Did you consume caffeine regularly before the event? Both my husband and I have a higher intake of caffeine, but once he added a monster type drink to his routine, which added a big caffeine load that he wasn't used to. Ended up triggering a rare form of migraine that mimicked a stroke. He ended up in the ER for 2 CT scans, an EKG etc and he was perfectly fine-they pinned it down to the excess caffeine. But we're talking a very large amount, in a short amount of time (he had the monster drink right after a mountain dew and a red bull-pulling an all nighter work thing). He went back to his regular intake and has never had another episode. They never brought up the water/hydrating thing at the hospital though-he had a reaction to consuming a very large amount of caffeine in a short amount of time, and his body was not adapted to the dosage.

    OP-diuretic thing is about caffeine and not coffee specifically. And caffeine does not become a diuretic until much higher dosages, 500mg+, which is like 6 cups or more of coffee. At that point it may send you to the bathroom a bit more, but if you're drinking that much coffee, or any other liquid, in a short period of time, you're already going to be heading there anyways :p

    I had a similar experience to your husband, but it was just my blood pressure and not a migraine or stroke or heart issue -- they ran all kinds of tests on me too. It happened to me twice in 10 days, and without rehashing the whole thing, yes, caffeine was definitely the reason.

    I did regularly drink coffee, but on those two occasions I had a very large amount. I also think I've become sensitive to it. I love coffee, but I don't love what happened to me -- it was terrifying -- so I cut caffeine from my diet (and that includes decaf) and nothing else has happened. I never, never want to go through that again.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    Options
    Some people don't tolerate caffeine well but that's the exception, rather than the norm.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    My mum had a colonoscopy on Friday before which she had to drink alot of water. The doctor specified that coffee and tea does not count.

    It was also stated in her aftercare sheet. It said to drink plenty of water, and again, coffee and tea does not count toward her daily water goal.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,150 Member
    Options
    I don't keep track of my daily liquid intake (water or coffee). But I only drink water with my meals and in between meals, and two cups of coffee a day.
  • Krby13
    Krby13 Posts: 63 Member
    Options
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    My mum had a colonoscopy on Friday before which she had to drink alot of water. The doctor specified that coffee and tea does not count.

    It was also stated in her aftercare sheet. It said to drink plenty of water, and again, coffee and tea does not count toward her daily water goal.

    I had to take medication where I was directed to drink a large glass of water with it. I told my doctor that I take it but usually with diet pop, he said "not the same thing. You need to drink it with water"
  • joinn68
    joinn68 Posts: 480 Member
    edited August 2017
    Options
    Krby13 wrote: »
    RedSierra wrote: »
    I went to the hospital a month ago because I had a severe reaction to caffeine. They talked to me about drinking enough water and said coffee and water are not the same as far as hydrating yourself.

    Same here. I've never heard a doctor say that drinking pop (diet or otherwise) or sugary drinks has the same benefits as drinking water. I'm kinda surprised how many people on here that think if a drink has water as its base that it's just as good as drinking straight water. And I'm sure they will come back with stats to prove their reasoning for thinking that, but I'm just saying I've never had a doctor agree with the amount of diet soda I drink and my lack of water intake.

    Doctors are concerned with overall effect on health and with nutritional value of diet sodas.

    People here are responding strickly from a hydration point of view.
  • lalepepper
    lalepepper Posts: 447 Member
    Options
    In the past I've counted any drinks - I will log anything caloric, but don't generally bother logging black coffee separately. Black is the only way I drink my coffee. I don't often log my water/liquid these days because I know I am taking in plenty.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    Options
    Caffeine does not dehydrate you to any measurable amount. I drink 10+ cups a day and little else. If coffee had the effect half of you are saying, I would have been hospitalized countless times for dehydration over the years and yet have never been.

    And by little else, I mean I might drink a bottle of water a day if I feel like it. Once a week I may have a zero vitamin water. But the 10 cups is every single day.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    capaul42 wrote: »
    Caffeine does not dehydrate you to any measurable amount. I drink 10+ cups a day and little else. If coffee had the effect half of you are saying, I would have been hospitalized countless times for dehydration over the years and yet have never been.

    And by little else, I mean I might drink a bottle of water a day if I feel like it. Once a week I may have a zero vitamin water. But the 10 cups is every single day.

    I know it doesn't make sense that adding a spoon of coffee/ tea bag to a cup of water suddenly negates that water, but in my experience it makes a difference to me, in a few different aspects that i mentioned above.

    I could totally drink just tea (with milk) all day long and never bother with water, especially now that it's cold and wintery here. But the lack of proper bowel movements/water retention etc etc forces me to make sure i also drink plenty of water alongside the caffeinated drinks.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Options
    I consider it hydrating enough. I don't count my "water" intake. If my pee is light or clear, I'm good. If it's not, I drink some more water-based drink.
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    Options
    10 cups of coffee in a day?? Wow.
    An average 8 oz of Starbucks coffee has 180 mg caffeine, 12 oz. has 260 mg. Some other brands have less.
    I rarely drink coffee anymore--I love it but my digestion is much better--I use to drink a cup of decaf daily. I switched to herb tea. If I have an occasional decaf I do not log it as water. I do log herb tea and I count my water, because I find that when I hydrate well, I lose more weight and also I have no stiffness in my leg muscles. (I'm 51--young people don't usually have to worry about that).

    FWIW most of the sites I've looked at say that the caffeine doesn't have much affect on dehydration.

Categories