Debate: Does Tea and Coffee count towards your water intake?

stevepound

I've done a bit of research into whether or not Normal Tea and Coffee count towards your daily intake of water. We all know that you should take in 8 cups of water each day, and I'm sure many of you drink your fair share of Tea and Coffee throughout the day at work etc to keep on the ball.

After everything I've looked at, there seems to be a 50/50 divide on if these 2 popular drinks count towards your water intake.

The universal argument for this is:

Even though your Tea and Coffee contain milk, sugar and the substance itself, it still has to contain the cup of water to mix it in, therefore it would count towards your daily intake of water.


The universal argument against this is:

Normal Tea and Coffee both contain Caffeine, which is a dehydrator, this in effect counts negatively towards your water intake, as it contributes to moving water out the system, meaning you then have to drink even more water to make up for the loss.



Does anyone have anything that can strengthen either side of this debate?

vickiele1

There has been some debate about how much water one should drink each day, and whether or not beverages like coffee and tea count towards that amount. As most of us know, coffee and tea contain caffeine, which is a diuretic, and diuretics do the opposite of hydrating you.


A cup of coffee has about 200mg of caffeine. A cup of tea has quite a bit less (40-100mg), depending on the strength of the tea. However, the general consensus as of late is that, despite the caffeine, these beverages still count towards your fluid intake for the day. The reason is that, although caffeine is a diuretic, the amount in a strong cup of coffee or tea is simply not enough to dehydrate, and there will still be a net gain of fluid.


Although coffee and tea may be equal in their hydration factor, tea still gets the upper hand for your health. A recent sutdy in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that drinking tea is not only as good as drinking water, but possibly better, as it may carry extra health benefits in protecting against heart disease and some cancers.


The beneficial ingredients in tea are flavinoids, polyphenol antioxidants that are found in many plants (including tea leaves) that protect against oxidative cell damage. Other benefits were found to be bone strengthening and protection against tooth plaque, due to the flouride content. Researchers from this study recommend 3-4 cups of tea per day to help reduce the risk of heart attack.


One thing not mentioned in this article is the difference between types of tea. Different teas have different amounts of processing and, therefore, have different degrees of health benefits, with green tea found to be the strongest. More on that in another post...


*This particular study was funded by the Tea Council, which usually leaves me extremely skeptical of a study's results. However, this is not new evidence nor is it the first time these findings have been reported.*

http://www.factorfictionnutritionblog.com/2009/03/tea-and-coffee-vs-water.html

kbailey374

Thanks! was just doing my diary and wanted to know.

yarwell

It would be miraculous if the alleged diuretic effect of a cup of tea or coffee or a can of diet soda happened to precisely match and thereby cancel out the water content of said item, don't you think ? So the idea of not counting water in food and other drinks dies there for me. About half the water in some diets comes from the food you eat.

I can add to that countless studies of hydration with different agents and recommendations of health bodies, but you'll have seen them already. They can't even agree on what measure of "hydration" to use to determine if a given dose of liquid achieves it.

A recent BBC Panorama documentary looked at sports drinks and one expert in sports nutrition said that dehydration is a normal metabolic state and not a disease.

caraiselite

if its liquid, then i count it.

krystyleee

This is actually very interesting. I drink either tea or coffee everyday and I have never thought about counting either one as water. I can see how tea can be counted moreso as water that coffee, but yeah--I've never thought of that. I would love to see more responses in this thread. I still don't know if I would count them, although if I did it wouldn't definitely help me out!

reojames

I had a health instructor in college that taught us this:

Once you add ANYTHING to water, it stops being water. Count only H20 as water. Coffee and tea (which I love and drink a lot of) should not be included in your water intake goals. At least that's my belief....

MassiveDelta

if its liquid, then i count it.

That would be a bad plan.


Taking shortcuts in anything that is hard or worth doing is a bad decision just drink the water people.

47Jacqueline

I count herbal tea only, as water - nothing with caffeine in it and especially not coffee with milk

wvu2uall

I typically count coffee towards my intake, but I generally drink a ton of water aside from coffee as well. So, I usually make my "goal" even without the coffee.

mcarter99

It would be miraculous if the alleged diuretic effect of a cup of tea or coffee or a can of diet soda happened to precisely match and thereby cancel out the water content of said item, don't you think ? So the idea of not counting water in food and other drinks dies there for me. About half the water in some diets comes from the food you eat.

There are a lot of people that never drink any water, just tea, coffee or soda. They would just dry up and blow away if the diuretic effect cancelled out the water.

Counting your water glasses is something they'll be laughing at us for 100 years from now. Or 20.

yecatsml

I had a health instructor in college that taught us this:

Once you add ANYTHING to water, it stops being water. Count only H20 as water. Coffee and tea (which I love and drink a lot of) should not be included in your water intake goals. At least that's my belief....

I go by the same theory. For me, water is just that - water. Not Mio, Crystal light or tea/coffee (iced or hot).

bigdon2823

I drink decaffeinated tea so yes I count it as water.

MtnKat

I only include my actual plain water in my water count.

I do put coffee and tea in my regular journal though.

ElaineDoherty40

I don't count Tea and coffee as my water intake, not sure why though.. it would make life easier if i did and totally lead to less toilet breaks with all the fluids inside me

KristysLosing

I had a health instructor in college that taught us this:

Once you add ANYTHING to water, it stops being water. Count only H20 as water. Coffee and tea (which I love and drink a lot of) should not be included in your water intake goals. At least that's my belief....

I go by the same theory. For me, water is just that - water. Not Mio, Crystal light or tea/coffee (iced or hot).

That's a bummer. I drink usually 2L of water every day, but I put crystal light in it. It keeps me from drinking soda and I drink a lot more since I've flavored it. I just can't drink that much plain water.

vim_n_vigor

I had a health instructor in college that taught us this:

Once you add ANYTHING to water, it stops being water. Count only H20 as water. Coffee and tea (which I love and drink a lot of) should not be included in your water intake goals. At least that's my belief....

I dare you to drink a glass of pure H2O

jabarih

Because I don't like plain water, I would say that it should count towards your daily water intake. Not only that but water from veggies and other liquids that have water in it should be counted as your water intake. But I'm so confused by this arguement as well, that I have started to up my 'plain' water intake. I haven't seen much difference. Just that plain water has no cals and it has helped me cut down on my carb intake.

EmergencyGraphics

Well if the argument is that tea and coffee contain at least a cup of water and should be counted as your daily intake; then you should count things like beer as well because its just barley, hops and water.

UnleashingLovely

Only count half! It's not gonna kill you to drink some more water. Lots of water=goood.

Genem30

I count tea usually, because I tend to drink a lot of tea.

chevy88grl

For me, I only count actual water towards my water intake for the day. If other people want to count coffee, tea, soda, juice, etc that is their choice, but my daily water goal is 60oz (this is the amt in which I feel best, my skin looks best, etc) and I only count actual water towards it.


To each their own, I say. And who cares what someone else chooses?

liss125

I tend to think it doesn't count. From personal experience anyway. I have never enjoyed an iced tea or coffee and felt hydrated afterwards.

funkyspunky872

Yes. All water-based liquids should count including sodas and flavored waters. Do not give me this complete BULL**** about dehydrators. The recommended 8 glasses of day counts water intake that you get from food substances, so why shouldn't a bottle of diet coke? I still like to shoot for 8-12 glasses of plain water though throughout the day no matter what else I've had to drink. That's a personal preference and challenge, because I'm absolutely horrible at remembering to drink. (I've been hospitalized several times for not drinking for days and then being severely dehydrated.) If I'm having a bad day at it, then hell yes I'm at least proud that I got ANY form of liquid in.

eduardo_d

I definitely don't consider it part of my water consumption. Another question: I drink my coffee black most days and don't log it because it has no nutritional/caloric value. Do other people who drink just black coffee log it? If so, why?

taiyola

I did quite a bit of research about this. I recently had a spat with my manager (I sing) about caffeine. He would preach to me not to drink it because it was dehydrating. After showing him many studies by doctors and universities, he had his first cup of coffee yesterday

Caffeine is a diuretic - as is water. It doesn't dehydrate you unless you drink a LOT of it. That's basically it.

I count all fluids that go in to my body. I pretty much never drink plain water. I always add no-added-sugar squash to water, and also drink 2 cups of coffee and a tea a day, as well as sometimes some fruit juice. I aim for 8-12 glasses of fluids a day.

Elukiee

I drink a TON of tea during the day.
Brekkie, I have one small pot of orange pekoe or yorkshire tea. Through out the day I'll have a pot of assam/genmaicha green tea/darjeerling and a variety of others.
Another wonderful tea I drink is corn tea to help maintain health and weight loss. It also (apparently) helps with blood pressure and has many health benefits

I haven't been counting the tea I drink as water intake though. It does keep me uber hydrated through out the day, but I still try to drink pure H20 during the day too. Especially during and after workouts.
I keep a 2L water bottle filled up and try to drink 1x a day, or 2! It's tough xD

I do think of tea as water intake imo, but I only count the "pure" water I drink through the day. Weird.
Just one of those grey areas I guess =P

TeachTheGirl

I don't consider tea or coffee in my daily water totals. I log them anyway because of the calories, but my water intake is simply water. As long as I'm hitting my water totals, anything else I drink is just an aside.

taiyola

There has been some debate about how much water one should drink each day, and whether or not beverages like coffee and tea count towards that amount. As most of us know, coffee and tea contain caffeine, which is a diuretic, and diuretics do the opposite of hydrating you.


A cup of coffee has about 200mg of caffeine. A cup of tea has quite a bit less (40-100mg), depending on the strength of the tea. However, the general consensus as of late is that, despite the caffeine, these beverages still count towards your fluid intake for the day. The reason is that, although caffeine is a diuretic, the amount in a strong cup of coffee or tea is simply not enough to dehydrate, and there will still be a net gain of fluid.


Although coffee and tea may be equal in their hydration factor, tea still gets the upper hand for your health. A recent sutdy in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that drinking tea is not only as good as drinking water, but possibly better, as it may carry extra health benefits in protecting against heart disease and some cancers.


The beneficial ingredients in tea are flavinoids, polyphenol antioxidants that are found in many plants (including tea leaves) that protect against oxidative cell damage. Other benefits were found to be bone strengthening and protection against tooth plaque, due to the flouride content. Researchers from this study recommend 3-4 cups of tea per day to help reduce the risk of heart attack.


One thing not mentioned in this article is the difference between types of tea. Different teas have different amounts of processing and, therefore, have different degrees of health benefits, with green tea found to be the strongest. More on that in another post...


*This particular study was funded by the Tea Council, which usually leaves me extremely skeptical of a study's results. However, this is not new evidence nor is it the first time these findings have been reported.*

http://www.factorfictionnutritionblog.com/2009/03/tea-and-coffee-vs-water.html

Great post. The amount of people who hear a myth and just believe it on face value is amusing.

liss125

Yes. All water-based liquids should count including sodas and flavored waters. Do not give me this complete BULL**** about dehydrators. The recommended 8 glasses of day counts water intake that you get from food substances, so why shouldn't a bottle of diet coke? I still like to shoot for 8-12 glasses of plain water though throughout the day no matter what else I've had to drink. That's a personal preference and challenge, because I'm absolutely horrible at remembering to drink. (I've been hospitalized several times for not drinking for days and then being severely dehydrated.) If I'm having a bad day at it, then hell yes I'm at least proud that I got ANY form of liquid in.

When I was young, I drank the equivalent of 4-5 cans of diet coke a day, maybe only a couple glasses of water. I couldn't figure out why my sides ached all the time. My mom pointed out that I was probably dehydrated and my kidneys were rebelling. I tend to think she was right, as I cut back significantly and no more side aches. Of course I drank waaaay too much, but still, be careful Also, when my brother had kidney stones, the doctor told him to drink two glasses of water for every glass of soda. If you're drinking 8-12 glasses of water a day, sounds like you're doing that anyway.

dayone987

A Mayo Clinic study showed the diuretic effect of coffee was minmal and that the magical 8 cups of water is a myth; more like 8 cups average of fluid needed. Fluid can be derived from food any pretty much anything liquid except maybe alcohol. Likes others have said, if this wasn't rue many of us would be dead from dehydration a long time ago. The human body is capable of extracting H2O from anything that contains H20 through the GI system.