Does my morning coffee count

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Replies

  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    I say no, Coffee can dehydrate just as sodas can. To me water is water.
    Which is to say, negligibly.

    Assuming arguendo that it dehydrates at all... and assuming this (admittedly false) dichotomy for the purposes of discussion:
    Which is more dehydrating in the long run, drinking a couple of gallons of tea and diet soda, or drinking nothing at all?

    Because I ain't drinking plain water. Maybe two cups a day.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    In a hospital setting input and output of all beverages is recorded.

    As for calories that's a different issue. In hospital we are not measuring calories. Reckon this topic could go on forever ;)
    But what do calories have to do with the price of tea in China, pardon the pun?

    If they slap the label 'diet' on the tea and promote it as a cleanse the price goes up and stock holders make more money?
    Probably, but cleanses are ridiculous too, as it sounds like you're already aware.
  • rayr1964
    rayr1964 Posts: 1 Member
    i don't think it makes a diffrence either way. If you drink enough water throughout the day, don't count it.
    If you need a little mental boost of reaching your water goal, then count it. It is a water based drink afterall.
    The choice ultimately remains yours. Continued success to you.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    I don't count it because I count calories, and anything under 10 calories I'm not going to bother keeping track of. If you're counting carbs, you may want to record it.

    A cup of coffee is 1-2 calories, or with splenda it's 3-4. Not really worth the mental effort to estimate.

    I wouldn't count it as water because of the caffeine, but really, it's not that important to get 8 full glasses of water a day either.
    Some people choose to be that accurate and log their tea and coffee calories, and that's cool. But what about caffeine makes it not count as water? Is it that outdated belief that it dehydrates you? Because you have to be drinking the equivalent of 5-6 cups a day for that to have an effect, and whereas I'm sure plenty of people drink that much coffee, I bet they also drink a bunch of other stuff too.
  • So, could you count coffee as both water and food? Add it to your water intake, but because of the calories, even tho minimal, also add it to your food diary?
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    What's the verdict?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    What's the verdict?

    The verdict is that the water in your coffee is treated the same way by your body as any other water you ingest. There are no magic ingredients in coffee, including caffeine, that dehydrate you to the point where that water doesn't count.

    So long story short: your body counts it as water, whether or not you log it on MFP.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Still this? Wow! Seriously, you can track the calories in the coffee and still add 8 oz to your water intake for the day. Nobody said not to record the calories in the coffee or whatever you add to the coffee. Nobody! It really isn't that difficult.
    Apparently, it is.

    As for the fruit comment somewhere up there, I don't know how much water is in the fruit I eat. If I knew there was 8 oz of water in my orange, then I might log it. But I don't know that.

    I do, however, know there are 16 oz of water in my morning tea.
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    What's the verdict?

    The verdict is that the water in your coffee is treated the same way by your body as any other water you ingest. There are no magic ingredients in coffee, including caffeine, that dehydrate you to the point where that water doesn't count.

    So long story short: your body counts it as water, whether or not you log it on MFP.

    My point is that 3 coffees, 3 sodas and 4 waters is not enough to hydrate my body, as I suffer from dehydration related cramping on this mix of fluids(cramping that is always alleviated by chugging water...amazing). I do not have this problem when I drink 10 glasses of actual water in one day.

    So yeah, my body can tell the difference between water and not water. I'm not saying "call the state on hospitals" because they log juice as water. I'm not saying "it's the end of the world if someone else chooses to log coffee as water". I'm saying that *my* body is dehydrated by caffeinated beverages and I have lived through a negative side effect of this. So I personally don't count them as water. Everyone is different that's why questions/threads like this are so silly. We all know how it's going to turn out from the first 2 replies.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    What's the verdict?

    The verdict is that the water in your coffee is treated the same way by your body as any other water you ingest. There are no magic ingredients in coffee, including caffeine, that dehydrate you to the point where that water doesn't count.

    So long story short: your body counts it as water, whether or not you log it on MFP.

    My point is that 3 coffees, 3 sodas and 4 waters is not enough to hydrate my body, as I suffer from dehydration related cramping on this mix of fluids(cramping that is always alleviated by chugging water...amazing). I do not have this problem when I drink 10 glasses of actual water in one day.

    So yeah, my body can tell the difference between water and not water. I'm not saying "call the state on hospitals" because they log juice as water. I'm not saying "it's the end of the world if someone else chooses to log coffee as water". I'm saying that *my* body is dehydrated by caffeinated beverages and I have lived through a negative side effect of this. So I personally don't count them as water. Everyone is different that's why questions/threads like this are so silly. We all know how it's going to turn out from the first 2 replies.
    It sounds like you have a medical condition because plenty of people drink absolutely no plain water, many people drink nothing but coffee or soda and they are not dehydrated.

    Clearly, you have an unusual sensitivity to caffeine or some other condition that is causing you this problem. So FOR YOU, you have to be more careful. But the vast majority of the population doesn't have this issue.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    I :heart: it so hard that this topic is still going.
  • bettyjoburdett
    bettyjoburdett Posts: 120 Member
    Personally, I make my coffee with water, so it counts as water, too.

    :drinker:
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    This is the first time I have looked at the 'is a water based drink actually water' threads.

    I'm struggling to see that there is an argument, but hey everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    My point is that 3 coffees, 3 sodas and 4 waters is not enough to hydrate my body, as I suffer from dehydration related cramping on this mix of fluids(cramping that is always alleviated by chugging water...amazing). I do not have this problem when I drink 10 glasses of actual water in one day.

    3 coffees and 3 sodas (depending on the sizes) is not a trivial amount of caffeine. I can see how that might cause you problems, especially if you sweat heavily. And plain old water (not purified and distilled to within an inch of it's life) contains minerals that help your body keep everything functioning properly.
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    Well, if it wasn't so important to drink 2lt of water a day i.e. 8 glasses, then why is MFP advising us to do so? After all, the body is mainly made up of water, not coffee...as far as I know.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    Well, if it wasn't so important to drink 2lt of water a day i.e. 8 glasses, then why is MFP advising us to do so? After all, the body is mainly made up of water, not coffee...as far as I know.

    Do you even have a large intestine? You know, that place in your body that absorbs water from everything we eat, all mixed up together...
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Well, if it wasn't so important to drink 2lt of water a day i.e. 8 glasses, then why is MFP advising us to do so? After all, the body is mainly made up of water, not coffee...as far as I know.
    MFP "pushes" it because it's an old myth that won't die that the website has for some reason bought into.

    And, no, our bodies are not made of coffee. But the H2O that you use to make coffee doesn't cease being H2O once you filter it through some coffee grounds. If you can't count water that's mixed with something else, you can't count water you drink before, during or within a couple hours or a meal, either.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Well, if it wasn't so important to drink 2lt of water a day i.e. 8 glasses, then why is MFP advising us to do so? After all, the body is mainly made up of water, not coffee...as far as I know.

    As far as I know, there's no place in the body to find plain water.

    We should be drinking blood, lymph, and cytoplasm! After all, the body is made primarily of that and not plain water.
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    What other old myths, do you beleive MFP 'push' on people?
  • Kate
    Kate Posts: 35 Member
    Does my morning coffee count as water drank?
    Of course. Fluid is fluid. Technically we could count any juice, milk, pop etc as well. I recently heard an expert on water/hydration say that the idea that coffee and tea can't be counted is a myth. As is the idea that we "must" have 8 glasses of water a day'. Our body is designed to let us know when it needs water. Thirsty? Drink.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    What other old myths, do you beleive MFP 'push' on people?

    MFP's macro recommendations are pretty silly.
  • jmv7117
    jmv7117 Posts: 891 Member
    What other old myths, do you beleive MFP 'push' on people?

    I'm not sure if MFP pushes it on people but the 'starvation mode' seems to be a popular myth many here believe.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    What other old myths, do you beleive MFP 'push' on people?

    I'm not sure if MFP pushes it on people but the 'starvation mode' seems to be a popular myth many here believe.
    Actually, yes, MFP does. If you close out your diary below 1,200 calories, you get a message that basically screams, "STARVATION MODE! DANGER! DANGER!"
  • PhearlessPhreaks
    PhearlessPhreaks Posts: 890 Member
    Yeah, coffee has water... but so does fruit. Do you log your orange or apple as water intake? Personally, if a beverage has calories and macros, it's logged as a food or in my 'non-water beverages' category. The only things I count as water for the purposes of hydration are actual water and unsweetened, caffeine free hot tea. If I add honey or agave to my tea, I log it in my beverage category.

    But, to each their own.

    Well, cake has moisture so ergo has water which means it can be logged as water intake not food <snicker>. I'm sure that is the thought process for some. At any rate, I agree with you that a beverage with calories and macros should be logged in another category than water. It's easy to set up a category for beverages then log water separately.

    What's the problem with logging the coffee in your diary, and also logging that intake in the water section?

    I can't speak for the person below my post, but as I said, to each their own. I don't, because before I made an effort to drink more water, I was drinking more coffee, soda and juice than I currently do water; I was ingesting roughly the same number of ounces of fluid a day, but my urine was not the pale yellow it is now. That tells me some fashion of hydration is lost in the processing of that fluid.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Yeah, coffee has water... but so does fruit. Do you log your orange or apple as water intake? Personally, if a beverage has calories and macros, it's logged as a food or in my 'non-water beverages' category. The only things I count as water for the purposes of hydration are actual water and unsweetened, caffeine free hot tea. If I add honey or agave to my tea, I log it in my beverage category.

    But, to each their own.

    Well, cake has moisture so ergo has water which means it can be logged as water intake not food <snicker>. I'm sure that is the thought process for some. At any rate, I agree with you that a beverage with calories and macros should be logged in another category than water. It's easy to set up a category for beverages then log water separately.

    What's the problem with logging the coffee in your diary, and also logging that intake in the water section?

    I can't speak for the person below my post, but as I said, to each their own. I don't, because before I made an effort to drink more water, I was drinking more coffee, soda and juice than I currently do water; I was ingesting roughly the same number of ounces of fluid a day, but my urine was not the pale yellow it is now. That tells me some fashion of hydration is lost in the processing of that fluid.
    But the question wasn't "what do you do?" It was "can I do this?"

    And if she wants to click off a water on her ticker for her coffee, she can. Others choosing not to (which is fine) doesn't have any bearing on whether someone else can count it.
  • PhearlessPhreaks
    PhearlessPhreaks Posts: 890 Member
    Yeah, coffee has water... but so does fruit. Do you log your orange or apple as water intake? Personally, if a beverage has calories and macros, it's logged as a food or in my 'non-water beverages' category. The only things I count as water for the purposes of hydration are actual water and unsweetened, caffeine free hot tea. If I add honey or agave to my tea, I log it in my beverage category.

    But, to each their own.

    Well, cake has moisture so ergo has water which means it can be logged as water intake not food <snicker>. I'm sure that is the thought process for some. At any rate, I agree with you that a beverage with calories and macros should be logged in another category than water. It's easy to set up a category for beverages then log water separately.

    What's the problem with logging the coffee in your diary, and also logging that intake in the water section?

    I can't speak for the person below my post, but as I said, to each their own. I don't, because before I made an effort to drink more water, I was drinking more coffee, soda and juice than I currently do water; I was ingesting roughly the same number of ounces of fluid a day, but my urine was not the pale yellow it is now. That tells me some fashion of hydration is lost in the processing of that fluid.
    But the question wasn't "what do you do?" It was "can I do this?"

    And if she wants to click off a water on her ticker for her coffee, she can. Others choosing not to (which is fine) doesn't have any bearing on whether someone else can count it.

    So what you're saying is, "yes, yes you can" is the only acceptable response to this topic. Should've posted that on the first page... might've saved a lot of time and comments and snottiness up in here!!!! :laugh:

    ETA: my post responding to Jonnythan's question regarding logging it and counting as water was just that- a response to his question. :drinker:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Yeah, coffee has water... but so does fruit. Do you log your orange or apple as water intake? Personally, if a beverage has calories and macros, it's logged as a food or in my 'non-water beverages' category. The only things I count as water for the purposes of hydration are actual water and unsweetened, caffeine free hot tea. If I add honey or agave to my tea, I log it in my beverage category.

    But, to each their own.

    Well, cake has moisture so ergo has water which means it can be logged as water intake not food <snicker>. I'm sure that is the thought process for some. At any rate, I agree with you that a beverage with calories and macros should be logged in another category than water. It's easy to set up a category for beverages then log water separately.

    What's the problem with logging the coffee in your diary, and also logging that intake in the water section?

    I can't speak for the person below my post, but as I said, to each their own. I don't, because before I made an effort to drink more water, I was drinking more coffee, soda and juice than I currently do water; I was ingesting roughly the same number of ounces of fluid a day, but my urine was not the pale yellow it is now. That tells me some fashion of hydration is lost in the processing of that fluid.
    But the question wasn't "what do you do?" It was "can I do this?"

    And if she wants to click off a water on her ticker for her coffee, she can. Others choosing not to (which is fine) doesn't have any bearing on whether someone else can count it.

    So what you're saying is, "yes, yes you can" is the only acceptable response to this topic. Should've posted that on the first page... might've saved a lot of time and comments and snottiness up in here!!!! :laugh:

    ETA: my post responding to Jonnythan's question regarding logging it and counting as water was just that- a response to his question. :drinker:
    Gotcha. :-)

    "Yes you can" is the only accurate response, but saying it wouldn't stop the debate. Several of us did say it and then were told, "but only pure water counts!"

    I'm still waiting for someone to tell me where they find pure water ...
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I dont count coffee and other drinks that have water as part of my water intake for about the same reason I dont include chores that exert the body as exercise.
    Some will log anything other than normal sitting around as "exercise".
    I just call it the cost of doing business. If it helps in the long run, which it does, then that is a bonus. Like last night I cleaned the garage out with box after box after box..many heavy. It was a decent workout but wont include that in any log to eat back calories or anything....just consider it a bonus.
  • JoyeII
    JoyeII Posts: 240 Member
    Yes, it counts as fluid. The amount of caffeine in your cup of coffee/tea isn't enough to counteract the fluid intake. The myth of not being able to count other beverages as fluid intake has been busted over and over. Count it.
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
    I don't count it is water. Caffeine is a diuretic and a stimulant and the point of tracking water is for hydration purposes, so I think I am better off not counting it as water.

    This
    Is not accurate.