Does coffee count for water?

SenoraMacias

I count hot tea (decaffeinated) because it doesn't add anything to make it "not" water anymore. Coffee does have like 3 calories or something, but it also has the caffeine and other substances that wouldn't hydrate you the same way water does.

jennalink807

If you just chew on the coffee then no. If you add it to a cup of water, then you've consumed a cup of water- the coffee is just a bonus now that's not to say i'd go and drink 8 cups of coffee and nothing else... lol

mSquared77

Why does it matter? Just drink your water, and enjoy your coffee, too.

UpEarly

My rule is: If you can't see through it in a clear glass, you can't count it as water.
While it will hydrate you, plain water will help the most.

I can see through a giant glass of vodka perfectly! I just wanted to point that out. :-)

Claiire_Louise

My rule is: If you can't see through it in a clear glass, you can't count it as water.
While it will hydrate you, plain water will help the most.

vodka is clear...............................

i personally do not count coffee as water but i do add all my coffees to my diary :-)

HauteP1nk

NO!

For every cup of coffee, tea, or pop you need to drink TWO glasses of water!

These are all diuretics which means they take water from our bodies.

aranchmom

why overthink everything? our bodies are mostly water so drinking good clean water makes sense? doesnt it?

Of course it makes sense. That still doesn't mean you need to "count" water. Our bodies actually have a built-in mechanism for letting us know when we need water.

using that logic we dont need to count any food calories either. our bodies tell us when we are hungry. I guess they can close this site down.

1. eat when you feel hunger - stop when full. (not stuffed)
2. Drink when you feel thirsty - stop when your thirst is quenched. (not floating away)
3. Shut down this site.

Thats my story and I'm stickin to it. :drinker: :flowerforyou: :laugh: :drinker: :happy:

karagav

it's been explained to me that for every cup of coffee or caffeinated tea you become dehydrated and need to drink at least double that in water to rehydrate yourself. so i definitely would not be counting coffee as water...just like i wouldn't count tea as water, even decaf.

dsjohndrow

My nutritionist said I should count it as water. It is not a replacement for water!

crawpapa

Man I wish this was true.....all those wasted Rum and Cokes could count!! HAHA!

kelnort

"vodka is clear..............................."

hahaha. that is true

_LilPowerHouse

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/drinking-enough-water-topic-overview

PaLawDog

i drink 5 20oz coffees a day :sad:

amyofftherecord

Your "eight cups a day" can come from anywhere: beverages, foods, whatever. Some beverages will dehydrate you a bit (coffee, to me, included) so they sort of defeat the purpose, but not to a noteworthy degree. I wasn't sure I was getting enough so I just made a habit of only drinking water with my meals. That gave me almost five cups a day just washing down my food.

Roshams

Definitely NOT.

In fact, for every cup of coffe or tea you drink, you should be drinking 2 cups of water to make up for it. The caffiene in coffee and tea dehydrates you, so more water is necessary

This comes from a personal trainer, not me

3dogsrunning

So, if I drink 1 cup of coffee in the morning does that mean I can mark 1 cup of water down for the day? Just curious.

Basically it is your choice.
As noted above - it was once thought caffeine dehydrates, but it has since been found that it does not dehydrate unless consumed in large amound, like 5-7 cups of coffee. Since you are asking about 1, this is not a concern.
As for the diruetic effect, that simply means it increases the need to pee. Plain old water does that too. Coffee and other types of liquids do not increase it to a point that it will dehydrate you.

So it is a liquid, primarily made up of water. Sources like the Mayo Clinic specify that we should consumed around 8 cups of "liquid", not water.

If you want to count it, go ahead. If you prefer to count only water, that's fine too.

(for my references see HMonster's post. Its all there. )

thankyou4thevenom

Ill get in quick to try to nip this in the bud

You need the equivalent of 8 cups of water a day on average, from any source. These sources can be pure water/tea/coffee/juice/soda/milk/fruit/veg etc. It does NOT have to be pure neat water!

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/13/myth-eight-glasses-water-day

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/wellness-water-8x8-myth.html

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/08/the-myth-behind-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/


As for coffee being a diuretic, so many people just spout that word as a reason, without actually understanding what "diuretic" means.

di·u·ret·ic (d-rtk)
adj.
Tending to increase the discharge of urine.
n.
A substance or drug that tends to increase the discharge of urine.

Neat water is also a diuretic. The diuretic effect of caffeine is far, far outweighed by the actual water in the tea/coffee. Also, regular consumers of caffeinated beverages will build up a tolerance to said effect, eventually reaching the point where caffeinated drinks provide practically the same amount of hydration as a cup of neat water will.


http://www.divinecaroline.com/22178/46361-coffee-makes-dehydrated-say-what

http://worldofcaffeine.com/2011/06/14/caffeine-does-not-dehydrate/

http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/020722/02072207.htm

http://nomoredirtylooks.com/2011/04/surprise-caffeinated-tea-does-not-dehydrate-you/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html

http://www.sharecare.com/question/does-caffeine-dehydrate-not

http://www.artofdrink.com/2009/12/caffeine-in-coffee-does-not-increase-dehydration-during-hangovers.php

http://www.caring4cancer.com/go/cancer/nutrition/questions/do-caffeinated-beverages-cause-dehydration.htm

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5552790&page=1#.TrQWc0O5_oo

leslie0422

I count coffee towards my water intake each day but it doesn't really matter because I always drink more than 8 cups of pure water each day...and only a cup or 2 of coffee. I would say that as long as you're not drinking a lot of coffee and very little water then your probably ok. Don't replace water for coffee.

ElPumaMex

Drinking 8 cups of water is just a generic guideline, to tell you that you need to make sure you drink enough water, in any form.

Drinking water with caffeine or any other ingredient is ok, as well as part of your food,
You don't need to be concerned on what else you eat.

Just make sure you drink/eat enough water.

And how do you know that?
Very simple:
Look at the color of your urine; if it is yellow, drink more water. If it is cristal clear, you have gone beyond what you needed (but is ok !!)

KnottyJen

OMFG...Everyone's a freaking expert....