water intake - relating to coffee, liquids, salt, etc

CoderGal

So Coffee is very dehydrating, and many of us drink coffee. After reading a post a while ago (I can't remember which one) I thought it was kind of ironic that some people are logging a dehydrating drink like coffee under their daily water intake. I've also noticed that people seem to log juices and soups.

How do you log water? Do you take water off if you've had something like coffee? Do you count juice? Soup? Personally, I only log plain drinking water as water. I'll add Aquafina flavored water as well.

What about salt? If you've eaten allot of it do you try to drink more or less water? Why? Have you seen it affect your body? How?

Does anyone have any good articles or know anything about how coffee or salt affects your body, especially if you're getting to much or not enough water? I think it'd be an interesting read.

I'd love to hear some comments and peoples logic behind it.

rockerbabyy

i log coffee, tea, juice, soda, and water as water. that said, i drink coffee maybe 3 times a week, tea about half that and juice and soda are a couple times a month, if that.
its all water, and the dehydrating effects arent really so serious that you dont get any benefit at all from the water the drink is made from.
i never thought to add soup as water intake, but i dont eat/drink a lot of soup either.

sche1amy

I log the actual water I drink. I do not include any other form of liquid! Just the good old water itself :0)

lc504

I count only water and decaffeinated tea

Personally, salt intake doesn't affect me much - so long as I'm getting in a good 8+ cups of water, I usually don't retain water from excess sodium.

tataliciousd89

Well if you have a lot of sodium you need to drink more water than usual or you will become dehydrated. In the hospital all fluids are counted as intake even coffee, soups, jello, ice chips juice... anything that goes in, in a liquid form. On the other hand I count water as water on this site only and put everything else just in my food diary.

Lady_Lamb

I only log water as water. When I have coffee, I log it as coffee. When I eat a lot of salty foods, I try to drink more water. I don't know what my logic is behind that; I guess I just want to flush everything out!

mhrhoades

I only log water as water. But, in reality, I don't drink much of anything other than water - no coffee or diet pop - so it is pretty easy.

Blessedmommy_2x

I only log water that is PLAIN water... nothing else. Speaking of which I drank 152 oz today!!! :drinker:

*** I only log water because it says "water", not "fluid intake". Any other drink I log under my foods. but that's just me.... whatever works for you all, stick with it.

LittleMissAngi

I log just plain drinking water as my water intake.

clarkeje1

Only log plain water as water

Bellyroll

I log all liquids in the hospitals and my medical community logs it then I will also.

CheleLynn44

I only log water under my water intake. Anything (if there is) gets logged as whatever it is!!

Renee0608

Only plain water....I log anything else I drink under my foods.

tataliciousd89

Personally, I don't think it really matters how you log it so long as you are having the calories in there and being consistent in how you log it. Dont count everything one day and switch to only water the next. This site is for your use so you know what works for you and what doesn't.

Elle_Jamaicangirl81

i log plain ol' water... other things get logged in the diary under food...

DrG3n3

I love water and tea as water. You put something in water, the water doesn't get up and leave. I don't drink anything else but water and my green tea. If I did happen to drink a coffee I would count it as water, but I would also try and drink an extra cup or two of the good stuff. You get water in the foods you eat as well, so i don't aim to try and flood myself with it however. If I do have high sodium days then I will try and drink extra water, but the rare day that its high, the next morning my weight will still be up. I, however, will pee ALLLLL day long and the next day it will be down 3 or so lbs. I try to watch sodium though because high blood pressure runs in the family.

silhouettes

I only count my water as water.. whether I flavored it or not, I keep bottles in the refridgerator and drink at least 3 bottles adding up to 8-9 cups a day.

I don't count water in foods or coffee or any of that, I don't count water in hot chocolate (though I don't have it often).

Not sure about tea, I hate tea, but I wouldn't count lemonade either... guess it's a personal thing, but I want to be 100 percent sure I have my water in, so I only count from my waters I fill up daily.

jillvent

I log plain water, decaf herbal tea and seltzer water (as long as there are no calories, sodium, etc).

MrsLawsonNavyBrat2B

I only log water that is PLAIN water... nothing else. Speaking of which I drank 152 oz today!!! :drinker:

GREAT JOB!!

WATER is WATER. Soda is Soda, Coffee is Coffee, etc. However I hardly drink anything but water 128 oz TODAY

PrincessLou71186

I log water and squash.

Tea goes down as tea, I log whichever squash I drink under my drinks header too (undiluted amount).

If I were to have fresh juice I would log that under drinks, not as water.

lostsanity137

Caffeine is not as strong a diuretic as people are led to believe (in the NYT article, it is about as strong a diuretic as water itself!) and technically you can log any drink as water. PLAIN water however, is best for you as is it calorie/sugar free, so better for weight loss than anything else.

I personally try to log only water, but if I do log something else, I make sure to log it with my food so that the calories are counted!

So enjoy your coffee (just beware all the calories from the stuff you put in it!)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html

HMonsterX

So Coffee is very dehydrating, and many of us drink coffee. After reading a post a while ago (I can't remember which one) I thought it was kind of ironic that some people are logging a dehydrating drink like coffee under their daily water intake. I've also noticed that people seem to log juices and soups.

Coffee is NOT dehydrating, so we log it as fluid intake because it is. Same for juices and soups too. Can you show me some research that says they are dehydrating?

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



Our body doesnt need NEAT water, just water. Whatever we drink or eat that has water content, our body extracts it.

HMonsterX

I only log water that is PLAIN water... nothing else. Speaking of which I drank 152 oz today!!! :drinker:

GREAT JOB!!

WATER is WATER. Soda is Soda, Coffee is Coffee, etc. However I hardly drink anything but water 128 oz TODAY

Enjoy those oh-so-unnecessary trips to the toilet, and pee well knowing that all the excess water you drank is just coming straight out again.

alyson820

I only log water. I drink coffee every day, but I log it into my calories and not as water.

lostsanity137

So Coffee is very dehydrating, and many of us drink coffee. After reading a post a while ago (I can't remember which one) I thought it was kind of ironic that some people are logging a dehydrating drink like coffee under their daily water intake. I've also noticed that people seem to log juices and soups.

Coffee is NOT dehydrating, so we log it as fluid intake because it is. Same for juices and soups too. Can you show me some research that says they are dehydrating?

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



Our body doesnt need NEAT water, just water. Whatever we drink or eat that has water content, our body extracts it.

Aw snap, your post is way better than mine. Way better articles too.

tiabirdie56

Water is water and all other liquids are just that, liquids. I start my day with 8 to 16 ounces of water. I drink 2 cups of coffee every day. Count coffee as 4ozs of water. I sometimes drink more water to compensate for high sodium, but mostly I try my best to balance it out with potassium from fruits, vegetables and juice.

As someone else stated, in the hospital ALL liquids are counted towards fluid intake because in that environment they are concerned with fluid output. You really do want your output to be relatively clear, not dark.

BarbWhite09

I only log water as water. I don't understand why people log their other liquids as water...If it said "Fluid Intake" then okay, but since it doesn't...
Also, when I have a lot of sodium in a day I always drink a bunch of extra water to flush out the excess.

KainerGem

I log water as water... I dont drink much of anything else. If I do (juice for ex) I log it under whatever meal Im drinking it with... For those that log coffee under water, do you log the amount of sugar and/or cream you use? Lately Ive become anal about logging in everything!!!! and have logged in even condiments such as butter, olive oil, honey, etc.

inchestopinch

I log Water as Water and nothing more! Anything else (Tea, Coffee, v8 veggie shots, etc) get placed under my "Drinks" section I created in my food diary.

Sadly today's sodium intake was an extreme overage... Oh well ~ I'll keep drinking more water until bed time & then probably be up all night with bathroom breaks! lol

TiredOfBeingFAT130

I only log water as water. If they wanted all fluids, it would just say fluids and in that case, I would log any additional fluids also... but I only log my water!

HMonsterX

I only log water as water. I don't understand why people log their other liquids as water...If it said "Fluid Intake" then okay, but since it doesn't...

Because its wrong. It says water in the same way computers used to say "press any key", and people couldnt find the "any" key, so they changed it to "press a key", as some people needed it simplifying.