Total daily water intake. Do you include tea/coffee/other dr

HealthyWarrior

I was told that as long as you drink coffee black. No sugar or cream/milk then you can count it as water. But no matter who you ask everyone will have their own outlook on it. Just do what you think is right. I drink half my body weight which is 10.5 cups of water a day. One of those cups is a black coffee and the rest is water and sometimes the water has mio or crystal light in it.

doonesbury

LOL! What part of "WATER" dont people understand?! :-/

mfp_1

The UK National Health Service says:
*********************************************
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/water-drinks.aspx

All non-alcoholic drinks count, but water, milk and fruit juices are the healthiest.
*********************************************

thosthos

It is a myth that tea and coffee are harmful diuretics, that is, cause a net fluid loss to the body.. There is a very mild effect, but if you drink them regularly, even this is diminished (Grandjean et al, 2000). The scientific evidence supports simple observation: anything containing a lot of water will contribute to hydrating the body, for example, eating tons of lettuce will reduce dehydration (it would have to be a lot, and its easier to swig water!). I live in Australia in the country and have lots of kangaroos passing through my yard. Conditions are sometimes fairly arid and the kangaroos can survive quite some time without obvious water supplies by upping their intake of green vegetation. So ignore the advice that only water will do, go with common sense and drink what you like, and lots of it (except alcohol). I've nothing against alcohol, but it will not satisfy thirst, because it is a serious diuretic and should always be taken with lots of water. Alcohol reduces body fluid in two ways. First, for every 1 gm. of alcohol drunk, urine excretion increases by 10 ml. Then, alcohol also reduces production of vasopressin, a hormone which directs the kidneys to absorb water rather than send it to the bladder. So, one way or another, when you drink alcohol, much more of your fluid intake goes straight through you.

lorenhorn

Does tea or coffee count towards your 8 glasses a day?

Some of the confusion has stemmed from the fact that many commonly consumed beverages contain caffeine, which is considered to be a diuretic. The thinking goes like this: if caffeine makes you urinate, then a caffeinated drink will surely cause you to lose more water than you take in, so a caffeinated drink can’t really be a fluid – maybe it’s more like a ‘negative fluid’.

Well, here’s the good news for coffee and tea lovers – it turns out that, for the most part, this simply isn’t true. A review¹on the topic, which summarized numerous studies on the subject conducted over nearly 40 years, reported that taking in a large amount of caffeine at one time (around 300 mg, or what you’d get in 2-3 cups of strong coffee – and not an amount you’d drink all at once) can promote urination, but only in people who haven’t had any caffeine for weeks. And those who are habitual caffeine consumers develop a tolerance to the diuretic effects – much like they develop a tolerance to the stimulating effects. The report also stated that “doses of caffeine equivalent to the amount normally found in standard servings of tea, coffee and carbonated soft drinks appear to have no diuretic action”. So there you go; caffeinated beverages definitely “count” when it comes to meeting fluid needs.

Actually, all beverages can contribute to your fluid requirement – like coffee, tea, fruit juice, broth, vegetable juice, sports drinks and low fat milk – since they’re primarily water. So if, like my client, you just can’t face drinking water, these “water alternatives” still count.

teamAmelia

holy crap... If it's not clear and tasteless it's NOT EFFING WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my pee is clear and tasteless...

And you know this howww? :huh:

teamAmelia

I live in Australia in the country and have lots of kangaroos passing through my yard. Conditions are sometimes fairly arid and the kangaroos can survive quite some time without obvious water supplies by upping their intake of green vegetation.

We're not kangaroos. :laugh: OMG.

ChristieDF

My doctor suggested that I drink 2L of water a day. Sometimes I get it in easily. It has helped me to get rid of some unwanted fluid. As for my coffee and tea I don't log it as water.