do you count water in coffee/tea as daily water?

da_sammit

so just wanting to see how many of you do this.

do you count the water thats in other beverages (coffee, tea, hot drinks) as water consumed on your daily diary??

bm99

Not coffee, but white iced tea I do count.

You get hydration anytime you have something liquid (in varying amounts) or eat anything that isn't dry.

joannezuk

I just count water as water. I feel as though, when you mix it with other stuff, your body has to process it to get at the water. So I try to drink 8 cups of just water each day, in addition to my coffee.

fitnotfluffy

I don't count my coffee, but I do count my unsweetened green/black tea.

LiddyBit

I think coffee is actually dehydrating, no?

TheFunBun

I don't count anything but water, but I think it would be fine to count both.

The dehydrating effect of coffee doesn't negate the liquid in it. It's more, "Not as good as drinking water" than "You just peed that entire cup out!"

LiddyBit

I don't count anything but water, but I think it would be fine to count both.

The dehydrating effect of coffee doesn't negate the liquid in it. It's more, "Not as good as drinking water" than "You just peed that entire cup out!"

This would probably explain why my mother has not died of dehydration. I swear she drinks nothing at all but coffee. I drink a lot more water than average, but coffee makes me feel like I'm going to die of dehydration sometimes.

millie_de

I count my green and herbal teas since they are hydrating, but I agree, I don't think coffee should be counted.

huntingforhipbones

I count anything natural and without calories/caffeine - so I'd count, say, peppermint tea, but not a diet coke.

Mads1997

No I don't count tea or coffees as part of water intake.

TourThePast

I just count water as water. I feel as though, when you mix it with other stuff, your body has to process it to get at the water.

Err... Think about what you've just said...

That would mean that if you drink a glass of water with a meal of roast chicken and vegetables, the water counts, but if you have chicken soup it doesn't.

Does that sound right to you? Of course not! It all gets squished up together in your stomach!

Unless you starve yourself for a couple of hours before drinking your water, and never drink water until at least an hour after eating! :bigsmile:

Jesse_Hunter

I think you are putting to much emphasis on water.

The best thing for you is water and water alone. If you consume tea, coffee then just worry about calories and other nutrients and keep drinking your water.

If you drink 14 cups instead of 12 cups of water, Great! Being well hydrated is the goal anyways.

I personally consume a gallon to 1 1/2 gallons of water a day and STILL sometimes notice that I am slightly under-hydrated. My point is, the extra few cups that you may drink a day by not adding in the coffee and tea will only work towards your benefit.

MattHodder

No decent evidence that despite being a very wimpy diuretic caffeine in beverages causes any significant diuresis. You wan't to log coffee go for it!

You could probably find a web page claiming black is white so I treat any with a healthy amount of cynicism but have a look at

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50654

royalty_mind_1me

oh no I never do, usually im putting splenda or soy milk in it anyways....water is water! great question

herownkindofwonderfull

NEVER.

Water is water is water. I wouldn't even count flavored water as "water", if I drank it.

If you are counting tea, etc. as water, a lot of the time, caffeine in the tea will actually DEHYDRATE you. You lose more water than you gain when you drink tea (aside from herbal / noncaffeinated teas).

But yes. As a few others are here... I believe that only water should be logged as water. You're not getting enough, otherwise..

BeckiCharlotte13x

what about squash?

yarwell

I think coffee is actually dehydrating, no?

no.

For that to be the case it would need to cause the loss of more water than it contained.

yarwell

the 8 glasses of 8 ozs is largely a baseless number plucked out of the air. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020809071640.htm

If hydration is your concern that's as much about salt as water - think about "rehydration salts" which are a dry powder.

Your water / H2O balance is equally well served by H2O in a glass of water, a glass of pepsi, a mug of coffee or the H2O in the foods you eat.

SorchaRavenlock

I count my green and herbal teas since they are hydrating, but I agree, I don't think coffee should be counted.

This is how I do it as well. Since the weather is awful over here at the moment I can't bear to drink cold water, but herbal teas are lovely and have added positive effects beyond hydration.
I wouldn't count coffee, fizzy drinks and so on though.

anj911

what about squash?

I count squash, I don't count coffee or green tea, herbal tea etc though

falstaff007

I do because I read a medical report on some research to say that the fluid contained in the beverages is obviously water.

emmalecras

Saw a dietician when I started out as was struggling with the eight glasses of water and she told me that I could count tea (as only a small amount of milk going into it).

CeeRawr89

No.

Fit_Forever25

I never count water from tea or coffee or green tea
and I dont think you should count that water as water intake the more you can drink plain water the better it is!

chjones21

How much is 8 cups in litres? Is a cup an exact measurement???

I don't drink as much water as I should but London tap water is pretty chemicalised up, I should think anyway .... and bottled water is SO heavy to carry with the rest of the shopping.

Probably maximum I drink is one litre a day - if that.... but I would count herbal teas in that definitely!

JesterMFP

It's really personal choice. Lots of people apparently feel better about only counting plain water with nothing added towards their daily fluid intake. Meanwhile, your body makes perfectly good use of the water in tea, coffee, milk, cola, soup etc, It also "counts" the water in food. Water doesn't somehow lose its usefulness to the body just because it's mixed with something else. We don't need to consume "pure" protein separately from "pure" carbohydrate, so why would we need to do that with water?

Caffeine does have a mild diuretic effect in large doses (so does water!) but moderate consumption, especially for people who are used to it, doesn't appear to have be dehydrating. You don't even need to necessarily drink 8 cups or glasses of water a day. You might need more, or less, depending on a number of variables.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16131696
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8632375/Advice-to-drink-eight-glasses-of-water-daily-nonsense.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/08/the-myth-behind-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/
http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

dukes418

I count water as water, coffee as coffee, tea as tea. Simple, simple, simple.

hanniejong

How much is 8 cups in litres? Is a cup an exact measurement???

I don't drink as much water as I should but London tap water is pretty chemicalised up, I should think anyway .... and bottled water is SO heavy to carry with the rest of the shopping.

Probably maximum I drink is one litre a day - if that.... but I would count herbal teas in that definitely!

8 glasses/cups of water is 2 litres.

In weight Watchers when I was in it years ago they told us tea and coffee was counted as water. However I have never counted it.

chjones21

Thanks hanniejong ---- so I need to double my intake at least! CJ

HMonsterX

4th time in as many days...

Here we go again!

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 tea/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

yarwell

You need the equivalent of 8 cups of water a day on average, from any source.

this bit isn't really true, so I wouldn't start with it.

I do agree about the sources of the H2O molecules for hydration. 1.3 litres / 46 fl ozs / 5.4 cups is a UK recommendation but that was also plucked out of the air by someone.

Funny how I've never really needed to know how much to drink or measured it, I've just drunk when I feel like it. Maybe there's a system at work. Can't imagine we evolved needing such high water intakes, would be a bit of an issue in many climates and locations.