Water?

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debrapeterson
debrapeterson Posts: 84 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Can black coffee be counted as water?
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  • garita93
    garita93 Posts: 276 Member
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    It is a matter of preference from what I have seen on here, some count anything made from water others count only plain water.
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
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    NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

    Caffeine dehydrates -- it's actually NEGATIVE water. Even decaf has a trace of caffeine.

    Water is water is water. Drink lots.
  • LexyDB
    LexyDB Posts: 261
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    What is negative water exactly?
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    You can. The caffeine has a slight diuretic effect, but not enough to be significant in regular coffee. Espresso would be a different story.

    Having said that, I don't - I have a thermos of coffee a day and don't count it as water, but I prefer to drink a little extra water anyway.

    The ideal way to measure your water intake is actually through urine color / consistency.

    Clear = drinking more than you actually need (but that's OK - it won't hurt you if it's under a couple of gallons a day)
    Pale yellow/translucent = perfect
    Bright yellow = drink a little more
    Dark yellow, or doesn't readily dissolve in water, or cloudy = drink quite a bit more, and if you are already drinking 8 glasses or more of water a day and still see this, see your doctor.

    Learn how much water (with your coffee) gets you that nice pale yellow translucent urine and go for that. It's different for each person.
  • jaxandmaksmom
    jaxandmaksmom Posts: 262 Member
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    water is water... coffee is coffee.


    caffine will dry your body of water ( dehydrate)
    water hydrates you

    sooooo nooooooooooooooooooooooooo coffee does not count as water....

    does fruit juice count as water nope..water is water... plain and simple...


    i was told by my doctor... for each cup of coffee or soda we drink.. you need 3 cups of water to erase the negitive effects of said drink.....
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
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    Actually, to be more specific, caffeine is a diuretic. Takes water from your cells and causes you to expel it. Thus it dehydrates.

    I'm no scientist, but unless someone's come up with different evidence since I was in college (admittedly a long time ago), that's how it works.
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
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    What is negative water exactly?

    Ha! I meant that you need to drink more water to hit your hydration level if you take in significant caffeine. But, since you ask, I guess maybe salt? Or a dry sponge?
  • jillica
    jillica Posts: 554 Member
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    It is up to you.

    Just like some people log in their everyday household cleaning as exercise, you get to decide if you want to count the water in your coffee as part of your total water take-in.

    I don't, but I'm not overweight because I drink two cups of coffee everyday.
  • VoodooLuLu
    VoodooLuLu Posts: 636 Member
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    no...
  • LexyDB
    LexyDB Posts: 261
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    Yes, it is a diuretic but not enough in caffeine to stop the body absorbing the rest of the water in the drink. Negative water? Perhaps you should rephrase this?
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    What is negative water exactly?

    It would be water with enough contaminants such as caffeine that the diuretic effect would cause the body to lose more water than is taken in. For example, if you dissolved a no-doz capsule or two in an ounce of water, the diuretic/dehydration effect would be far more pronounced than one ounce of fluid, so it would be "negative water".

    Like "negative calorie" food0s (foods that, in theory, you burn more calories chewing and digesting than you can extract from them), such things exist but only in very extreme cases and are not meaningful terms for 99% of what you are actually going to ingest.
  • HealthfulLife
    HealthfulLife Posts: 28 Member
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    I am going to go with no as well..Coffee and Tea may seem like just dark water in theory, but in reality they aren't!
    Because they contain caffeine, Coffee and Tea are considered diuretics which instead of hydrating your body they will dehydrate you, as oppose to water which is the best form of hydration!

    drink up!
  • pamelad77
    pamelad77 Posts: 292 Member
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    Coffee may be a diuretic, but even my GP says that you still take in more than it makes you "expel"
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Actually, to be more specific, caffeine is a diuretic. Takes water from your cells and causes you to expel it. Thus it dehydrates.

    I'm no scientist, but unless someone's come up with different evidence since I was in college (admittedly a long time ago), that's how it works.

    The evidence hasn't changed, and neither has the dosage. The caffeine in a cup of coffee does, in fact, have a mild diuretic effect. But it doesn't come CLOSE to offsetting the fact that coffee is mostly water.

    I suspect this thread is going to get ugly, so one last reiteration of a point I made earlier - don't COUNT DRINKS, use URINE COLOR to determine if you are drinking sufficient fluids. That makes the entire argument that is about to ensue completely moot.
  • mcrowe1016
    mcrowe1016 Posts: 647 Member
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    From Mayo Clinic:

    I've been seeing ads that say cola and coffee drinks hydrate you as well as water does. Is this true?
    Answer
    from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
    It is true. Researchers used to believe that caffeinated drinks had a diuretic effect. This means that you would urinate more after drinking them, which could increase your risk of becoming dehydrated. Recent research shows that this is not true and that caffeine has a diuretic effect only if you consume large amounts of it — more than 500 to 600 milligrams (the equivalent of 5 to 7 cups of coffee) a day.

    Still, caffeinated drinks can make you jittery, sleepless or anxious. Water is probably your best bet to stay hydrated. It's calorie-free, caffeine-free, inexpensive and readily available.

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
  • Sean_The_IT_Guy
    Sean_The_IT_Guy Posts: 168
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    untrue. it hydrates less than normal water, but sodas and coffee still hydrate. this is a long perpetuated myth.

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
  • wildcata77
    wildcata77 Posts: 660
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    NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

    Caffeine dehydrates -- it's actually NEGATIVE water. Even decaf has a trace of caffeine.

    Water is water is water. Drink lots.

    I'm not sure what negative water means, but No, I do not count coffee. I wouldn't even if I drank it black.

    I know that back in the day the WW program said that you could sub 3 servings of water with non-caffeinated, zero calorie drinks (like tea, diet soda, etc.) but I always hold to water is water, plain and simple.
  • jryan83
    jryan83 Posts: 72 Member
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    There's many opinions out there on what "water" is. Is it pure water or is it drinks that contain water?

    I think to make sure your satisfying all bases, you should strive to have half your water intake as pure water. Drink what other liquids you like for the other half. If you can drink more pure water, the better (just cause your body doesn't have to process it first).

    Things you may not want to substitute for water are obviously high in sugar and hidden sugars (certain juices, alcohol, etc.).
  • sortin
    sortin Posts: 78
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    So...for the 'only water is water' people.

    If I drink a cup of black coffee, then drink a cup of water, how much water is that? 1 cup?
    What if instead, I pour the water into the black coffee and drink it, how much water is that?
  • mamaomefo
    mamaomefo Posts: 418 Member
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    From a nutritionist I have seen in the past, she allowed anything that was non-caffeinated to be counted toward water consumption. Her reason was caffeine makes one lose water.

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