Debate: Does Tea and Coffee count towards your water intake?

Yes. All water-based liquids should count including sodas and flavored waters. Do not give me this complete BULL**** about dehydrators. The recommended 8 glasses of day counts water intake that you get from food substances, so why shouldn't a bottle of diet coke? I still like to shoot for 8-12 glasses of plain water though throughout the day no matter what else I've had to drink. That's a personal preference and challenge, because I'm absolutely horrible at remembering to drink. (I've been hospitalized several times for not drinking for days and then being severely dehydrated.) If I'm having a bad day at it, then hell yes I'm at least proud that I got ANY form of liquid in.

When I was young, I drank the equivalent of 4-5 cans of diet coke a day, maybe only a couple glasses of water. I couldn't figure out why my sides ached all the time. My mom pointed out that I was probably dehydrated and my kidneys were rebelling. I tend to think she was right, as I cut back significantly and no more side aches. Of course I drank waaaay too much, but still, be careful Also, when my brother had kidney stones, the doctor told him to drink two glasses of water for every glass of soda. If you're drinking 8-12 glasses of water a day, sounds like you're doing that anyway.

There has been some debate about how much water one should drink each day, and whether or not beverages like coffee and tea count towards that amount. As most of us know, coffee and tea contain caffeine, which is a diuretic, and diuretics do the opposite of hydrating you.


A cup of coffee has about 200mg of caffeine. A cup of tea has quite a bit less (40-100mg), depending on the strength of the tea. However, the general consensus as of late is that, despite the caffeine, these beverages still count towards your fluid intake for the day. The reason is that, although caffeine is a diuretic, the amount in a strong cup of coffee or tea is simply not enough to dehydrate, and there will still be a net gain of fluid.


Although coffee and tea may be equal in their hydration factor, tea still gets the upper hand for your health. A recent sutdy in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that drinking tea is not only as good as drinking water, but possibly better, as it may carry extra health benefits in protecting against heart disease and some cancers.


The beneficial ingredients in tea are flavinoids, polyphenol antioxidants that are found in many plants (including tea leaves) that protect against oxidative cell damage. Other benefits were found to be bone strengthening and protection against tooth plaque, due to the flouride content. Researchers from this study recommend 3-4 cups of tea per day to help reduce the risk of heart attack.


One thing not mentioned in this article is the difference between types of tea. Different teas have different amounts of processing and, therefore, have different degrees of health benefits, with green tea found to be the strongest. More on that in another post...


*This particular study was funded by the Tea Council, which usually leaves me extremely skeptical of a study's results. However, this is not new evidence nor is it the first time these findings have been reported.*

http://www.factorfictionnutritionblog.com/2009/03/tea-and-coffee-vs-water.html

Great post. The amount of people who hear a myth and just believe it on face value is amusing.

Tea and coffee are NOT dehydrators the just hydrate less effectively.
I had always counted 1 cup as 3/4 of a cup.

BUT recently read and article about a study that was done about the effective hydration of water vs. coffee... the bottom line was that there was a difference, but it was a very MINIMAL DIFFERENCE and basically it's okay to count a cup of coffee as a cup of water.


Googling now to see If I can find a link for that article.

I had a health instructor in college that taught us this:

Once you add ANYTHING to water, it stops being water. Count only H20 as water. Coffee and tea (which I love and drink a lot of) should not be included in your water intake goals. At least that's my belief....

I definitely don't consider it part of my water consumption. Another question: I drink my coffee black most days and don't log it because it has no nutritional/caloric value. Do other people who drink just black coffee log it? If so, why?