What do you count as water?

water and 0 calorie flavored water.

Coffee...no because caffeine is a dietetic so technically an 8oz cup of coffee is negative water.

Where do people get this rubbish from? Drinking coffee doesn't count as negative water otherwise thousands of people who drink just coffee as a drink would be dead.

They get it from Shape amd Cosmo magazines that were published before you were born; this myth just won't die.
They will though completely ignore recent publications from Mayo Clinic and other reputable scientific sources.

They also get this from many weightloss meetings and weightloss books/programs. I agree it is myth.

I had this same argument with our company's hired fitness professionals. I even sent them copies of the papers from scientific journals. They insisted that caffeine would dehydrate me. There is obviously no arguing science with a kinesiology major.

Water only, H20. Nothing else is water. Duh!!!

Sorry, how rude. You have to clean your kidneys with water. You cannot do it with coffee, juice, diet coke or regular soft drinks. That other stuff has to go through your digestive system, so does not flush you out the way water does. That's why you need a lot of water when you are dieting, and exercising - keeps you hydrated and your organs cleansed and functioning optimally.

No, sorry. Basically everything counts as "water". Even the water your body extracts from the food you eat.

Just water, everything else I log even if it's 1 cal or 0 cals...

Just water....

FYI, I wouldn't count coffee or tea (unless it is herbal tea) as water because they are actually dehydrating and will require you to need additional water.

Not true, when consumed in moderation: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661

High Water Content Fruits
According to the University of Kentucky the following fresh fruits have a water content of 85 percent or higher: apricot, blueberry, orange, peach, pineapple, plum and raspberry. Melons such as cantaloupe and watermelon have some of the highest water content, at more than 90 percent. These melons are good choices for snacking because they contain less sugar than many other fresh fruits.


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/457205-list-of-fruits-vegetable-with-a-high-water-content/#ixzz25Wy8U2eh

OP- perhaps you should count fruit as water as well...?

no takers huh?

This is such an aggressive run of comments for such a simple question. I log only pure water as water, not because that is the only thing that has hydrating factors & capabilities, simply because that's what I want to use it to measure my consumption of. If you would like to include chocolate cake in your measurement of water then I'm pretty sure no one in swat uniforms jump out of your iPad/iPhone/etc and attacks you for it. Track whatever makes you feel comfortable based on what you want it to measure, and everyone else do the same. I would encourage everyone to be honest with themselves and ensure that all calories, vitamins & nutrients, etc are getting logged correctly by adding these items in a drink/snack/meal field! Hope no one let's water ruin their day (;

Water and herbal tea... and I have herbal tea very seldomly, so it's pretty much good ole plain water

I just count plain old water as water. Every once in awhile I drink a coconut water, which I log under my food since it has calories and other stuff... but I might take that into account if I only get to 7 cups of water that day - I wouldn't actually log it as water too, but I'd know I basically got 8 cups of water. Hopefully I explained that clearly!

Plain water here

if I count in my nutrition under calories, then it doesnt count as water.

Water and water only. Anything else, ie herb tea or watered down juice or any other "real" drinks is a bonus

The reason you need to count plain water is that the molecules of water are "free" and when we put things into our water (coffee, tea, crystal light, sugar, etc) we saturate those water molecules.....hence our body can't use it like it can use plain water. My doc says I need to drink an extra water for each non-water drink I have daily, because many non-water liquids have a diuretic effect.

OMG.

My chemical engineering professors just rolled in their graves. I will have to start a petition to free all those imprisoned water molecules sitting here in my coffee.

Coffee, tea, crystal light, etc. are very very far from saturated water. Do you actually know how much sugar you need to put into water to saturate it? It would gag you from the sweetness. Solubility in water 2000 g/L (25 °C) (from wikipedia) therefore 2 kg per l or for you Americans 4.4 pounds of sugar in 4.2 cups of water.

I know right! But my question to you is...
Why are all of your chem eng. professors dead?

So I read the whole thread. What I gleaned from it is that I am apparently hydrating myself more than I realized, which is sweet. Especially since I am a total coffee addict, and I don't count my coffee as water. As for tea, I don't add anything to it, so I don't usually bother to count it anywhere in my diary.

However, the one thing I didn't see, or maybe I missed, was what's up with "Smart Water." I confess, when I do buy bottled water, which is not regularly, I go for the Smart Water because of those electrolytes that are supposed to be so beneficial to hydration. But I have always wondered if I am just a sucker who fell for an advertising ploy. I know someone can enlighten me...

From: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=10925

Full Report entitled "Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate" is available on-line at http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10925


Report Sets Dietary Intake Levels for Water, Salt, and Potassium
To Maintain Health and Reduce Chronic Disease Risk

WASHINGTON -- The vast majority of healthy people adequately meet their daily hydration needs by letting thirst be their guide, says the newest report on nutrient recommendations from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The report set general recommendations for water intake based on detailed national data, which showed that women who appear to be adequately hydrated consume an average of approximately 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of total water -- from all beverages and foods -- each day, and men average approximately 3.7 liters (125 ounces) daily. These values represent adequate intake levels, the panel said; those who are very physically active or who live in hot climates may need to consume more water. About 80 percent of people's total water comes from drinking water and beverages -- including caffeinated beverages -- and the other 20 percent is derived from food.

"We don't offer any rule of thumb based on how many glasses of water people should drink each day because our hydration needs can be met through a variety of sources in addition to drinking water," said Lawrence Appel, chair of the panel that wrote the report and professor of medicine, epidemiology, and international health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. "While drinking water is a frequent choice for hydration, people also get water from juice, milk, coffee, tea, soda, fruits, vegetables, and other foods and beverages as well. Moreover, we concluded that on a daily basis, people get adequate amounts of water from normal drinking behavior -- consumption of beverages at meals and in other social situations -- and by letting their thirst guide them."