What do you count as water?

I am sure some one has said this already....but you should ONLY count water...plain old water. Other things with solutes in them (especially coffee and tea, which HAVE CAFFEINE--which is a huge diuretic) cause you to actually LOSE water because of how your system of absorption works with fluid dynamics.

SO to be clear....the only thing that is water....is water. Possibly flavored water...but certainly not tea, coffee and juices. And not sports drinks (even calorie free)....they have electrolytes that change the osmolality.

Wrong. All drinkable water has solutes and electrolytes in it. Even in commercial processes where they use reverse osmosis to remove virtually all impurities from tap water (like Dasani or Aquafina's processes) they add salts back in to the water to make it drinkable. If you drank a lot of actual pure water, it would give you crazy diarrhea.

No they aren't free of solutes, but they are hypo-osmolar or isotonic which is what important.

For those of you interested in what actual health professionals think, try this: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

Of particular interest to this thread: "Everyone has heard the advice, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day." That's about 1.9 liters, which isn't that different from the Institute of Medicine recommendations. Although the "8 by 8" rule isn't supported by hard evidence, it remains popular because it's easy to remember. Just keep in mind that the rule should be reframed as: "Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid a day," because all fluids count toward the daily total. "

I've read that as well.

However, that doesn't mean I'm going to count any fluid as water just because it's fluid; it's not water. I'm not going to log a brownie as a can of tuna because it's not a can of tuna, so why would I log tea as water?

Because, unless you are making some weird brownie, there is no tuna in a brownie. There is water in tea.

And a lot of other stuff. Tea isn't water. Have you ever read the back of a box of Hamburger Helper that said "combine noodles, seasoning, ground beef, and tea"? No, because tea isn't water.

There's water in chocolate cake. Do you log chocolate cake as water?

I actually do not log water. I can tell if I am hydrated enough by the fact my pee is the right color. However, I stay hydrated enough due to the amount of milk I drink.

BTW: your post actually made no sense to me.

Which part confused you? That tea isn't water or that just because something has water in it doesn't mean that it's water?

The references to hamburger helper and chocolate cake. Of course you do not log chocolate cake as water as it has calories - but the water you use in it is hydrating. Tea has negligible calories so I do not see the analogy you are trying to make.

For those of you interested in what actual health professionals think, try this: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

Of particular interest to this thread: "Everyone has heard the advice, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day." That's about 1.9 liters, which isn't that different from the Institute of Medicine recommendations. Although the "8 by 8" rule isn't supported by hard evidence, it remains popular because it's easy to remember. Just keep in mind that the rule should be reframed as: "Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid a day," because all fluids count toward the daily total. "

I've read that as well.

However, that doesn't mean I'm going to count any fluid as water just because it's fluid; it's not water. I'm not going to log a brownie as a can of tuna because it's not a can of tuna, so why would I log tea as water?

Because, unless you are making some weird brownie, there is no tuna in a brownie. There is water in tea.

And a lot of other stuff. Tea isn't water. Have you ever read the back of a box of Hamburger Helper that said "combine noodles, seasoning, ground beef, and tea"? No, because tea isn't water.

There's water in chocolate cake. Do you log chocolate cake as water?

I actually do not log water. I can tell if I am hydrated enough by the fact my pee is the right color. However, I stay hydrated enough due to the amount of milk I drink.

BTW: your post actually made no sense to me.

Which part confused you? That tea isn't water or that just because something has water in it doesn't mean that it's water?

The references to hamburger helper and chocolate cake. Of course you do not log chocolate cake as water as it has calories - but the water you use in it is hydrating. Tea has negligible calories so I do not see the analogy you are trying to make.

Well you talk about tea like it's the same thing as water which is why you would count it as water. You wouldn't substitute tea for water in a recipe, so it's not the same thing. Your argument is that you can count tea as water because there is water IN tea. There's water IN cake too, but you don't log that as water.

I was trying to help you see how ridiculous the notion that because something has water in it means you should log it as water is to me. Log however you want to, or don't log it at all. Makes no difference to me. I'm just pointing out that the justification for logging something NOT water as water just because it has water in it is silly in my opinion.

Water and gravy

.it is possible to become dehydrated from drinking excessive sports drink due to the concentration of electrolytes.

I'm curious what types of drinks everyone counts toward the daily water intake. Flor myself, I count water (with or without crystal light, etc.), milk, coffee, tea and my powerade zeroes. I haven't been counting any of the occasional diet sodas or slim-fast type products I may drink.

Does anyone count anything additional or purposely exclude any of the above?

Thanks,
Mike

just water.... (Which I get from sonic...because their ice is yummy and it makes my brain think I'm having something forbidden LOL)