Water intake, Does Tea count and Coffee???

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Replies

  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    I've just made another cup of tea.

    Can one of you graduates above show me where structurally the components of tea connect with the molecule H2O please. I cannot see how anything in tea can structurally change water.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    IMO - tea/coffee DO NOT COUNT as water - if they have caffeine they act as a diuretic which dehydrates you. Decaf is fine to count as water.

    water is water. just drink water, it's not that hard.
  • coffee_rocks
    coffee_rocks Posts: 275 Member
    This thread is the reason I:

    a) don't log my water at all.

    b) stopped accepting friend requests.

    I got tired of the endless little messages on my wall about either how much water they had consumed that day (just hit 188oz for today...52 to go!) or the stupid messages that I'm not drinking enough water, and my coffee doesn't count.

    Yesterday I drank 2 large coffees, a glass of milk and a couple of glasses of water. Shockingly, I still woke up, alive and well, this morning. Now, where is my Starbucks card? I'm parched.
  • MarcieSwitzer
    MarcieSwitzer Posts: 18 Member
    According to my doctor, who is a very bright woman, as long as there is no aspartame, sugar, milk, etc in coffee or tea it is all water. Other research I have done indicates the diuretic effect of the caffeine in tea and coffee has little to no effect on the amount of water consumed. After forty years of insisting only water could be counted as water, even Weight Watchers with their nutritionists have determined the water in everything is water: even milk can be counted as consuming water, although the calories have to be counted as points. If you factor in the awesome antioxidants from tea (all of them) its like taking a multivitamin or herbal supplement with your water. Even coffee, which has taken hits from time to time from the scientific community, has been determined to be very safe and actually good for you. If you add cream, milk, or sugar, you'd need to log that as well.
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
    I don't count anything with caffeine or calories or artificial sweeteners.
  • MarcieSwitzer
    MarcieSwitzer Posts: 18 Member
    Tea and Coffee are both duratics which by function, increase water excretion, so you're kind of sabotaging yourself.
    Water is also a diuretic (it also increases water excretion). Therefore drinking water sabotages yourself.


    :noway:

    Absolutely true, it is the reason we drink water, to flush out the toxins, but if someone is "holding water" from sodium the first thing the doctor says is: drink more water (unless you have known kidney issues then they look for other issues).
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
    Beer counts too right? And soda?
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    IMO - tea/coffee DO NOT COUNT as water - if they have caffeine they act as a diuretic which dehydrates you. Decaf is fine to count as water.

    water is water. just drink water, it's not that hard.
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661

    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.
  • emilynicole02
    emilynicole02 Posts: 355 Member
    You're shortchanging your body if you count tea and other garbage as water. WATER counts as water. Nothing else.



    So are you trying to tell me if you were to add a packet of crystal lite, or some other flavoring to your water, you wouldn't then count that water bottle either???? Tea CAN be counted as water as long as you don't add anything extra to it. Tea Is NOT garbage!! Silly silly girl.
  • dawson55510
    dawson55510 Posts: 197 Member
    I dont drink tea or coffee imo i wouldnt count tea and defo not coffee as hydration liquid for the body
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    You're shortchanging your body if you count tea and other garbage as water. WATER counts as water. Nothing else.



    So are you trying to tell me if you were to add a packet of crystal lite, or some other flavoring to your water, you wouldn't then count that water bottle either???? Tea CAN be counted as water as long as you don't add anything extra to it. Tea Is NOT garbage!! Silly silly girl.

    Why does adding something extra to it make it not water anymore? Yes, you need to count any calories from sweeteners or milk, but you're still getting the water. If you want to tick it off, you can.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    Two words: whole house humidifier
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
    Two words: whole house humidifier
    three words
  • braebrae2001
    braebrae2001 Posts: 1
    I started p90x 4 days ago>>> I also started using the food tracker recomended...I feel bloated...I think im eating way too much.........Havent gained pounds but my stomach is really bloated....I eat so much at times i feel like im going to get sick....Is this normal?
  • gwenmf
    gwenmf Posts: 888 Member
    Think about this logically: Adding tea (or any flavoring) to water does not change the water into anything else.

    Many people choose not to count those things, but their bodies still recognize the water.

    And LMAO at classifying tea as "garbage."

    I agree with this ^

    Most things I've read, if it's caffeine free and calorie free, it can count towards water.
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
    :drinker: my dietition says it does count as water....
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Think about this logically: Adding tea (or any flavoring) to water does not change the water into anything else.

    Many people choose not to count those things, but their bodies still recognize the water.

    And LMAO at classifying tea as "garbage."

    I agree with this ^

    Most things I've read, if it's caffeine free and calorie free, it can count towards water.

    If it has caffeine and calories, it still hydrates you and can count towards water. You just have to also count the calories.
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
    ...Don't you just love how people try to sound smart, when they have no clue what they are talking about?
    Oh, the irony.
    I'm sorry, did the big words confuse you, or do I need to provide references so you can fact check? Just curious, did you Graduate Cum Laude from College, and honors from HS?
    I did, and then I got a PhD from one of the top research institutions in the country.

    So, when you say "It's a chemical reaction therefore it does change the molecular properties of the water." - the water changes from H2O to what, exactly?

    And when you said " Notice such words as "oxidation," "hydrogen acceptors," and "hydrogen donors." All indicate a chemical reaction between the tea and water." - these are all reactions between the compounds and enzymes in the tea (assisted by the heat of the water), not between the tea and the water.

    And when you said "To simplify this, if it was a "physical" reaction, you could draw the tea out of the water by reverse osmosis like you could get the salt, sugar, or even lemon juice out of water." - well, yeah you could. If you leave a cup of tea out for a long time, the water will eventually evaporate and leave the dissolved tea compounds behind.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    Wow, just wow. Can't believe some of the crazy thinking of some people on this site.

    Anything that has water as an ingredient is still water. Your body doesn't know that you added tea, or coffee, or milk, crystal light, mio, soup, or anything else to the water.

    Excessive amounts of caffeine can be dehydrating, and high levels of sodium in your diet, whether it is added to your 'water' or is in other foods you eat, can cause water retention, so in those cases you may want to drink extra water, but stating that water is no longer water if you add anything to it, is just ridiculous.

    Even beer, is mostly water, however the effect of alcohol on your liver is a whole different story.

    I count all of my half-caff coffee, iced tea, milk, soup, and even my occasional diet ginger ale, as my 8 cups of water goal. No need to be so anal about it.
  • ihad
    ihad Posts: 7,463 Member
    Here's a good article from the Mayo clinic on the topic.

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283
  • IntoTheSky
    IntoTheSky Posts: 390 Member
    But, water is water. No matter what you add it to. If you add a tea bag, it does not make the water molecules split and morph to something else. Boiling water is still water. Steam is still water - just in gas form. Ice - still water...... just as a solid. It is no less "water" than it was before. If you drink Chocolate milk, do you CALL it chocolate milk, or insist that the milk and all its benefits are gone because you added chocolate powder or syrup? Sure, it isnt AS good for you, due to the added sugar, but it is still milk. How about coffee? If you add sugar and creamer to it, is it no longer coffee? No. It is still coffee, just higher calorie coffee. Same principle.
  • FairyTerri
    FairyTerri Posts: 22
    I drink green tea, no sweetner and I count it as water! I don't count coffee as i use creamer.
  • JenniBaby85
    JenniBaby85 Posts: 855 Member
    I only count water as water. I still drink coffee and tea, but count them as coffee and tea. I'm thirsty :tongue: :drinker:
  • melodymist
    melodymist Posts: 43 Member
    I think tea counts as water. But in my world coffee does aswell :p
  • Oneday150
    Oneday150 Posts: 240 Member
    I like to drink alot of water ( about 10 cups a day) but with the colder weather its getting harder to drink so much water. When you drink tea does it count as water intake???
    I know where you're coming from there. I've just drank a bottle of water and I'm bloody freezing now, I always am when I drink water which is so annoying. But I've got to say, I won't class water as anything else, water is water.

    Thank you :love: :love: :love: :love:
  • dargriff60
    dargriff60 Posts: 8 Member
    The doctors say water is water. Keep in mind that caffeine can cause you to loose water faster. To you should know that coffee and tea are water, but it will go through you faster.
  • marcia724
    marcia724 Posts: 180 Member
    If it has caffeine you can't count it as water. if it is caffeine and/or sugar free then I count it as water. This is how we would do it in Weight Watchers anyway.
  • mellabyte
    mellabyte Posts: 193 Member
    Personally. I only count water as water. Just a preference. Coffee has negligible calories for me because I drink it black 95% of the time and tea typically has 0 cals for me because I prefer to drink unsweetened - but I still log them individually. If I drank vitamin water zero or something, I still log that too and don't count it as water. If I were to add a tea bag to water, I log that as water and I log the tea bag too.

    Maybe it's a psychological thing because the section reads "Water" not "Drinks". :P
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    If it has caffeine you can't count it as water. if it is caffeine and/or sugar free then I count it as water. This is how we would do it in Weight Watchers anyway.

    WHAT??? LMAO

    It is NOT how WW counts "water." WW counts everything that isn't alcohol as water, including tea and coffee.
  • pixietoes
    pixietoes Posts: 1,591 Member
    I like crystal light flavoring, but hate that according to folks here I can't count it as water.

    Now, I just eat the flavoring out of the packet, and count the glass of water I drink right after.

    Problem solved.:laugh:

    LOL!
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