8 glasses of water

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princessleia1980
princessleia1980 Posts: 81 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just wondering whether we should count cups of tea as one of these or whether people are drinking 8 glasses of water as well as tea?
I do count the milk that I put in and am trying to reduce the amount I drink, but I am English and so everything seems much better when I have a cup of tea in my hand!

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  • treehugger88
    treehugger88 Posts: 22 Member
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    I wouldn't think tea would count... but I'm not sure... do you put sugar in your tea?
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
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    tea and coffee are just as hydrating as water according to the experts--but be aware that the mfp calories for tea is very lose and you would be bext doing your own input based on your chosen milk readings
  • MiekeJ
    MiekeJ Posts: 139
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    You'll probably get a lot of different opinions regarding this topic. However, in my personal opinion I believe that once you add something to 'plain' water, it no longer is water - therefore, wont do what we need it to do sufficiently. I.E. Hydrate, cleanse, etc. Don't get me wrong though... tea is cleasing as well amoung many other things, but plain water is better! :-)

    Our bodies are made up of 70% water; so when we are dehydrated we should be focusing on using water to rehydrate.

    Hope this helps.
  • katie54321
    katie54321 Posts: 18
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    yeah it does because you are still drinking a cup of water!
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
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    water takes away elecrolytes and if you are drinking excessive amounts you need to take salt to replace them-i use squash and a small amount of salt --you can actually drink too much water!--tea also has a lot of fiber in it!--it should be noted that you shouldnt drink tea within an hour of eating because the tannins wash away a lot of food goodness
  • Rhonnie
    Rhonnie Posts: 506 Member
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    Most experts count green tea towards your 8 glasses of water, but if you are drinking it 'English' style you'll want to count the sugar and milk/cream you add in your calorie intake.
  • emmaldownie
    emmaldownie Posts: 232 Member
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    Haha if tea counts then maybe I am getting my 8 glasses a day! I'm luck if I manage 2 ordinary glasses of water!
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
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    i teach English from an Oxford University book that uses water as one of the topics. They have done a mass controlled test where they compared water drinking to tea and coffee drinking, there was no difference in the hydration levels between the two groups of 'guinea pigs'.---the books are well researched and come from the University's professors who are advised by the science faculty.
    i did my own calculation on my uht normal milk and got a count of 38 calories a cup(and 4 fiber) -so there is fatness in that there' cuppa--i stopped drinking the full creamed stuff and i am now finding i miss the fiber that abounded in it!
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
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    I think its funny that no one asked about whether the tea has caffeine or not.

    For every drink that contains caffeine, you are supposed to have an extra glass of water. The tea and coffee themselves contain water, true, however the caffeine in them also dehydrates. So if you're not just drinking herbal tea, you need to add more water.

    And, like said previously, any additives should also be logged.
  • princessleia1980
    princessleia1980 Posts: 81 Member
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    I don't have sugar or sweetener in it and although I do have quite a lot of milk, it is skimmed milk and I do count that everyday. It is caffeinated tea though. Maybe I should switch to Decaf? I've bought some decaffeinated Green tea to try.
  • 623Hernandez
    623Hernandez Posts: 458
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    I hate water!! I am trying to get 8 cups plain waters a day because plain water doesn't make your liver and kidneys work so hard at filtering the caffeine, flavors, or sweeteners and water helps the function of just about everything in your body. At least that is what I am telling myself to get those 8 glasses down. I have water with meals now rather than tea or diet soda now. I now drink between 2 to 6 cups of water a day. It is getting easier. I am going to try a lot harder now!:drinker:
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
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    i might be under a mis-conception but isnt it healthier to eat food dry because the digestive system finds it easier to deal just with one process at a time--maybe i am wrong????
  • princessorchid
    princessorchid Posts: 198 Member
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    I only drink herbal tea (uncaffeinated) and green tea, so I count cups of tea as water - I don't add sugar or milk though! I also count diluting juice as water, but i put a miniscule amount of squash in so it IS mostly water...I still count the calories in the sqush though.
  • bloblynda
    bloblynda Posts: 99 Member
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    As far as I am concerned I am getting enough water (whether its plain water or tea) if my wee is practically colourless!
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
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    TEA and Coffee are counted as normal water--the caffeine intake is taken out by the purification in the liver--i wee just as much on clear water as i do tea--but tea colourises obviously!!--more problematic is drinking water or tea at meal times-this washes away the nutrients you are trying to retain when eating-i have been told you should drink a glass of water 30minutes before a meal and then not another for 2 hours.
  • leix
    leix Posts: 176
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    Interesting.
    I dont add nothing to my tea, apart from tea bag.
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
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    then you have a nil calorie count! i drink green tea with no milk sometimes and it counts nothing--the milk is where the calories lurk(oh and the sugar)
  • Kath712
    Kath712 Posts: 1,263 Member
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    The rule of thumb I remember from Weight Watchers like 20 years ago was ... a caffeinated drink (soda, coffee, tea) does not count toward your water intake. A decaf drink counts as 1/2 the equivalent (so a 12 oz. drink would count as 6 oz. water).

    I have ~12 oz. caffeinated tea every morning, then water all day. I gave up my daily diet soda habit months ago and don't miss it all. I'll have the occasional diet soda, maybe once a week.
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
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    i have a well researched article compiled by Oxford university in collaboration with harvard that goes against that--they did a mass test of hydration levels for people drinking only water against others drinking only sodas and tea etc and at the end of it there was no difference -water is water. Even food has a lot of fluid in it

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