What do you count as 'water'?

I understand that the whole 8 glasses of water thing has been debunked but you still need water. If I was to drink enough juice to stay hydrated I'd be drinking a lot of calories and sugar daily. I drink coffee and the almond milk in my cereal or smoothie but that is it other than water. I have the occasional juice. I don't think anything else should be counted as water. I use the tracker because I think it is important to get enough water. I notice a lot of other drinks leave me feeling thirsty as others have mentioned. Back in the day I would drink 8-10 cans of soda a day and maybe some milk or coffee here or there. My urine was always dark which, if I am correct, means you are dehydrated.

I actually count almost all my liquids in as water (I don't really drink alcohol, so I never thought about it), but I'm also careful to try to drink as much plain boring water as I can. But, that's mainly because A) back when I was doing Weight Watchers, they told us to drink at least half of our water intake as actual water and because a few weeks ago at my regular checkup my Dr. told me I was dehydrated and needed to drink more actual water, so now I do.

All sources of moisture count as water. That includes food, too. The 8 glasses a day has been debunked for a long time. When you are thirsty, drink something. Hungry, try drinking something first to make sure you aren't mistaking thirst for hunger.

Powdered Crystal Light does not magically transform water into something else. It's still water. The only scientific studies I have found that say not to count a drink has been if it's alcoholic or caffinated. Other than that, juice, flavored waters.....all good.

Caffeinated is fine also - plus beer and wine is.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283 - any beverage counts

"beverages such as milk and juice are composed mostly of water. Even beer, wine and caffeinated beverages — such as coffee, tea or soda — can contribute"

"What you eat also provides a significant portion of your fluid needs. On average, food provides about 20 percent of total water intake."


http://www.jacn.org/content/19/5/591.short - any beverage counts

"This preliminary study found no significant differences in the effect of various combinations of beverages on hydration status of healthy adult males. Advising people to disregard caffeinated beverages as part of the daily fluid intake is not substantiated by the results of this study."


http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/12834577 - the diuretic effect of caffeine is minimal

"...nor does it cause significant dehydration or electrolyte imbalance during exercise."


http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/12187618 - the diuretic effect of caffeine is minimal

"The literature indicates that caffeine consumption stimulates a mild diuresis similar to water, but there is no evidence of a fluid-electrolyte imbalance that is detrimental to exercise performance or health"

"Investigations comparing caffeine (100-680 mg) to water or placebo seldom found a statistical difference in urine volume."


http://jap.physiology.org/content/83/4/1152.abstract? - interesting one about alcohol post exercise and recovery

“There appears to be no difference in recovery from dehydration whether the rehydration beverage is alcohol free or contains up to 2% alcohol, but drinks containing 4% alcohol tend to delay the recovery process.”

I understand that the whole 8 glasses of water thing has been debunked but you still need water. If I was to drink enough juice to stay hydrated I'd be drinking a lot of calories and sugar daily. I drink coffee and the almond milk in my cereal or smoothie but that is it. I have the occasional juice. I don't think anything else should be counted as water. I use the tracker because I think it is important to get enough water. I notice a lot of other drinks leave me feeling thirsty as others have mentioned. Back in the day I would drink 8-10 cans of soda a day and maybe some milk or coffee here or there. My urine was always dark which, if I am correct, means you are dehydrated.

Dark urine does not necessarily mean you are dehydrated. There are many water soluable vitamins that change the color of your urine. Have you ever taken a B-Complex vitamin? Within an hour or two, your urine is extremely dark. B vitamins are water soluable. Dark leafy greens will also do that to you.

Drinking excessively leads to water soluable vitamin deficiencies, and is taxing on the kidneys. Depending on your diet, if you keep a very low sodium profile, excessive water can lead to Hypovolemic hyponatremia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia

And way too much water can lead to water poisoning:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

Society tends to think "more is better"....it doesn't. Yes, hydration is important. Water is important. But if you are peeing every 15-20 minutes that means your body is using NOTHING. It's had it's fill and all you are doing is peeing out important essential nutrients.

I don't count water because I believe it's almost entirely meaningless.

That said, I don't believe making a solution with water changes the chemical properties of the water. Unless what you're doing to the water is separating a couple of H's from an O, then your body will still know what to do with it. It seems that some people would have you believe that water you drink with a meal wouldn't count as water because the food would dissolve with it in your stomach.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ QFT

Let's not overthink this, folks.

@Sarauk2sf

I mentioned alcoholic and caffeinated drinks based on my research. The National Library of Medicine / National Institutes of Health state that alcoholic beverages should not be counted because they draw water out of the body. (Ever have too much to drink and you pee a river? It's not just the beer) The #1 cure for a hangover? Drinking tons of water. A hangover is essentially too much water pulled out the brain. That's why your head hurts the morning after. Your brain is literally dehydrated:

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-hangover.htm

Alcohol and caffeine are diuretics....meaning they draw water OUT of your body. Which is why scientists prefer not to count them towards water sources:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002471.htm

water.

Seems to conflict with all the studies I cited.

Yes it does. Seems we're at an impasse.

I count water as water. I drink enough of it that I don't need to factor in coffee's etc.

This was actually one of the questions on my final in my dietetic class this past semester. The general rule of thumb is to count all juices, coffees and teas, caffeinated or decaffeinated, with your water count. You, of course, still need to account for the added calories in these liquids.

Years ago I decided I never really felt hydrated when I drank juice by itself, even a large amount of fresh juice, so I would drink water before having it. I find that with things like soy milk and almond milk too. If I was already thirsty these things did not make me feel less thirsty. That is just me though.

It is not just you.

If I have anything other than water, I feel more thirsty, not less. Mostly because of the sugar content, I believe. I get dry mouth and feel like I am dying of thirst after having a Coke or something similar. The water in it might hydrate you, but the other ingredients surely don't.

But like I said before, I don't count water anyway. I just drink the stuff to the point of hydration and don't worry about it beyond that.

Same here. It was only until I started drinking water on a regular basis that I noticed the difference though.

I count water I get myself out of the tap and bottled mineral water as water, but on the "8 glasses a day" tracker I also include any drinks I make myself with water eg. Sugar free squash, tea, coffee etc. but I log the extra calories from the added items in my diary. I wouldn't however count fruit juice or any fizzy drinks as water, as I haven't directly put the water in them. I'd just log them as usual in my diary and they wouldn't count towards my "8 glasses a day". Fizzy drinks contain too many artificial sugars/sweeteners to be classed as healthy as 1 of your "8 a day" in my opinion.

Okay. It's called water for a reason. That little ticker that lets you track your water intake says "WATER". Not liquids. Not fluids. Not flavored beverages. Not alcohol. Not diet coke. Not reconstituted condensed soup. It says water. Guess what counts as water? Water. The end. If it has any ingredients besides H2O it's NOT water and personally, I don't think should be counted.

I don't see the point in tracking water. There are plenty of other, more important, things to track and stress over.

This. But just about anything liquid can be counted as water.

I will count water and herbal teas as water. I sometimes count green tea as water but I'm a bit iffy on that one due to the caffeine. If I add things like crystal light or Mio I don't count it as water. I also don't count milk, juice, soda, or anything like that either. I count the calories or everything and I list the non water drinks that I drink. This is just how I keep track of things.

Okay. It's called water for a reason. That little ticker that lets you track your water intake says "WATER". Not liquids. Not fluids. Not flavored beverages. Not alcohol. Not diet coke. Not reconstituted condensed soup. It says water. Guess what counts as water? Water. The end. If it has any ingredients besides H2O it's NOT water and personally, I don't think should be counted.

Totally agree!