Water= coffee ?

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Lambchop12345
Lambchop12345 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Rookie question! When tracking water consumption should your coffee intake be logged as water too? Thanks

Replies

  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Recent science indicates that coffee and tea are fine hydrators and the caffeine has less of a diuretic effect than thought. Really, any water content counts.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,297 Member
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    i don't count anything as water..except pure water..maybe with a squeeze of lemon. the debate on this goes on and on. I just know i lose better when i drink some pure water.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I only log water as water.

    I drink coffee and iced tea and iced coffee, and log those too with the appropriate meal, and may include them as overall fluid intake for my day, but I only count water as water.

    I go by thirst and urine color to determine if I'm drinking enough.
  • RCottonRPh
    RCottonRPh Posts: 148
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    As much as I love coffee, I would never say that water = coffee.
  • trenee35
    trenee35 Posts: 143
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    I log water and vitamin water (no sugar) as water. I don't include coffee, juice and such.
  • MorningWhispers
    MorningWhispers Posts: 182
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    Anything but pure water is not water. Coffee, tea, soda, etc are not water - something added to the water has changed it and its no longer just water.

    The only thing I put in my water is a slice of lemon and ice cubes.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I don't log water at all. The whole 8 cups of water per day thing is a myth anyway, and as long as you are hydrated (your urine is pale yellow) you're fine.

    Coffee will hydrate you. However it has calories so I log it as part of my breakfast.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    i don't count anything as water..except pure water..maybe with a squeeze of lemon. the debate on this goes on and on. I just know i lose better when i drink some pure water.

    I put a squeeze of coffee in my water and count it. Actually, all I do is run hot water over the coffee grounds. I know I lose better when I eat at a calorie deficit.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    I log coffee as coffee...I don't bother logging plain water. That said, I fail to see how water ceases to be water when filtered through coffee.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    Anything but pure water is not water. Coffee, tea, soda, etc are not water - something added to the water has changed it and its no longer just water.

    The only thing I put in my water is a slice of lemon and ice cubes.

    Adding something to water does not change that there is still water in the solution. All you've done is dissolve a solute into a solvent creating a homogeneous solution. If you put a gram of sugar into 1000g of water and then drink it, your body is going to utilize that 1000g of water for the bodily functions that require water. Your body isn't going to get the water, notice that there's sugar in it and say "no way, that's not pure water, I won't be using that." leading you down a dangerous path to dehydration and death.

    The point of the water tracker on this site is to ensure adequate hydration. You will get hydration from milk, tea, soda and coffee just as well as if you drink pure water (assuming you use moderation and keep your caffeine intakes below 400-500mg).
  • kellyskitties
    kellyskitties Posts: 475 Member
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    I don't log water at all. The whole 8 cups of water per day thing is a myth anyway, and as long as you are hydrated (your urine is pale yellow) you're fine.

    Coffee will hydrate you. However it has calories so I log it as part of my breakfast.

    Coffee and tea are diuretic drinks - however, I agree about the water thing being something of a myth. It was a comment made - I don't recall when anymore - about how much fluid we should consume total including all intakes (all foods and drinks) and somehow became a dietary directive.

    I do see it being something to help you avoid a loss of control. Somebody posted when they are really wanting to eat something they shouldn't they drink a glass of water. When the water is gone if they still want it they eat it. They stated that for them, personally, that is helping. So I see that as a good thing.

    I only log water as water, and sometimes I don't even do that. If I'm not losing weight, I might reconsider. I might use it to delay extra eating I need to avoid. So YMMV?
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    I don't log water at all. The whole 8 cups of water per day thing is a myth anyway, and as long as you are hydrated (your urine is pale yellow) you're fine.

    Coffee will hydrate you. However it has calories so I log it as part of my breakfast.

    Coffee and tea are diuretic drinks - however, I agree about the water thing being something of a myth. It was a comment made - I don't recall when anymore - about how much fluid we should consume total including all intakes (all foods and drinks) and somehow became a dietary directive.

    I do see it being something to help you avoid a loss of control. Somebody posted when they are really wanting to eat something they shouldn't they drink a glass of water. When the water is gone if they still want it they eat it. They stated that for them, personally, that is helping. So I see that as a good thing.

    I only log water as water, and sometimes I don't even do that. If I'm not losing weight, I might reconsider. I might use it to delay extra eating I need to avoid. So YMMV?

    Coffee and tea being diuretic drinks is also a myth as long as you stay under 400-500mg.

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
  • ostrichagain
    ostrichagain Posts: 271 Member
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    The only thing that I can think of that will dehydrate you to drink is alcohol. I don't count alcohol. I usually don't bother tracking my water, I don't have a problem staying hydrated.
  • Raze1977
    Raze1977 Posts: 5 Member
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    I think the point of the "pure Water" is for more of the calories content than hydration. Coffee, tea, and juice all have calories, and should be logged as that so you can keep an accurate calories count. That is not to say that you can log as water too... Also there is no empirical data saying that you should be drink 8 cups of water a day. Your body will let you know if you are not getting enough water, LISTEN to it!
  • 1longroad
    1longroad Posts: 642 Member
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    I don't drink coffee or tea on a daily basis, so when I have it, I do include it in my water totals. The majority of what I log, is water.
  • Elicur
    Elicur Posts: 78 Member
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    The weeks I drop all hydrates besides water, I lose more. I really don't count coffee as water, usually because it's NOT water, it's COFFEE. Perhaps I rely on grammar more.
  • PhattiPhat
    PhattiPhat Posts: 349 Member
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    If you wanna get technical, I'm pretty sure you can keep track of how much water you used in the pot of coffee and just log that amount. Then when your done with that, you can log the calories from the actual coffee that you consumed in your coffee in your food journal. Then a problem will arise when your out and about and you order a coffee from somewhere and now you have to ask the barista how much water was blended into your coffee. Then you can log that as water. Then you have to ask the barista again how much coffee she used in your drink so you can log that separately. This is assuming you drink plain coffee with no other ingredients. See where I'm going with this....

    Just log the freakin water as water and try to drink more. Save yourself some grief lol.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    I think the point of the "pure Water" is for more of the calories content than hydration. Coffee, tea, and juice all have calories, and should be logged as that so you can keep an accurate calories count. That is not to say that you can log as water too... Also there is no empirical data saying that you should be drink 8 cups of water a day. Your body will let you know if you are not getting enough water, LISTEN to it!

    ^this

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