Would You Count Tea in Your Water Intake?

brittanyabanks · January 2014

Just wondering cause I drink a lot of tea through out the day and tea bags don't have calories and I don't usually have a lot of sugar or anything. For a 16 oz cup of tea I would have 2 tea bags, 1-2 two gram packets of sugar, 3 teaspoons of lemon and a half a teaspoon of honey and I don't stir the contents together. I just let them dissolve or settle at the bottom.

Thanks for your opinions!

Ferrous_Female_Dog · January 2014

Yes.

jshay295 · January 2014

I've been considering it , but personally for the time being I don't simply because one of my goals was to get accustomed to drinking pure water all the time, instead of coke, juice, etc. and to drink more of it. I'll track a teabag and milk, so I know I have tea, but I don't count the water in it, just because I don't know...I don't count the water in pop or juice either, I'm not sure! That's just what works for me. I used to drink a few cups of tea a day and if I counted it as drinking my water I know I'd use it as an excuse to drink more lol.

mekkzy888 · January 2014

I do because I drink at least 6 mugs of the stuff a day with sweetener and skimmed milk as well as bottles of sugar-free squash so normally I just assume I'm quite well hydrated!

RatherBeInTheShire · January 2014

I do, but I don't add anything to my tea. I just drink it plain.

jayjay12345654321 · January 2014

It depends. What kind of tea is it? Herbal teas are caffeine free. Green tea, black tea, Earl Grey, Lipton, those all have caffeine.

Caffeine is a diuretic, which means your body uses water to flush it out. A glass of tea, a whole pitcher of tea or coffee even, will not dehydrate you, but depending on the caffeine levels (multiple tea bags, extra scoops of coffee grounds in the filter basket), you're losing part of the water you just ingested to flush out the caffeine. NOT ALL, sure as I'm sitting here, some extremist will come along and read this wrong and go off on a tangent. Just some.

So, if you're going to use caffeinated beverages as your main source of water, enjoy a few extra glasses (assuming the caffeine won't disrupt your sleep) or add a few glasses of water to make up for what you lose in the flush.

brittanyabanks · February 2014

It's usually decaf green tea or black tea.

perseverance14 · February 2014

I don't count coffee or tea but I would think you could count herbal teas if you want.

Ang108 · February 2014

Just wondering cause I drink a lot of tea through out the day and tea bags don't have calories and I don't usually have a lot of sugar or anything. For a 16 oz cup of tea I would have 2 tea bags, 1-2 two gram packets of sugar, 3 teaspoons of lemon and a half a teaspoon of honey and I don't stir the contents together. I just let them dissolve or settle at the bottom.

Thanks for your opinions!

I drink tea in the PM and evening. I use one tea bag for one mug, no sugar, no milk/cream and no natural or artificial sweetener. I count it as part of my water intake. If I would add anything that has calories, even just a few, I would log it and count it in my daily calorie allowance, but not in my water. This might not be scientific, but it works for me.

Bellusion · February 2014

I don't, simply because I need to make sure I drink extra water (because I'm breastfeeding).. but my doctor told me you can count both tea and coffee.

hilts1969 · February 2014

Just wondering cause I drink a lot of tea through out the day and tea bags don't have calories and I don't usually have a lot of sugar or anything. For a 16 oz cup of tea I would have 2 tea bags, 1-2 two gram packets of sugar, 3 teaspoons of lemon and a half a teaspoon of honey and I don't stir the contents together. I just let them dissolve or settle at the bottom.

Thanks for your opinions!

Unless you make tea without water then the answer is yes, water is water

lseed87 · February 2014

I don't. Usually contains 0 calories. I don't put anything in it. Well if it is chia tea i would add milk but i usually just have green teas.

If it is something i never had before then i would count it.

CapeCodSheila · February 2014

I asked this question once and got some really nasty responses. I hope those negative people are gone by now
I count my decaffeinated unsweetened tea but I wouldn't count anything with added sugar, honey, etc. In the olden days in Weight Watchers, we were told to have at least half our fluid intake as water, and then we could count any calorie free, non-carbonated, decaffeinated fluid for the other half. I'm finding I love club soda!

christopherphillips1983 · February 2014

It depends. What kind of tea is it? Herbal teas are caffeine free. Green tea, black tea, Earl Grey, Lipton, those all have caffeine.

Caffeine is a diuretic, which means your body uses water to flush it out. A glass of tea, a whole pitcher of tea or coffee even, will not dehydrate you, but depending on the caffeine levels (multiple tea bags, extra scoops of coffee grounds in the filter basket), you're losing part of the water you just ingested to flush out the caffeine. NOT ALL, sure as I'm sitting here, some extremist will come along and read this wrong and go off on a tangent. Just some.

I'd agree completely with this. I don't add anything to my water counter that isn't actually a cup of plain water, but I also don't drink tea or coffee. I've seen several posts on this forum made by people who count literally any liquid as part of their 8 cups of water, including Coke, milk, beer, whatever. I've had enough classes on nutritional science to know that's a terrible mistake, but I usually don't feel like arguing with them about it.

If I drank something like an herbal tea, I wouldn't feel bad about including it as part of my water intake for the day.

ashleyisgreat · February 2014

The main point is that you are hydrated, and it doesn't actually matter so much how you do that. Here's an article that explains some of the science behind this and how the arbitrary number of 64 ounces came to be a standard guideline. It also links to some actual science, in case you want to read more. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-glasses-water-per-day/

Anyway, the point is that you stay hydrated, but there's no need to worry about the number of ounces or what counts and what doesn't. It's arbitrary nonsense that people have propagated for too long! So, yeah, your tea totally counts. Drink up! :drinker:

BrainyBurro · February 2014

The main point is that you are hydrated, and it doesn't actually matter so much how you do that. Here's an article that explains some of the science behind this and how the arbitrary number of 64 ounces came to be a standard guideline. It also links to some actual science, in case you want to read more. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-glasses-water-per-day/

Anyway, the point is that you stay hydrated, but there's no need to worry about the number of ounces or what counts and what doesn't. It's arbitrary nonsense that people have propagated for too long! So, yeah, your tea totally counts. Drink up! :drinker:

^ boom! ...that.