Coffee vs Tea vs Water

You'll get a lot of debate on this. Some people will say coffee and tea both count, while some say that non-caffeinated counts, and some that say only pure water.

I personally don't count anything but pure water...but I drink a crap ton during the day so I'm not even close to the min. of 8 cups.

I only log water as water. I log my coffee as coffee and my tea as tea.

Here is the general rule of thumb - coffee does have calories and the caffeine dehydrates you, so you can't count that as water - especially if you put cream and sugar in it.

Black, green, and white teas all have caffeine, (although the latters less than the black tea) which again, dehydrates you. I don't log these because since I put nothing in them they are 0 calories.

The only thing that has acted like pure water in my body is herbal tea - so long as you put nothing extra in it.

Practice makes perfect. Pure water is really the best thing for you. And keep in mind it's 8 cups... not 8 glasses! If I drink 4 full glasses here, it's a little more than what I need. Easy peasy!

I do. It's my understanding after reading lots of sources that water is water no mater where you get it. Your body will use water the same way regardless of where it comes from. Water in food counts (eat those watery veggies/fruit!) water in soda counts (but it has lots of other bad stuff for you) and water in coffee counts. I do log anything with calories in my food log. Most people don't count coffee because they say caffeine is diuretic (dehydrating) but despite common misconceptions, a little bit of caffeine is NOT going to be dehydrating or cause you to lose extra water. You do NOT have to drink a glass of water for every coffee you have. Caffeine can have a dehydrating effect if you consume enough of it, but that threshold is more than just a cup of coffee or two. As long as you're not drinking more than a few cups (keeping in mind a cup = 8 oz.) then you should be fine. Here's a good source explaining all this: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661

I only count my water as water. I saw on The Doctors that you need to drink a glass of water for every cup of coffee you drink because it dehydrates you.

I only count my water as water. I saw on The Doctors that you need to drink a glass of water for every cup of coffee you drink because it dehydrates you.

Either way coffee and tea dont cout as weater because of the caffeine and other additives.

This is not a cut-and dry issue. I've seen credible medical sources that explain caffeine is only dehyrdating if you consume more than 500-600mg per day. This is more than a few cups of coffee, and quite a bit of tea (more than I could drink in a day). I'm not suggesting people drink only caffeinated beverages all day, but caffeine is NOT as bad as people try to make it seem. There are actually studies that suggest it is great to drink before working out and can boost the effectiveness of workouts (something to do with an effect on your metabolism). If someone drinks a cup or two of coffee or a few glasses of tea a day, there's no reason why it shouldn't be counted as water.