8 cups of water..

some will tell you yes and some will say no. personally i say yes. its still water. some people think only herbal tea should count because caffeine is a diuretic. but i still count black tea and green tea as well.

I count it if it's caffeine free. Just like I don't count my coffee because it's really causing me to dehydrate.

Depends on what kind of tea - caffeinated or not? If it's caffeinated, it's NOT the same because caffeine is a diuretic (dehydrates you) so you actually need more water to counteract it.

It must be caffeine free to be counted as water. caffeine will dehydrate you so for every cup of caffeine you have, you must have a cup of water in addition to your 8 cups. Just my own rule - LOL. But for real, if your tea has caffeine in it, it does not count because of the dehydrating effect of caffeine.

There is a popular urban myth stating that tea and coffee dehydrate you and are worse than drinking nothing at all.

There is a tiny grain of truth to this: they are caffeinated and caffeine is a diuretic, meaning that it stresses your kidneys and makes you have to urinate more, thereby reducing the amount of the water you are able to hold on to.

But it's not that strong of a diuretic, hardly the stuff a doctor would prescribe and especially not in such small doses. The fact remains that despite getting a tiny dose of a weak diuretic in every cup, tea is still almost entirely water and will hydrate you almost the exact amount as a similarly sized glass of water.

Tea also contains polyphenol antioxidants that may help fight heart disease.

Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5281046.stm
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_health/health1/1-tea-or-water.htm
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/50514.php

I have asked the same question about what counts as water. I drink Peppermint Tea which is herbal and caffeine free so I guess I can count that. I was wondering about Crystal Light but see the comments on here about that.

Depends on what kind of tea - caffeinated or not? If it's caffeinated, it's NOT the same because caffeine is a diuretic (dehydrates you) so you actually need more water to counteract it.

Absolutely spot on. And if you're exercising up to 20% of performance can be lost from not being appropriately hydrated, so it can matter a lot.

Water is used by the kidneys to flush out and clean out. If the water has something in it, like a sweetener or even a tea, then the kidneys have to purify the drink instead of the drink purifying the kidney.

I found this web page: very interesting. http://healthrecipes.com/drinking_water.htm

There’s no substitute for water!

Beverages that simply contain water aren’t good enough. juice, soda, tea, coffee etc. counter the positive effects of water; some, in fact, may also be unhealthy. For example, drinks containing caffeine stimulate your adrenal gland and dehydrate and rob your body of important vitamins and minerals. Beverages containing lots of sugars stimulate the pancreas, boosting your insulin levels and taking your body out of its natural fat burning state. Sodas are a quadruple whammy. Colas, in particular, contain caffeine, sugar, sodium and acid that could eat through a dime. Have you ever tried the household remedy to a calcium and lime rusted toilet? Just let a bottle of soda sit in the toilet for a bit and presto — a sparkling toilet! I’m not saying that you should completely eliminate these drinks from your diet. However, you may want to replace them with water whenever possible and at least keep them at a low to moderate level.

Water and Weight Loss

Drinking water may be the most important piece to the weight loss puzzle. Water contains no calories, fat, or cholesterol and is low in sodium. It is nature’s appetite suppressant, and it helps the body to metabolize fat. Current research shows that low water intakes yield an increase in fat deposits. Conversely, a high water intake reduces the amount fat deposits. Without enough water, the kidneys cannot function properly. As a result, some of their workload is pushed off onto the liver, in turn preventing the liver from operating at peak levels.

How does all this tie into weight loss? Because metabolizing fat is a primary function of the liver, and because the liver can’t function at peak levels when taking on the added workload from the kidneys, less body fat is metabolized and more is stored. This leads to either weight gain or reaching a plateau of weight loss. When dieting, we restrict the calories we take in, to some degree. By doing so, we lessen the total amount of water available to our bodies since about 30% of the average person’s water intake comes from the food they eat. This gives us even more reason to raise our water intake.

http://healthrecipes.com/drinking_water.htm

My question has always been this:
Is there enough caffeine in, say, a coke zero (no calories, but with caffeine) to completely counteract all the water in it? I don't have the label in front of me, but I believe water is the first ingredient listed. It seems like such a small amount of caffeine in comparison.

My question has always been this:
Is there enough caffeine in, say, a coke zero (no calories, but with caffeine) to completely counteract all the water in it? I don't have the label in front of me, but I believe water is the first ingredient listed. It seems like such a small amount of caffeine in comparison.

Not in ONE coke, no. The research points to reaching a "threshhold" of caffeine of at least 300 mg or more/day before the diuretic effect kicks in. Most sodas range from 25-70 mg each.

There is plenty of water in the food and beverages you consume every day. Adding extra water (the 8 glasses a day thing) will not hurt and may help you feel more hydrated. Also, drinking any beverage can help you feel full faster. Unfortunately for most people who want to lose weight "hunger" isn't the real issue so feeling full faster doesn't help much.
My opinion, I like water and I drink it but I'm done with the days of forcing and counting my glasses of water. My body knows what it needs and will ask for it. All I need to do is listen and respond.

There is plenty of water in the food and beverages you consume every day. Adding extra water (the 8 glasses a day thing) will not hurt and may help you feel more hydrated. Also, drinking any beverage can help you feel full faster. Unfortunately for most people who want to lose weight "hunger" isn't the real issue so feeling full faster doesn't help much.
My opinion, I like water and I drink it but I'm done with the days of forcing and counting my glasses of water. My body knows what it needs and will ask for it. All I need to do is listen and respond.

I think that's a very sensible approach and it fits into my "skeptic" mentality.

I'm a 6' 1", 271 lb, 55 year old male - does it make sense that I should drink the same amount of water at a 5' 0", 120 lb, 20 year old female?

The answer that most of us would probably respond with is "no".

So, why the "8 glasses a day" mantra?

It turns out that there is some historical basis for it but that reasoning has been lost in the mists of time.

First question is what motives do a source have for their statements?

Companies that sell water (I get a kick out of how rich we Americans are that we actually buy water in bottles but that's another story) will gladly push the idea that you should be drinking water constantly.

Apparently some colleges recommend that students actually carry water with them so they can sip it during the course of the day.

As a soldier and an officer, I was keenly aware of water intake when we were in the desert. I had to order some of my guys to drink canteens full of water every few hours to minimize heat casualties.

Rule of thumb - if you can see your urine, you're low on water.
Rule of thumb - you need to drink one canteen of water every hour.
Rule of thumb - you need to drink 8 glasses of water every day.

Bunk.

I looked into this a few years ago and the articles that I read ranged from "you should drink 8 glasses" to "there's no medical need for 8 glasses of water per day but it's widely acknowledged that…"

Oy.

The only research that I've seen was by Heinz Valtin, MD who is (was) on the staff at Dartmouth. If you google him, you'll see that he was prolific for a while around 2002.

A couple of links:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2002/aug/080802.html

http://bioprin.posterous.com/

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20020711213420data_trunc_sys.shtml

From what I read from the good Doc, it put to rest the issue about urine color (one that I was told throughout my 8 years in the Army) and the "need" for x amount of water per day, regardless of height, weight, and age.

Personally, I have a water bottle from these guys that is great.


http://thinkbabybottles.3dcartstores.com/Insulated-Sports-Bottles-_c_6.html


(I bought mine on Amazon, BTW)

I usually have 600 ML of coffee in the AM and then a 750 ML bottle of water in the afternoon. Thanks to the bottle being insulated, the water stays cold so it's refreshing to drink even when it's been out of the 'fridge for a few hours.



I'd love to read reports of research done in this area - please post your links.