Water vs other liquids question

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  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I agree with you 100%; it's about burning more calories than we take in, but I've also heard that the artificial sweeteners in diet soda actually serve to increase your appetite. Whether that's true or not, I'm not sure. I think it would affect each individual differently since our metabolisms are unique to each of us. I'm glad it's worked for you and congratulations on the life change! keep up the good work!

    No studies have ever proven that.
  • hj1119
    hj1119 Posts: 173 Member
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    I'm not an expert on caffeine and what an acceptable intake is because I don't drink more than a cup of tea / coffee a day and it's nearly always decaf, but wouldn't 100 ounces of iced tea contain like 4 or 5 times the recommended daily amount? That doesn't mess with hydration?
  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
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    I agree with you 100%; it's about burning more calories than we take in, but I've also heard that the artificial sweeteners in diet soda actually serve to increase your appetite. Whether that's true or not, I'm not sure. I think it would affect each individual differently since our metabolisms are unique to each of us. I'm glad it's worked for you and congratulations on the life change! keep up the good work!
    its actually false, many people just misinterpret the studies that try to test this. the studies say that diet sodas do nothing to satiate us, positive or negative, which makes sense as they have zero cals
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
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    I'm not an expert on caffeine and what an acceptable intake is because I don't drink more than a cup of tea / coffee a day and it's nearly always decaf, but wouldn't 100 ounces of iced tea contain like 4 or 5 times the recommended daily amount? That doesn't mess with hydration?

    No, it does not mess with hydration:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16131696
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15467100
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21450118
  • Quasita
    Quasita Posts: 1,530 Member
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    Clean water serves a couple purposes, and can aid in digestion, in the sense that it provides a no-calorie way of keeping peristalsis going throughout the day, which moves foods through your system with more ease. It's also more easily available for energy metabolism.

    That being said, the Mayo Clinic suggests you get a couple clean water servings a day, but the majority of our liquids come from what we eat and drink.

    When it comes to alcohol, I think the point is that given a few servings, it can drain your fluids while leaving the calories behind.

    The only thing I try to remember is that if our drinks have extra "stuff" in them, it means they have to be actively filtered. Water helps dilute and make the filtration process easier on our systems.
  • hj1119
    hj1119 Posts: 173 Member
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    No, it does not mess with hydration:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16131696
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15467100
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21450118

    Thanks :)
  • MississippiMama87
    MississippiMama87 Posts: 204 Member
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    Your body doesn't particularly know or care if the water comes in it's own in a glass, mixed with some sugar/flavourings/caffeine in a drink, or in the boiled carrots.

    From what I've seen, current thinking is that the best way to judge your fluid intake using a very sophisticated system that has taken a massive amount of time to develop...
    If you're thirsty, have a drink ;).

    Thirst is an indication of dehydration.
  • pghdev
    pghdev Posts: 7
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    Thanks for all the info, everyone. I very much appreciate the feedback.
  • sticky130
    sticky130 Posts: 101 Member
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    agreed, you just have to watch for hidden calories.

    even the sodium and caffeine content dont effect how much a beverage hydrates you all that much. the one outlier is alcohol IMO, i wouldnt count on any alcoholic drink to hydrate you
    The well-known scientists on Dual Survival poured out a beer rather than save it for hydration because it wouldn't actually hydrate. It seemed vaguely blasphemous.


    I've always wondered about beer. I've read nothing about this but my guess would be that beer would actually serve to hydrate a little. It has such a low alcohol content but I don't know. Someday I'll actually look it up.
    "Think that the alcohol in beer will dry you out? Think again. Researchers at the Granada University in Spain have found that beer can provide better hydration than water in some instances, like after a workout. Professor Manuel Garzon, the head of this study on beer and fitness, asked students to sweat it out in 104°F weather. Then he gave half of the students water and the other half beer. He found that the students who had a pint were slightly more hydrated. "

    I'm taking this as gospel because it fits so neatly with my post-lawnmowing ritual.

    This actually made me spit the water I was drinking at my screen..lol:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • jenniferbystrom
    jenniferbystrom Posts: 3
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    Tea is good and there are some drinks, Hansons is one that has a diet drink with Splenda which I was told to drink a small amount of if I just got completely burned out on water, ect. Don't use anything with Aspartame for the sweetener.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Don't use anything with Aspartame for the sweetener.
    Or do use EVERYTHING with aspartame for the sweetener, because unless you have a specific intolerance towards it, there's no reason not to.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Don't use anything with Aspartame for the sweetener.
    Or do use EVERYTHING with aspartame for the sweetener, because unless you have a specific intolerance towards it, there's no reason not to.
    Well, it tastes nasty and I think that's a valid reason to avoid it.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    Don't use anything with Aspartame for the sweetener.
    Or do use EVERYTHING with aspartame for the sweetener, because unless you have a specific intolerance towards it, there's no reason not to.
    Well, it tastes nasty and I think that's a valid reason to avoid it.

    interesting. I think avocados taste nasty. I shall make sure to tell everyone to avoid them. Green beans, too!
  • Icandoityayme
    Icandoityayme Posts: 312 Member
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    I drink unsweetened green tea. It is zero calories and less caffine than regular tea or coffee. It still tastes like tea, but not much different than water with a few benefits to it as well. You can look up the benefits of green tea online.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Don't use anything with Aspartame for the sweetener.
    Or do use EVERYTHING with aspartame for the sweetener, because unless you have a specific intolerance towards it, there's no reason not to.
    Well, it tastes nasty and I think that's a valid reason to avoid it.

    interesting. I think avocados taste nasty. I shall make sure to tell everyone to avoid them. Green beans, too!
    Avocados must be where people get their senses of humor.
  • jmv7117
    jmv7117 Posts: 891 Member
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    One thing I'm having trouble finding and answer to is if you want to keep with the "drink lots of water" to help weight loss methodology, what about the water in other beverages? Yes, I know, pure water is the best, but I'm really looking from a scientific standpoint, as in:

    If I consume 64 ounces of pure water a day, or I consume, say 100 ounces of 0 calorie iced tea, am I getting my "water" content that will help to burn calories, or is there something in the additives (agreed, that anything with sodium will add to retention) that basically nullifies the weight lose benefit of the water?

    Seems to me that from a science perspective it would be more about consuming "liquids", as long as the calories were in line with your diet plan, rather than the consumption of pure water?

    Thoughts?

    I've seen arguments for the side that any liquid counts as your water content but there is something to be said for drinking plain water. Drinking plain water causes your body to release retained water (aka water weight) while flushing toxic waste from your body. I personally choose water as my preferred drink paying more attention to replenish any dehydration due to exercise. Both sugar and salt can make you thirstier as well as cause you to retain water. If water retention is not a problem, then hydration via plain coffee and tea would be fine. Juices, soda and other beverages will likely hydrate to some degree but calories can be an issue when you are trying to create a calorie deficit because they tend to be high calorie. I personally would not drink diet soda but others do on a regular basis without them apparently hindering their weight loss. Keep in mind, that weight loss is only part of the equation so whether these drinks have other negative health effects is dependent on the individual.

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