tea/coffee/diet pop same as water?

Unless you're prone to kidney/bladder stones, which can be aggravated by some of the minerals in tea or colas.

Yes, they're exactly the same.

Dear Posters,

I would like to remind you to use the help boards to answer the questions presented in to OP. If you find you need to debate something more intricately please start a new topic in the debate section.

Many of the replies here have been moved to this new debate thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634141/tea-coffe-diet-pop-vs-water-debate

Thanks for your cooperation,
4legs
MFP moderator

wildflower2176 wrote: »

i'm not a fan for water. i love tea (all types). should i try to get the 8 glasses of water too?

Simple answer: no, go ahead and count your tea.

Ryansworld84 wrote: »

Drink water not just diet pop.

More complicated answer, partially in reference to the above:

OP's question was whether he or she could count some other beverages toward the water goal. OP did not say that he or she would not drink any water (or only diet pop). In fact, OP did not mention diet pop, but tea. (OP, please correct me if I am wrong!)

I personally find plain water more enjoyable at times (certainly during a workout), but I doubt that drinking only infused water (water with fruit in it) or tea (water flavored with tea leaves or other plants, since herbal teas are called tea) and then consumed either hot or cold, is somehow going to be less desirable than drinking water.

OP, personally, I see no reason to count how much I drink, and if you think it's important to reach a specific amount of cups of water, the answer is no, you don't. I drink to thirst and my pee is the right color (good way to check hydration level).

If for some reason I had trouble consuming sufficient water for hydration (which I find extremely surprising in a human, so you probably don't really have to worry about it), then I might set goals to encourage myself or plan to have a drink whenever I ate something and exercised and so on. Water is probably better when exercising (at least it tastes better to me), but otherwise it probably doesn't matter if you get adequate hydration whether it comes from water or tea. Most of the tea I drink has some caffeine, so that would be one reason for me to not get hydration solely from it (or from coffee or diet soda -- my vice is mostly black coffee, which I adore, but to set to rest Ryanworld's fears, obviously I do not drink only coffee).

If you want to drink more water (and not as much tea) -- again, because of caffeine this might be a good idea, depending on the tea -- and don't enjoy water, one thought is to try infused waters (add whole pieces of fruit or mint leaves or other herbs to flavor it). As a tea lover, you might like that. And no, it does not spoil the water somehow, the water is still there (as in other beverages). ;-)