What counts as “water”?

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  • michaelludgate31
    michaelludgate31 Posts: 10 Member
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    Agree with those saying all water counts, that said, would the guidelines assume everyone was eating freeze dried food every meal? Also there's no way I'm working out how much water is in everything. So yeah, tea/coffee even soda, assuming your happy to calculate diuretic effect too... For those of us who don't find water a punishment or think we're going to heaven for being righteous H2O purerists (try a long term low carb diet to reset the taste buds, even a couple of weeks aggressive dieting with a fasting component), recording by glass (hi-ball ~ 250ml).

    Carbon filter all my water which tastes much better than tap, keep a carafe in the chiller and add lemon.
  • witchaywoman81
    witchaywoman81 Posts: 280 Member
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    sympha01 wrote: »
    There is not problem AT ALL w racking up video game points. I absolutely manage my health on a points system.

    My point is that if you want a high score (good health) why the eff would you do it on an arbitrary "hard mode"? Why rule out ways of earning points just because they're too easy to earn?

    If a liquid quenches your thirst, it's hydrating. Don't score yourself down for enjoying the liquid, unless you like making it hard just to make it hard because your priorities are weird.

    Good thought, but I have found that if I don’t track my water, I don’t drink enough. I have a lot going on and it’s so easy to ignore thirst signals or even mistake them for hunger signals. So I was trying to get a sense of whether people count things other than pure water as water. Just trying to get perspective.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,988 Member
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    I don't normally "count" my water, I just drink when I am so inclined (for temperature regulation, for thirst, for flavor, to wash down dry things, etc.), but currently I am as part of an activity that counts toward a wellness program for work.

    Things I have counted as water today: coffee, diet soda, plain water, V8. I also log the black coffee (for the potassium) and the V8 in my food diary. I usually log diet soda in my food diary when I drink it with a meal, so when I look back I don't wonder if I forget to log some drink that had calories, since I usually have something to drink with a meal. If I just sip on some diet soda between meals, I don't usually bother putting it in my food log.

    I don't really get the suggestion that some of the posts seem to be making that if you log a drink with calories in your food log, you can't also track it as water. The fact that it has calories doesn't stop it from providing hydration.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    What about the diuretic effect of tea for someone who drinks 4-5L of tea a day, regular Lipton black tea. That's how much i drink every day, and i still need to drink regular plain water to help with water retention in my legs. If i don't also drink a couple Litres of water alongside then i get indents in my calves/ankles, just all round water retention, plus i have trouble going to the loo if i dont get enough regular water.

    I get that adding a tea bag to water doesn't magically cancel out that water, could this possibly be the case for the average person who drinks 1-2 cups a day, not someone like me who drinks tea all day long?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Forgot to add.. I pee at least 2 times an hour. It's like it goes in and comes straight back out again. This doesnt happen when i drink water, and no tea.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
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    witchaywoman81 wrote: »
    Years ago, “they” used to say that you should drink a certain number of cups/Oz a day of pure water (i.e. coffee, tea, pop, etc don’t count). Is that still the conventional wisdom? Do you count “other” beverages toward your water intake?

    I only count plain water as water. Other liquids I record along with my meals.
  • witchaywoman81
    witchaywoman81 Posts: 280 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    Forgot to add.. I pee at least 2 times an hour. It's like it goes in and comes straight back out again. This doesnt happen when i drink water, and no tea.

    Weird. I find that regardless of the liquid I drink, particularly in larger quantities, it tends to come right back out.
  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
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    I count water as water.

    Liquid in other types of beverages as well as foods helps to keep you hydrated as well, but when it comes to my 64oz per day, that is a strict water goal for me. Otherwise, KOKO as long as you are hydrated and your urine color shows that as well, I'm sure you are fine.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    If you're going by the fairly arbitrary 1/2-2/3 oz of water for every lb of body weight, then yes, count colas, sparkling, coffee, tea, the blood of your enemies(J/K). Seriously, unless it's primarily alcoholic, it probably contributes to hydration, and regarding the alleged diuretic effect of caffeine, in suspension it increases diuresis by about 10% over a non caffeinated beverage of the same volume. And that only in non-acclimated subjects
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    What about the diuretic effect of tea for someone who drinks 4-5L of tea a day, regular Lipton black tea. That's how much i drink every day, and i still need to drink regular plain water to help with water retention in my legs. If i don't also drink a couple Litres of water alongside then i get indents in my calves/ankles, just all round water retention, plus i have trouble going to the loo if i dont get enough regular water.

    I get that adding a tea bag to water doesn't magically cancel out that water, could this possibly be the case for the average person who drinks 1-2 cups a day, not someone like me who drinks tea all day long?

    You're describing the exact opposite of a diuretic effect. It's probably caused by the tannins, not the caffeine.
  • ghudson92
    ghudson92 Posts: 2,061 Member
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    I think generally all forms of water (tea, coffee, cucumbers, fizzy drinks) can be counted, and you should certainly count them if you find drinking plain water a challenge. I personally don't log anything that's not plain water as water, I log it as a snack as it usually has some calories. This works for me as I have an actual problem with how much water I drink, I must drink about 1.5 litres a day for no reason other than I love it (have been tested by my gp for diabetes etc, no results I am just a water junkie). I would just go with your instincts and make sure your pee is a good colour :smile:
  • kazminchu
    kazminchu Posts: 250 Member
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    I don't log my water, but I would count Pepsi Max and black/green tea towards it. If I had to drink 8 glasses of pure water on top of the Pepsi I drink I'm pretty sure I'd have an electrolyte imbalance or something. As it is, I drink about 5-6 glasses/3 pints of water a day, plus Pepsi Max, and my pee is literally clear from about 12pm onwards.
  • lolly2414
    lolly2414 Posts: 186 Member
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    I count only water as water. I log any other beverages, but if I drink something like 100% fruit juice I do mentally count that toward my water total for the day. I don't count alcohol or soda, and I'm not a coffee drinker.
  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
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    I know for a fact that milkshakes do not count as water.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    mulecanter wrote: »
    I know for a fact that milkshakes do not count as water.

    My milkshake
    absolutely does
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    witchaywoman81 wrote: »
    sympha01 wrote: »
    There is not problem AT ALL w racking up video game points. I absolutely manage my health on a points system.

    My point is that if you want a high score (good health) why the eff would you do it on an arbitrary "hard mode"? Why rule out ways of earning points just because they're too easy to earn?

    If a liquid quenches your thirst, it's hydrating. Don't score yourself down for enjoying the liquid, unless you like making it hard just to make it hard because your priorities are weird.

    Good thought, but I have found that if I don’t track my water, I don’t drink enough. I have a lot going on and it’s so easy to ignore thirst signals or even mistake them for hunger signals. So I was trying to get a sense of whether people count things other than pure water as water. Just trying to get perspective.

    I'm not a lot of help I guess as I never really tracked my beverages unless it had calories. I always have a refillable water bottle with me pretty much at all times no matter what I'm doing. I live in the desert at over a mile high and I'm pretty active, so hydration needs to be on point. My urine is almost always pale yellow which means I'm properly hydrated...but I have zero clue as to how much water and/or other beverages I drink in a day.
  • ghostband
    ghostband Posts: 7 Member
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    Conventional wisdom I think is still drinking more water is probably better for you, but since everyone's different that 8 cup mark can be really skewed depending on your size, activity, how hot it is in your area and all that fun stuff.

    I count straight water, or if I fizz it up in the soda stream or add lemon juice or something, as water. Partly because everything else is tracked elsewhere, and mostly because I notice a pretty sizable difference in the way I feel based on my water intake. For me, I usually feel my best around like 11 or 12 cups, maybe more if I workout that day.

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