tea as water?

Bump just because I want to see how long it takes before people start bringing weapons to the argument.

Personal opinion. it's water.

It's water... flavored with tea leaves or coffee beans. I count mine as water.

Because of the diuretic thing with caffeine I will sometime just count it as half as much...just to say I had some water but maybe compensate because I pee a little bit more due to it...LOVE green tea!!

Why does everyone try avoiding water? It's not so hard to drink! JUST DEW IT.

I've read that if it is decaf tea, that you can count it as water. I think its important to do research outside of MFP.

I include my coffee in my breakfast. It has calories (4 cups black for 9 calories) and contributes to my daily potassium intake.

My water is water. I usually hit 12 to 15 8oz cups a day on that.

Just my way of dealing with it.

It is a diuretic which means there is a good amount that your body does not absorb. I count only half of what I drink as water. If I had a cup of tea then I only count a 1/2 cup.

Another water thread, so here i am again, trying to dispel myths!

Only if doesn't have caffeine. Caffeine cancels out any water (i.e. if you drink 2 coffees, you have to drink 2 waters to make up for it, since caffeine is a diuretic.)

Who started this myth? I wish i could slap them...so much bad advice!

Your "8 cups of water" is actually "8 cups of fluid". Tea/coffee/soda/juice all count towards it, as does fruit and veg, as they have a very high water content.

Contrary to old myths, caffeine does not dehydrate you, certainly not to a noticeable extent and is far outweighed by the fluid in the drink. In fact, the more coffee you drink, the better your body gets at extracting the fluid to the point where it becomes the same as water.

QUOTE:

The Straight Talk
In his review, “Caffeine, Body Fluid-Electrolyte Balance, and Exercise Performance,” Lawrence E. Armstrong, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Connecticut disproves the notion that caffeinated beverages rob us of our precious fluids. By reviewing the scientific research on the subject, he concludes that although caffeine, like water, is a mild diuresis (it increases excretion of urine), moderate caffeine consumption does not produce a “fluid-electrolyte imbalance” that can affect health or exercise performance. Furthermore, we retain roughly the same amount of fluid after drinking a caffeinated beverage as we do after drinking water.

Even more encouraging for habitual coffee consumers is the finding that those with caffeine tolerance have reduced likelihood that a fluid electrolyte imbalance will occur. The more regular your caffeine habit, the more fluid your body is conditioned to retain.

Other findings support his conclusions. A small study done at the University of Nebraska tested the body weight, urine output, and blood of eighteen subjects after they consumed caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages. They determined that there was “no significant differences in the effect of various combinations of beverages on hydration status of healthy adult males.” The Institute of Medicine expert panel on water and electrolyte intake asserts that the diuretic effects of caffeine are transient, and that coffee, tea, and colas can contribute to total water intake.



Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22178/46361-coffee-makes-dehydrated-say-what#ixzz1ahO1ShJ2


http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/13/myth-eight-glasses-water-day

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/wellness-water-8x8-myth.html

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/08/the-myth-behind-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/

Personally I don't count anything but plain old water as water. But I also spend most of my day drinking only water. I don't drink too much other stuff for liquids.