Water/Tea confusion
Options
mabace
Posts: 2
[This has probably been asked before, but I didn't see it.]
I've heard it both ways... no, tea (hot or iced) is not the same as water, and yes, tea (hot or iced) is exactly the same as water. I've never been much of a water drinker, but I do drink a lot of tea - unsweetened, throughout the day. Since all I'm doing is flavoring the water without sweetening it, can I count it as part of the recommended daily 8 cups of water?
Thanks!
I've heard it both ways... no, tea (hot or iced) is not the same as water, and yes, tea (hot or iced) is exactly the same as water. I've never been much of a water drinker, but I do drink a lot of tea - unsweetened, throughout the day. Since all I'm doing is flavoring the water without sweetening it, can I count it as part of the recommended daily 8 cups of water?
Thanks!
0
Replies
-
you can count tea as your water as long as it is decaffeinated. As caffeine dehydrates.0
-
Yes (as far as I know) but no to counting coffee as water0
-
[This has probably been asked before, but I didn't see it.]
I've heard it both ways... no, tea (hot or iced) is not the same as water, and yes, tea (hot or iced) is exactly the same as water. I've never been much of a water drinker, but I do drink a lot of tea - unsweetened, throughout the day. Since all I'm doing is flavoring the water without sweetening it, can I count it as part of the recommended daily 8 cups of water?
Thanks!0 -
Ive switched to drinking just hot water.
At first it tasted weird so i added a slice of fresh lemon but now with no lemon i can drink the kettle dry . Ive found it an easy way to get the water in and also seen a massive difference in my skin, its much better.
Another bonus is that i dont fancy a biscuit with a cup of hot water as i would with coffee so thats better for me too.0 -
You can only count it if it's decaf. If it's caffeinated it's the same as coffee and dehydrates your body. So you actually have to drink more water to compensate for it.0
-
[This has probably been asked before, but I didn't see it.]
I've heard it both ways... no, tea (hot or iced) is not the same as water, and yes, tea (hot or iced) is exactly the same as water. I've never been much of a water drinker, but I do drink a lot of tea - unsweetened, throughout the day. Since all I'm doing is flavoring the water without sweetening it, can I count it as part of the recommended daily 8 cups of water?
Thanks!
It's my understanding, as I was confused to, that you count water (of any form) as water as long as it is NOT caffeinated. If it has any type of caffeine then it can't be counted.. That's the rule of thumb I was given!0 -
i allow myself to count 16oz. of tea a day as my water :]
you should try and drink half your bodyweight in ounces each day, hydrate your body from the inside out
if you're only drinking eight glasses, i would say only count eight ounces of the tea as water
hope this helps! good luck!!0 -
Caffeine does not dehydrate. If it started as water, adding something to it does not make it not water.
You should do your own research on this to get an accurate, unbiased, medically-based opinion.0 -
0
-
Thanks, everyone! Decaf it is then!0
-
As caffeine dehydrates.
Sigh.
Here we go again!
You need the equivalent of 8 cups of water a day on average, from any source. These sources can be pure water/tea/coffee/juice/soda/milk/fruit/veg etc. It does NOT have to be pure neat water!
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/
As for coffee being a diuretic, so many people just spout that word as a reason, without actually understanding what "diuretic" means.
di·u·ret·ic (d-rtk)
adj.
Tending to increase the discharge of urine.
n.
A substance or drug that tends to increase the discharge of urine.
Neat water is also a diuretic. The diuretic effect of caffeine is far, far outweighed by the actual water in the tea/coffee. Also, regular consumers of caffeinated beverages will build up a tolerance to said effect, eventually reaching the point where caffeinated drinks provide practically the same amount of hydration as a cup of neat water will.
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22178/46361-coffee-makes-dehydrated-say-what
http://worldofcaffeine.com/2011/06/14/caffeine-does-not-dehydrate/
http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/020722/02072207.htm
http://nomoredirtylooks.com/2011/04/surprise-caffeinated-tea-does-not-dehydrate-you/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html
http://www.sharecare.com/question/does-caffeine-dehydrate-not
http://www.artofdrink.com/2009/12/caffeine-in-coffee-does-not-increase-dehydration-during-hangovers.php
http://www.caring4cancer.com/go/cancer/nutrition/questions/do-caffeinated-beverages-cause-dehydration.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5552790&page=1#.TrQWc0O5_oo0 -
I've always logged tea and coffee (and juice, and soup, etc) as part of my water intake; however, I try to adjust my logging ever so slightly to account for stuff like caffeine. If I drink a 1.25 cups of coffee, I'll record it as just 1 cup. I actually do the same with soup, if it's salted (I tend to puff up really quickly if I have too much salt, so when this happens try to balance it out by having a bit more water). I couldn't tell you if it actually makes much of a difference in the long run, it's just something that I started doing a while back and it's now automatic for me. In general, fluids are fluids, though.0
-
As caffeine dehydrates.
Sigh.
Here we go again!
You need the equivalent of 8 cups of water a day on average, from any source. These sources can be pure water/tea/coffee/juice/soda/milk/fruit/veg etc. It does NOT have to be pure neat water!
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/
As for coffee being a diuretic, so many people just spout that word as a reason, without actually understanding what "diuretic" means.
di·u·ret·ic (d-rtk)
adj.
Tending to increase the discharge of urine.
n.
A substance or drug that tends to increase the discharge of urine.
Neat water is also a diuretic. The diuretic effect of caffeine is far, far outweighed by the actual water in the tea/coffee. Also, regular consumers of caffeinated beverages will build up a tolerance to said effect, eventually reaching the point where caffeinated drinks provide practically the same amount of hydration as a cup of neat water will.
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22178/46361-coffee-makes-dehydrated-say-what
http://worldofcaffeine.com/2011/06/14/caffeine-does-not-dehydrate/
http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/020722/02072207.htm
http://nomoredirtylooks.com/2011/04/surprise-caffeinated-tea-does-not-dehydrate-you/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html
http://www.sharecare.com/question/does-caffeine-dehydrate-not
http://www.artofdrink.com/2009/12/caffeine-in-coffee-does-not-increase-dehydration-during-hangovers.php
http://www.caring4cancer.com/go/cancer/nutrition/questions/do-caffeinated-beverages-cause-dehydration.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5552790&page=1#.TrQWc0O5_oo
sigh
here we go again
SODA does not count as water! But hey if you want to count soda into your "diet" feel free and good luck cuz your gonna need it!0 -
I've always heard that diet uncaffeinated colas can be included as water?0
-
sigh
here we go again
SODA does not count as water! But hey if you want to count soda into your "diet" feel free and good luck cuz your gonna need it!
All liquids you consume count as 'water'. Your body needs fluids, and pop is a fluid. Is it as good for you nutritionally as water? No. It contains sugar and sodium and calories and chemicals. But when a person is trying to track their fluid intake, they can absolutely count pop, coffee, tea, juice, whatever. They just have to make sure they're also tracking it in the food tracker, to account for said sodium/sugar/calories.
I would say that only about 50% of my fluid intake each day comes from straight water. The rest of it is juice, coffee, soups, teas and (occasionally) diet pop. And I've had no trouble whatsoever losing weight.0 -
sigh
here we go again
SODA does not count as water! But hey if you want to count soda into your "diet" feel free and good luck cuz your gonna need it!
All liquids you consume count as 'water'. Your body needs fluids, and pop is a fluid. Is it as good for you nutritionally as water? No. It contains sugar and sodium and calories and chemicals. But when a person is trying to track their fluid intake, they can absolutely count pop, coffee, tea, juice, whatever. They just have to make sure they're also tracking it in the food tracker, to account for said sodium/sugar/calories.
I would say that only about 50% of my fluid intake each day comes from straight water. The rest of it is juice, coffee, soups, teas and (occasionally) diet pop. And I've had no trouble whatsoever losing weight.
you can drink and do whatever you like-no one said any different. Just offering my "two cents" like EVERYONE else0 -
mabace - nice can of worms ha ha (bet you didn't know it would be like this huh?!)
*sits back to watch the verbal tennis*
"No it's not, yes it is, no it's not, yes it is"
I drink green tea and count that as water, cos if I was dehydrated, theoretically it would hydrate me.:drinker:0 -
if i drink water it is water. If I have juice, tea, anything else... no.0
-
sigh
here we go again
SODA does not count as water! But hey if you want to count soda into your "diet" feel free and good luck cuz your gonna need it!
All liquids you consume count as 'water'. Your body needs fluids, and pop is a fluid. Is it as good for you nutritionally as water? No. It contains sugar and sodium and calories and chemicals. But when a person is trying to track their fluid intake, they can absolutely count pop, coffee, tea, juice, whatever. They just have to make sure they're also tracking it in the food tracker, to account for said sodium/sugar/calories.
I would say that only about 50% of my fluid intake each day comes from straight water. The rest of it is juice, coffee, soups, teas and (occasionally) diet pop. And I've had no trouble whatsoever losing weight.
you can drink and do whatever you like-no one said any different. Just offering my "two cents" like EVERYONE else
Indeed you are. I'm just saying that you are wrong with what you say, and i posted links that back up my claim. If you can provide links that say that soda does not count towards your daily fluid intake, not about how bad it is for you, then feel free.
You also said that caffeine dehydrates, when all modern research says that any caffeinated drink actually hydrates. If caffeine did dehydrate, i, and many others, would be dead from dehydration, as its pretty much all i drink.0 -
I usually only count green tea and stuff as water and plain water. I haven't counted anything like coffee, english tea, soda, etc0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.1K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.9K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.4K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 985 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions