Water/Tea confusion

you can count tea as your water as long as it is decaffeinated. As caffeine dehydrates.

[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!

Any liquid contain H2O is counted.

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.

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!!

This is an interesting read (albeit 5 years old):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5281046.stm

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

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!

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.

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:

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.