Does black caffeinated coffee count as daily water

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  • sunnyday789
    sunnyday789 Posts: 309 Member
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    I was told by my Doctor that any drink such as coffee, tea and/or sodas count as water.

    Your doctor told you soda counts as water? Really?

    Wow. My doctor's head would pop off if I told him soda counted as water. :embarassed:

    Then beer and wine must count too :)


    Unfortunately, I think alcholol (unlike caffeine) does have a dehydrating effect so wouldn't count it as water:cry:
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
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    Coffee has caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic. Diuretics dehydrate you.

    so NO, I would think black coffee would be the OPPOSITE of water and not count as it.
  • jljc_2010
    jljc_2010 Posts: 137 Member
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    I was told by my Doctor that any drink such as coffee, tea and/or sodas count as water.

    Your doctor told you soda counts as water? Really?

    Doctor "Quack"?
  • Taylors_Cricket
    Taylors_Cricket Posts: 14
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    It does count as water intake yes according to the scientists!!!

    It is recommended at 8 cups per day - but then if you are exercising, or having high salts then it would obviously need to increase.
    Also remember how much water is actually in your foods! Apples are mostly water - that actually does count towards how much water you should be drinking!

    Technically anything you consume would count in a way towards your water intake - but according to my doctor you should be sipping water all day - if you're thirsty - you're already dehydrated. Drink enough so that when you pee - it is clear. Just got to see how much water that takes for yourself. For me - I drink about 1.5L per day.

    (remember the altitude also effects how much you should be drinking)

    So in my opinion - count the coffee if you like - but if that is all you're drinking, i'm quite sure that your urine isn't clear and that you really don't feel as 'clean' as you could.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Is this for real?
    Water is water, including anything made with water like coffee, tea - whatever.
    Any liquid you drink that contains water.
    Fruit juice, milk - ANYTHING.
    :embarassed:
  • vweavers
    vweavers Posts: 24
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    I was told by my Doctor that any drink such as coffee, tea and/or sodas count as water.

    Your doctor told you soda counts as water? Really?

    Wow. My doctor's head would pop off if I told him soda counted as water. :embarassed:

    Then beer and wine must count too :)

    Yes, beer and wine would count, too. Before anyone wants to jump me for that- YES- beer and wine contain alcohol which affects the way your body processes that water. The fact remains that beer and wine contains water, and you could survive if you drank only beer or wine (it's not healthy- but that's another topic).
  • Llilia17
    Llilia17 Posts: 23 Member
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    I've posted this dozens and dozens of times on MFP and I'm posting it again here for you all. Read, learn, and be amazed.

    Why the 8 glasses of water a day is a MYTH:

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=eight-glasses-water-per-day



    I believe in science. I have been struggling to drink water. The most I can get down is 5 glasses in a day and then I literally feel sick. Like I'm going to vomit. Seriously I swish when I walk if I drink that much. It's awful. I just kept thinking to myself that this can't be right.

    I also thought that we absorb water through our skin. So every morning when we take showers we can absorb a lot of water right into our bodies. That's why all these health sites and magazines and articals all tell us we need to put a filter on our shower as well as the water we drink. Isn't that right?

    OK seriously when I take my son swimming during the summer I am always running to the bathroom. Not because I've drank a lot that day but because I'm absorbing water through my skin. At least that's what I thought. That's what I've read in in so many health type articals and books. They state that we need to filter our showers water so we don't absorb any toxins through our skin. Our skin literally drinks water. So why is it we have to drink 8 friggin glasses a day? Makes no sense.
  • morgansmom02
    morgansmom02 Posts: 1,139 Member
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    I love when this topic pops up every week or so. It is QUITE entertaining. I really have nothing to add except water is water and everything else is everything else. If you drink a coffee, enter it as coffee. If you drink a soda, enter it as soda. Only water should be counted as water. It seems so self explanatory.
  • morgansmom02
    morgansmom02 Posts: 1,139 Member
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    This whole thread makes me shake my head.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.

    It is true. Researchers used to believe that caffeinated drinks had a diuretic effect. This means that you would urinate more after drinking them, which could increase your risk of becoming dehydrated. Recent research shows that this is not true and that caffeine has a diuretic effect only if you consume large amounts of it — more than 500 to 600 milligrams (the equivalent of 5 to 7 cups of coffee) a day.

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
  • sunnyday789
    sunnyday789 Posts: 309 Member
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    I love when this topic pops up every week or so. It is QUITE entertaining. I really have nothing to add except water is water and everything else is everything else. If you drink a coffee, enter it as coffee. If you drink a soda, enter it as soda. Only water should be counted as water. It seems so self explanatory.

    Emphasis on the word "self". You say you read about this topic often but just choose to ignore basic anatomy and physiology and recent scientific studies?
  • vweavers
    vweavers Posts: 24
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    I love when this topic pops up every week or so. It is QUITE entertaining. I really have nothing to add except water is water and everything else is everything else. If you drink a coffee, enter it as coffee. If you drink a soda, enter it as soda. Only water should be counted as water. It seems so self explanatory.

    Too many people are only reading a few posts, and not the whole discussion. The discussion is not about whether or not you enter coffee as water on MFP log....It is also NOT about whether 8 glasses of water is actually needed..... it's about whether coffee, soda, etc counts towards daily recommended water intake.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    I love when this topic pops up every week or so. It is QUITE entertaining. I really have nothing to add except water is water and everything else is everything else. If you drink a coffee, enter it as coffee. If you drink a soda, enter it as soda. Only water should be counted as water. It seems so self explanatory.

    100% agreed. A 12oz can of soda is only 95% water.
    Therefore, tracking it as 12oz of water is totally WRONG!

    It breaks down to:
    5% sugary flavor mix
    95% water (Only counts as 11.4oz of water, PEOPLE!)

    People can be so obtuse, don't you agree? They could potentially be cheating themselves out of more than an entire half ounce of water PER soda and not even realize it.
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
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    There are two different issues here:
    1) How to log it. Since it will have some calories in it, log it as what it is. Only log water as water. Otherwise you are missing calories.

    2) Does it hydrate your body? - yes it does, from that perspective it counts as water. Caffeine does not dehydrate you, it merely does not hydrate you as much as plain water would. But it does not actually result in a net loss of water from your body when you include the water in the drink that you ingest. Only alcohol actually dehydrates your body. Since there is no actual science behind the 8 cups of water per day, the question is whether you need to drink more. The best advice I was given by a doctor, and read, is that if you are thirsty, or you are not fully hydrated (urine is yellow, not clear) then drink. If you are not thirsty and you are hydrated, don't drink.

    If you aren't sure, try an experiment. Spend a few hours drinking nothing but a lot tea or coffee. You will go to the bathroom a lot and your urine will be clear. You will be hydrated.
    You're right. But your point will likely get lost.

    Most of this debate is lazy language. Coffee isn't water. Just like Elephants are not watermelons. They are different things. Both CONTAIN juice, just like coffee and water both CONTAIN water and will hydrate you. So much of this argument is semantics. People who count drinks besides pure water as their "water intake" are interpreting that as their hydration for the day. If you eliminated all the 'coffee is coffee and water is water' posts, this thread would shrink by 3-4 pages. Then at least you could have the debate about the hydrating/diuretic effects of coffee.

    Why people think someone is arguing whether a can of soda or a cup of coffee is actually JUST water is beyond me. But that point gets made every time this debate comes up. We got it. Water is water. Coffee is coffee. The water content of coffee does hydrate your body. The water content of water is also a diuretic. The water content of food also hydrates your body. You do not physically need pure water to hydrate your body. You may count only pure water when you click that arrow on MFP. You don't win a prize by only counting pure water.
  • Taylors_Cricket
    Taylors_Cricket Posts: 14
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    Is this for real?
    Water is water, including anything made with water like coffee, tea - whatever.
    Any liquid you drink that contains water.
    Fruit juice, milk - ANYTHING.
    :embarassed:

    ^^ Agreed.
    I think being obsessed about how much water you drink isn't healthy.... why would you want to count things as water? Place it in for what it is, and don't try to drown yourself.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    All fluids hydrate you. Only water is water. All other beverages have other things (calories, fats, sugars, etc.) in them. Other beverages are still good and good for you since they hydrate and can provide nutrients, vitamins, etc.

    Here's a calculator I like to use to figure out how much water I need:
    http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I love when this topic pops up every week or so. It is QUITE entertaining. I really have nothing to add except water is water and everything else is everything else. If you drink a coffee, enter it as coffee. If you drink a soda, enter it as soda. Only water should be counted as water. It seems so self explanatory.
    And yet you are wrong.
    Water is water, including anything that contains water.

    The water is still water no matter what you add to it. H2O does not change into something else.
    That is what is so self explanatory.

    By your standards, a squirt of lemon juice suddenly makes water not water.
    It's ABSURD.
  • dis5150
    dis5150 Posts: 157 Member
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    Is this for real?
    Water is water, including anything made with water like coffee, tea - whatever.
    Any liquid you drink that contains water.
    Fruit juice, milk - ANYTHING.
    :embarassed:

    I agree! If I added 8 glasses of just water to all the hot tea, iced tea, etc. that I drink, I would be in the bathroom all day! That said, I do try to substitue some of the tea for water. I usually drink at least 32 oz of just straight water a day and I am never dehydrated! My pee is almost clear, so I must be doing okay with it. I do drink water when I work out, too.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    You may count only pure water when you click that arrow on MFP. You don't win a prize by only counting pure water.
    *kicks rock*
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Is this for real?
    Water is water, including anything made with water like coffee, tea - whatever.
    Any liquid you drink that contains water.
    Fruit juice, milk - ANYTHING.
    :embarassed:

    ^^ Agreed.
    I think being obsessed about how much water you drink isn't healthy.... why would you want to count things as water? Place it in for what it is, and don't try to drown yourself.
    No wonder most people fail at this.....
    They just can't grasp the obvious, and God help them for the not so obvious:laugh:

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