Water?? Tea?? Soda??

gap1962 · March 2012

Hello everyone I am very new to this site and have a question regarding water. If I am making decaf tea or drinking decaf/diet soda does it count as water...like WW?

mdj1501 · March 2012

no. water is water..

dharmse · March 2012

Here's how I look at liquids: if it has zero calories, I count it as "water" for my total intake. It adds nothing to your calorie count so I see it as free. I could be wrong...but that's how I do it. Coffee, tea, diet drinks with zero calories all go in my water column.

wombat94 · March 2012

Though many will disagree, I am of the opinion that anything you drink can be counted on to provide additional hydration.

Ideally, water should be water, but tea, milk, juice are all over 90% water... especially if you are sticking to the decaf versions, they count toward hydration goals.

Even the diuretic effects of caffeine are now the subject of debate.

Ted

gap1962 · March 2012

Thanks everyone...I am trying to stick to the decaf for obvious reasons. And I think the view of "0" calories is a good factor to add to that calculation for my water.

BTW I really like this site....very user friendly and MUCH cheaper than WW!

HMonsterX · March 2012

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 tea/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

robot_potato · March 2012

There are many different opinions on this. I only count water as water. I drink my coffee and tea without milk or sugar, but i don't count them as water even though i could. I personally wouldn't count any kind of soda as water as i don't plan on adding chemicals to my water any time soon.

dragonsfaerie · March 2012

Absolutely not.

ArtGeek22 · March 2012

No. Water is water. You have to log the soda and tea separately in your food diary.

Keep Calm and Carry On,
Anna

mSquared77 · March 2012

I count water as water.

HMonsterX · March 2012

No. Water is water. You have to long the soda and tea separately in your food diary.

Keep Calm and Carry On,
Anna

Neat water is neat water, sure.

Luckily, we dont need neat water. The water in any drink and a lot of foods is easily extracted and used the same way as neat water.

So op, from a hydration viewpoint, yes, they count. Ofc you have to allow for the calories in anything that isn't neat water.

Ripken818836701 · March 2012

I drink I a gallon of diet ice tea per day that is zero calories(some people are addicted to coffee, im addicted to ice tea) I probably also average about four 12 once glasses of water per day aswell but water is water, doesnt matter is you mix tea, coffee or even grape Koolaide in it as long as you count the calories.

rextcat · March 2012

if your tracking sodium or sugar then yes you should log it as soda,tea,coffee ect. since most "diet" and "0" calorie drinks are loaded with these:drinker:

KrazyAsianNic · March 2012

Personally, I don't drink soda, but when I have green tea, I consider it water because the green tea I drink has no calories.

scargnar · March 2012

if your tracking sodium or sugar then yes you should log it as soda,tea,coffee ect. since most "diet" and "0" calorie drinks are loaded with these:drinker:

diet sodas do not have sugars in them.

if you are tracking your sodium very closely, you should log these types of drinks separately. if not, i wouldn't worry about it. water is best, but they're all hydrating to an extent.

Water?? Tea?? Soda??

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