do you count water in coffee/tea as daily water?

da_sammit
da_sammit Posts: 238 Member
in Food and Nutrition
so just wanting to see how many of you do this.

do you count the water thats in other beverages (coffee, tea, hot drinks) as water consumed on your daily diary??
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Replies

  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
    Not coffee, but white iced tea I do count.

    You get hydration anytime you have something liquid (in varying amounts) or eat anything that isn't dry.
  • joannezuk
    joannezuk Posts: 153 Member
    I just count water as water. I feel as though, when you mix it with other stuff, your body has to process it to get at the water. So I try to drink 8 cups of just water each day, in addition to my coffee.
  • fitnotfluffy
    fitnotfluffy Posts: 213 Member
    I don't count my coffee, but I do count my unsweetened green/black tea. :)
  • LiddyBit
    LiddyBit Posts: 447 Member
    I think coffee is actually dehydrating, no?
  • TheFunBun
    TheFunBun Posts: 793 Member
    I don't count anything but water, but I think it would be fine to count both.

    The dehydrating effect of coffee doesn't negate the liquid in it. It's more, "Not as good as drinking water" than "You just peed that entire cup out!"
  • LiddyBit
    LiddyBit Posts: 447 Member
    I don't count anything but water, but I think it would be fine to count both.

    The dehydrating effect of coffee doesn't negate the liquid in it. It's more, "Not as good as drinking water" than "You just peed that entire cup out!"

    This would probably explain why my mother has not died of dehydration. I swear she drinks nothing at all but coffee. I drink a lot more water than average, but coffee makes me feel like I'm going to die of dehydration sometimes.
  • millie_de
    millie_de Posts: 55 Member
    I count my green and herbal teas since they are hydrating, but I agree, I don't think coffee should be counted.
  • huntingforhipbones
    huntingforhipbones Posts: 67
    I count anything natural and without calories/caffeine - so I'd count, say, peppermint tea, but not a diet coke.
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    No I don't count tea or coffees as part of water intake.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    I just count water as water. I feel as though, when you mix it with other stuff, your body has to process it to get at the water.
    Err... Think about what you've just said...

    That would mean that if you drink a glass of water with a meal of roast chicken and vegetables, the water counts, but if you have chicken soup it doesn't.

    Does that sound right to you? Of course not! It all gets squished up together in your stomach!

    Unless you starve yourself for a couple of hours before drinking your water, and never drink water until at least an hour after eating! :bigsmile:
  • Jesse_Hunter
    Jesse_Hunter Posts: 162 Member
    I think you are putting to much emphasis on water.

    The best thing for you is water and water alone. If you consume tea, coffee then just worry about calories and other nutrients and keep drinking your water.

    If you drink 14 cups instead of 12 cups of water, Great! Being well hydrated is the goal anyways.

    I personally consume a gallon to 1 1/2 gallons of water a day and STILL sometimes notice that I am slightly under-hydrated. My point is, the extra few cups that you may drink a day by not adding in the coffee and tea will only work towards your benefit.
  • MattHodder
    MattHodder Posts: 3
    No decent evidence that despite being a very wimpy diuretic caffeine in beverages causes any significant diuresis. You wan't to log coffee go for it!

    You could probably find a web page claiming black is white so I treat any with a healthy amount of cynicism but have a look at

    http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50654
  • royalty_mind_1me
    royalty_mind_1me Posts: 278 Member
    oh no I never do, usually im putting splenda or soy milk in it anyways....water is water! great question :tongue:
  • herownkindofwonderfull
    herownkindofwonderfull Posts: 307 Member
    NEVER.

    Water is water is water. I wouldn't even count flavored water as "water", if I drank it.

    If you are counting tea, etc. as water, a lot of the time, caffeine in the tea will actually DEHYDRATE you. You lose more water than you gain when you drink tea (aside from herbal / noncaffeinated teas).

    But yes. As a few others are here... I believe that only water should be logged as water. You're not getting enough, otherwise..
  • BeckiCharlotte13x
    BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
    what about squash?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I think coffee is actually dehydrating, no?

    no.

    For that to be the case it would need to cause the loss of more water than it contained.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    the 8 glasses of 8 ozs is largely a baseless number plucked out of the air. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020809071640.htm

    If hydration is your concern that's as much about salt as water - think about "rehydration salts" which are a dry powder.

    Your water / H2O balance is equally well served by H2O in a glass of water, a glass of pepsi, a mug of coffee or the H2O in the foods you eat.
  • SorchaRavenlock
    SorchaRavenlock Posts: 220 Member
    I count my green and herbal teas since they are hydrating, but I agree, I don't think coffee should be counted.

    This is how I do it as well. Since the weather is awful over here at the moment I can't bear to drink cold water, but herbal teas are lovely and have added positive effects beyond hydration.
    I wouldn't count coffee, fizzy drinks and so on though.
  • anj911
    anj911 Posts: 56 Member
    what about squash?

    I count squash, I don't count coffee or green tea, herbal tea etc though
  • falstaff007
    falstaff007 Posts: 2 Member
    I do because I read a medical report on some research to say that the fluid contained in the beverages is obviously water.
  • emmalecras
    emmalecras Posts: 79 Member
    Saw a dietician when I started out as was struggling with the eight glasses of water and she told me that I could count tea (as only a small amount of milk going into it).
  • CeeRawr89
    CeeRawr89 Posts: 328 Member
    No.
  • Fit_Forever25
    Fit_Forever25 Posts: 313 Member
    I never count water from tea or coffee or green tea
    and I dont think you should count that water as water intake the more you can drink plain water the better it is!
  • chjones21
    chjones21 Posts: 33 Member
    How much is 8 cups in litres? Is a cup an exact measurement???

    I don't drink as much water as I should but London tap water is pretty chemicalised up, I should think anyway .... and bottled water is SO heavy to carry with the rest of the shopping.

    Probably maximum I drink is one litre a day - if that.... but I would count herbal teas in that definitely!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    It's really personal choice. Lots of people apparently feel better about only counting plain water with nothing added towards their daily fluid intake. Meanwhile, your body makes perfectly good use of the water in tea, coffee, milk, cola, soup etc, It also "counts" the water in food. Water doesn't somehow lose its usefulness to the body just because it's mixed with something else. We don't need to consume "pure" protein separately from "pure" carbohydrate, so why would we need to do that with water?

    Caffeine does have a mild diuretic effect in large doses (so does water!) but moderate consumption, especially for people who are used to it, doesn't appear to have be dehydrating. You don't even need to necessarily drink 8 cups or glasses of water a day. You might need more, or less, depending on a number of variables.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16131696
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html?
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8632375/Advice-to-drink-eight-glasses-of-water-daily-nonsense.html
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
    http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/08/the-myth-behind-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/
    http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp
  • dukes418
    dukes418 Posts: 207 Member
    I count water as water, coffee as coffee, tea as tea. Simple, simple, simple.
  • hanniejong
    hanniejong Posts: 556 Member
    How much is 8 cups in litres? Is a cup an exact measurement???

    I don't drink as much water as I should but London tap water is pretty chemicalised up, I should think anyway .... and bottled water is SO heavy to carry with the rest of the shopping.

    Probably maximum I drink is one litre a day - if that.... but I would count herbal teas in that definitely!

    8 glasses/cups of water is 2 litres.

    In weight Watchers when I was in it years ago they told us tea and coffee was counted as water. However I have never counted it.
  • chjones21
    chjones21 Posts: 33 Member
    Thanks hanniejong ---- so I need to double my intake at least! CJ
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    4th time in as many days...

    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
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    You need the equivalent of 8 cups of water a day on average, from any source.

    this bit isn't really true, so I wouldn't start with it.

    I do agree about the sources of the H2O molecules for hydration. 1.3 litres / 46 fl ozs / 5.4 cups is a UK recommendation but that was also plucked out of the air by someone.

    Funny how I've never really needed to know how much to drink or measured it, I've just drunk when I feel like it. Maybe there's a system at work. Can't imagine we evolved needing such high water intakes, would be a bit of an issue in many climates and locations.

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