Water question

I cut out my coffee drinking in the morning and switched to hot tea. Does this count as part of my water intake for the day or does it need to be plain h2o? I know the caffeine is dehydrating which confuses me. Also what about the crystal light no sugar drinks? If I drink that does it count for my 8 glasses of h2o a day?

Thu. Feb 1, 1:42pm

I share your confusion over whether to count caffeine drinks towards your water quota. I've heard both sides of that argument and still feel clueless.

I can tell you that I use Diet Power to track my water intake. I weigh about 150 pounds, and the software wants me to get about 11 cups of water each day, which sounds like a lot, but the software counts everything, including the water in coffee, tea, sodas, juices, fruits, vegetables, and even the trace amounts in other foods. I don't know if that helps you or not. Maybe if you aim for 8 cups of non-caffeine, you'll get what you need.

Thursday, February 01, 2007, 1:55 PM

Alternatively, you could just watch your urine. If it's pale yellow, you're getting what you need.

Thursday, February 01, 2007, 1:59 PM

on weight watcher you can not counted caffinated beverages and i know from my mom having cancer that when her DR says she needs 8 glasses a day ..if she adds a caffinated drink to her day she needs to drink 2 more glasses of water. soooo i never count anything caffinated

Thursday, February 01, 2007, 3:31 PM

yes, I have heard that you can count crystal light as part of your water intake for the day :)

Friday, February 02, 2007, 1:34 AM

Hi, I asked the very same question to a nutritionist that we had do a seminar at my workplace. I often find it too cold in the winter to drink water all day at my desk. They told me that herbal tea is is the next best thing to water, so I drink mild peppermint tea (and water) all day...

hope this helps!

Friday, February 02, 2007, 2:42 AM

Yes it counts

Yes tea counts as water intake as well as many fruits. A lot of the foods we eat, though they appear solid are actually mostly liquid, like our bodies or even the Earth. With that said you should still be sure to drink at least some plain water during the day

Friday, February 02, 2007, 7:46 AM

There's no clear answer ...

... but here's my two cents.

I'm on the Body for Life program, and it says that if you drink a diet soda or coffee or tea that you should also drink one cup (8 oz) of water to counter the diuretic effect of the caffeine.

Either way, you're not going to die from dehydration. But I will say that using this method, you get to the point that you stop drinking the extra coffee and tea and pop because it's just too much work! lol.

Personally, I can't mentally equate the two. I have coffee during the day, but I don't count that as my water intake. Instead, I drink up enough water to meet what is supposed to be the right amount (and usually more).

- egruber

Friday, February 02, 2007, 8:09 AM

water

just last night at my ww meeting they discussed the water. If you have any decaffinated beverages it will count as a water but you can only count two decaffinated towards your water. If you do drink something with caffenine you lose a water.

Friday, February 02, 2007, 6:06 PM

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