coffee vs water

[CakePop]

When I am tracking my fluids, does black coffee or tea count as water?

[MichaelMiller]

depends on who you talk to. Most people will say if it has caffine then it does not count as water. 

[slysam]

I don't count regular coffee as water, I might count tea. The reason is the point of counting water it to make sure you are well hydrated. Caffeine is said to have a diuretic effect, though likely you do get some water from it. I don't count diuretic drinks like coffee and alcoholic beverages as "water". Why might I count tea? It depends how strong it is, but usually it doesn't have as much caffeine as coffee. This isn't scientific or anything, but I get a headache if I don't have a cup of coffee. I actually drink half decaff/half regular. If I have one cup of tea instead, I still get the headache and on most caffeine charts a tea has less than half the caffeine in most coffees (and seemingly less than my single half-caffe). But I guess it would depend how many teas you drink. Some people count only water, I admit I count anything that doesn't have alcohol or a lot of caffeine. I do log any drinks that contain calories in my food log and sometimes I log coffee and tea just for a period of time just to keep track of how much caffeine I am consuming. I don't regularly drink soda, so not sure of the caffeine count--if I indulge in a soda I don't log it as water but I do log it as "food".

[RichardMW]

Coffee & tree are 99% water.

They are slighly diuretic.

Guess what: plain water is also diuretic. 

Look here for details on recent scientific studies:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/01/13/262175623/coffee-myth-busting-cup-of-joe-may-help-hydrat...

The quick summary is:

"Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. studied the fluid levels of 50 men who had a habit of consuming about three to six cups of coffee each day.

With this kind of moderate coffee consumption, the authors conclude that "coffee ... provides similar hydrating qualities to water."

[Smitty4Prez]

I wouldn't track coffee and tea in the water category.  While they are mostly water, the slight difference causes them to not have the same hydration and cleansing of regular water.  

[RichardMW]

Smitty4Prez,

Did you read the studies on the link that I included from npr.com?

The idea that drinking coffee is dehydrating was an urban myth that was not based on evidence.

'With this kind of moderate coffee consumption, the authors conclude that "coffee ... provides similar hydrating qualities to water."'

[Jabrat]

Coffee is coffee and water is water ??

[BrianA_MN]

The problem is the source, NPR and UK British study, not peer reviewed, and too small of a study group with no control. NPR is always trying to put anecdotal evidence together to be a news maker, when in fact it is simply anecdotal and vapious information. In medicine today the doctors and scientist are all trying to be standouts. It's in their human nature to be top of the profession, heck who wouldn't want to be treated by the "top" rated and leader in any medical field. But to get there they have to be published with data that is new and broadly interesting. In the cited study it is a doctorate candidate's thesis, not even reviewed by the university peers yet! Thus you end up with all kinds of studies. In the last 40 years we've had 'defining' studies, like on eggs and cholesterol, that are now refuted by peer review studies and larger more inclusive control groups. So, to rely on a single study about hydration from coffee, which is not water by dscription, seems to be a hopeful thought that I can still count my coffee as water, when it isn't. Drink the glasses of water. It'll improve your skin, your digestion, your colon, and yes even help clean out toxins in your body due to proper hydration.

[HelenaFitbit]

I track them separately. Some members log tea, sodas, coffee, milk and more into their liquids tracker, I prefer to track plain water into my liquids tracker, just to balance out the caffeine and sugary content of the beverages. 

[nancym4]

I questioned a nurse in my cardiac rehab group as what counts as water for hydrating besides actual water.  She said about a year ago all fluid was considered whereas previously only pure water was counted towards 64 oz. of fluid daily.