What counts as water?

[Algenon]

I have heard that juice, coffee etc. count.......But is there a list somewhere about what counts as water or do you have to guess based on the number of oxygen and hydrogen atoms?

Moderator Edit: Removed excess punctuation

[Odyssey13]

@Algenon  Some will tell you to log only water and nothing else. It's really up to you.

When I first started logging water, I included any liquid - tea, coffee, soda, milk. I did that to see just how much I did or didn't drink in a day. As time when by, I realized I drank more soda than water and changed those habits. Logging helped me to drink more water and less of the other things.

If you're keeping track of calories, be sure to add any sweetener or creamer you put into the drinks.

Welcome to the forums.

[Meffus]

Hi there! Even though water is in a lot of things, including food, as a rule of thumb I like to log my water consumed in cups of water that I actually drink. I always carry a 1.5 litre bottle of water and I count this as my water consumed. I just find it easier than to try and work out how much water is included in juice, soda or the food you eat and if you're consuming enough actual cups of just water then any water intake you get from other places is a cheeky bonus! 

[ShannonBoord]

I only log water as it helps me keep better track of my true hydration status.  Plus milk, juice, soda, etc.  all have calories and/or caffeine.  As an RN, when we log oral fluid intake for patients it inclues ALL fluids [including jello, ice cream, etc.]--anything fluid at room temp.  But for our Fitbit purposes, I try to keep it simple and honest. 

[WaltTN]

When it comes to recording water in fitbit, I only record water from non-sugared (non-caloried) sources.  But that is my preference not a hard and fast rule.

[josephz2va]

I record Water as Water. Not anything that I mix Water with (K-Cups, Tea, etc.) If I recorded Water as something else, I won't have enough Water Consumed.

64 Ounces is the required goal for water, but I have to aim for a Gallon (128 Ounces) for overworking my body.

[Ageless70]

What counts as fluid etc juice,tea, coffee, water milk

[Ageless70]

What does Fitbit regard as fluid?

[dmck]

Last year, I was going to speech therapy on my vocal cords.  When the therapist asked how much water I drank, I asked that same question.  She suggested that anything with caffeine or alcohol be counted as a negative and liquids without caffeine or alcohol be counted as positives.  I try to stay on the positive side.  🙂

[sarajenivieve]

log juice and milks and soda under snacks because they have calories. coffe black and tea plain you dont need to log but isnt water, logging water is rather pointless though 8glasses means nothing to your body and is a made up number mostly they push that to keep you feeling full.

[PanthersLuke]

Science has proven that drinking water (or at least a certain amount of it) isn't necessary or really healthy (or unhealthy). I don't know why you'd waste your time logging it.

[nitenurse]

i would only log water intake, not fluid intake. so i would only count water as water intake

[Konfusius]

@PanthersLuke you mean to say not drinking water doesn't have negative affects on your bodily functions or on your performance, sport wise? 

Could I ask you for a useful source on this? While I don't think it helps too much with "losing weight" (whatever that means) I like to drink water throughout the day, additionally to the green tea / moringa i drink (and the approximate 2ltr of black coffee...)

I tend to follow advise fob people like Dr. Mercola, Darrel Wolf or Michael Greger on "nutrition" and text to err on the safe side (3ltr. of water a day surely won't harm me, not drinking enough might do...)

[Dominique]

I think @PanthersLuke was referring to one particular recent study showing that it’s not necessary to drink as much water as previously thought. Obviously, it got a lot of publicity, since the consensus so far has been it’s important to drink a sufficient amount of water. The study mentions "the detrimental effects of overdrinking that can cause water intoxication and eventually death". I would really like to know how many cases of such "death by water intoxication" have been observed in the real world, and what amounts of water are needed for that to happen.

I personally think most people don’t drink enough zero-calorie liquids. While drinking water in itself doesn’t cause weight loss, it does promote it indirectly. Simply replacing caloric drinks (soda, juice, alcohol) by zero-calorie drinks (whether it’s water, coffee/tea with no cream/sugar, diet soda etc.) has a big impact on weight management: drinking your calories simply is a bad idea if you want to lose weight. When I think I’m hungry, but suspect it’s not real hunger, I tend to drink water or tea. Not sure if it’s having a physiological effect, but at least I get some sort of temporary fullness from the liquid I just poured down. Plus I get a few extra steps from the trips to the bathroom . 

[Konfusius]

The only occurrences for "water by overdrinking" I know of are people that almost died of dehydration and then had too much in one go (think "lost in the desert for weeks and finding an oasis") 😉

Thanks for the study, I am reading the abstract just now as - I just tend to get .. cautious if someone states "science has proven", because "science" doesn't mean it's right by default (think of corporate financed studies, which seems to be most studies anyways). 

I agree with the replacing of calorie drinks with non-calorie drinks, I tend to forget about that as I do not consume calorie drinks at all (apart from the odd organic orange juice and sometimes plant based "milk" for shakes, which I count as food, not "drink").

I think I read "somewhere" that the messages the body sends for thirst and for hunger can get mixed up and I also believe it's a good call to double check that first, as you do @Dominique. I also like the "more steps to the bathroom" philosophy ^^. I imagine drinking water would have a physiological effect as it provides "volume" to the stomach, which apparently is one of the two types of sensors we have to determine whether we're "full"...

[Esya]

I heard of 1 death which was in a competition where you would win something if you were the one to drink the largest amount of water (the people involved were unaware of the risk). If my memory serves me correctly it was in Japan. And the amount drank was about 18 liters if I remember correctly. You have to drink a lot (way more than 3 liters a day) for it to happen and it is also less likely to happen if you eat in between as it is caused by osmosis. I think in the occurrences the people died they drank a lot without eating anything at all.

My body is pretty ok not mixing up thirst and hunger, but I recently stopped drinking alcohol. I realised this weekend that my body does mix up wanting alcohol and hunger. A small snack stopped the desire for alcohol right away.

[WendyB]

@EsyaIt happen here in CA as well. It was a radio promotion. Cant remember all the facts though.

Was about 10 years ago.

What some people will do to win a prize.

[Esya]

Maybe it was that one then, as it happened long time ago and I might not recall it correctly. I just heard about it as it was one of those weird deaths.

And yes, what some will do to win a prize 😞 . But also what we are capable of when we put our mind on something!

[ejensen]

Because a person might, like me, be an overzealous coffee drinker and needs to counteract it with some sort of hydration....:)

[Konfusius]

Wow, is that urban legend still around? And it gets perpetuated by one of our own even... 😉

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