Dailies Contact Lenses

Including Coffee in with Daily Water Intake? (10pts tonight)?

I am curious if there is anyone who has confirmed the following with a nutritionist or trainer... Should coffee consumed be included in your daily water intake? I drink 4L (1 Gallon) of water daily, and it struck me today that perhaps I should be drinking a little less from my bottle (I carry a 4L jug with me all day) due to the amount of coffee I drink daily.... I drink 1 - 2, 20oz (600ml) cups of coffee on an average day, just coffee with a little bit of milk (usually skim, 1% or 2%) and I'm wondering if this should be included as water intake in such a way that I should be reducing my "jug water" intake by the amount of coffee in ML/OZ that I consume that day so that between the two, I take in 4L in the day? My educated guess is that yes, of course this should be included as part of my water intake, but stranger things have happened so here I am looking for confirmation or someone to tell me that it shouldn't be included as water intake... 10pts for the info tonight. Thanks Barb, that's exactly what I was looking for, I shall declare you best answer once the system let's me :) To the person who said 4L of water is excessive and that 1L is "lots", we'll have to agree to disagree... one needs to consider, bodyweight, activity level, age, sex and even climate to determine an appropriate water intake. 1L of water for any adult is too little as the general rule of thumb is that one should consume 50 - 75% of your bodyweight in ounces of water p/day... 1L is about 35 ounces which is enough for water for someone who weighs about 70lbs. Also, thanks to Kris for the info about the study done on Oprah, that's very interesting and helpful as well and I gave you a thumbs up so you get at least 1pt :)

Public Comments

1. A healthy fluid intake in general should include any free liquid consumed: coffee, pop, water, etc., and you should be making 2 liters of urine per day. What goes in must come out. Drinking over 4 liters of fluid per day is excessive and can throw off your electrolytes.
2. Barb M is spot on, this amount of water is TOO much and not good for you. Oprah also had a study done, a group of people having fluid intake made up of tea, coffee and other drinks as well as water. The other group only drank pure water (same amounts). At the end of the test period all had blood tests etc and there was NO difference between the two groups.... Oprah was quite annoyed she had been drinking all this water for years because it was supposedly 'better'. Generally best guide to know if you are not getting enough fluid is if urine is yellow/dark rather than lemon juice color.
3. All fluid and watery foods (coffee, tea, milk, juice, soup,fruit,lettuce etc etc) counts towards your water intake. Four litres daily is excessive in any case, one litre a day is lots.