[Diem]

You know, towards your daily goal of eight glasses of water a day. Would it or does the CL do something? For that matter, does coffee count?

Sorry if this has been posted before, I did a small bit of searching and didn't find anything.

[lilybelle]

I may be doing it totally wrong, but the Crystal Light without Sodium , I count it as Water. If it has Sodium in it, I don't. I read the box to make sure. I drink a lot of coffee and don't count it as water because of the caffeine that I consume.

[flxthct107]

I personally would count the Crystal Light, but not the coffee.

[QuilterInVA]

Coffee doesn't count. On WW you can count 3 cups with Crystal Light, the rest has to be plain water.

[aphil]

I am going to disagree with everyone and say that no, I would NOT count Crystal Light as water...nor would I count any other caffeine free beverages as water.
Caffeinated drinks such as regular tea or coffee actually dehydrate the body a bit-so they don't count obviously...but caffeine free beverages that have chemicals and artificial sweeteners in them should not count, IMO, either. You are taking in liquid-but you are also taking in chemicals. Water helps not only hydrate, but to cleanse the body. It isn't as good if it is chemical laden.
I drink the occasional Crystal Light, or Diet 7up, etc.-but I also drink my reguar allotment of water that day as well. One doesn't make up for the other.

[Su-Bee]

Here is what I do. My eight glasses, have to be plain water. But I am trying to drink 1 oz per lb of body weight per day - so about 20 glasses. The other 12, I don't count things that dehydrate, like caffeine, but I do allow things like Crystal Light to count towards that.

That said, I try to consider Crystal Light more of a "treat," and water my mainstay, for sure!

[Suzanne 3FC]

Water counts. Crystal light counts. Watermelon counts. Tomatoes count. Fresh grapes count. Sound confusing?

According to Walter Willett, M.D., author of Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy : The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating "You may have heard that you need to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day in addition to whatever other beverages you drink. That's actually a medical urban legend, one of those facts that is repeated so often that it gains the ring of truth."

You are replacing body fluids, and you don't have to depend on pure water to fill your daily quota. You can consume a variety of fluids, and you can even get part of your water from foods. Fruits and vegetables can be as much as 80% water or more. Even bread is about 20% water. The American Medical Association tells us that the best way to meet our quota is by drinking plain water, but that other beverages may still be included.