It’s a question I often see on forums as we’re always told to drink more water especially if we’re trying to lose weight.
The problem is that some people don’t like water but don’t want to add cordial (aka sugar… or poison to some) and it’s not particularly a pleasant experience drinking a glass of cold water in winter.
My take on it is that as long as you’re drinking some kind of fluids, you’ll be fine.
I drink a lot of green tea during the winter months and don’t touch a drop of tap water. Despite this containing caffeine which is a diuretic and despite going to the toilet more, I don’t experience any symptoms of dehydration. (The first sign for me is dry skin.)
Some people say that if you drink one cup of green tea then you have to drink a glass or two of water to balance things out otherwise you’ll be dehydrated. So if I go for 6 months without drinking any water, wouldn’t I die of dehydration? In my experience, I’ve found it not to be the case and that even drinking largely green tea and black coffee during the colder months, I experience no dehydration symptoms whatsoever.
So my advice is to drink what you want with these comments to bear in mind:
- water is best
- green teas are good choices for their antioxidant properties
- anything is better than not drinking at all, even a pint of beer (don’t drive afterwards!)
- if it’s not water, the drink will have some calorie value so will have to be counted as part of your total daily intake if you’re looking at losing weight
- zero calorie fizzy drinks can be included but can contain sweeteners such as aspartame which some say can cause cancer and some people may be allergic to
- too much caffeine may result in other health conditions