Health care professionals counsel, "limit your intake of sodas, even
diet and caffeine free sodas, because of the sodium.  Water is
better."  I'm sure water _is_ better, but caffeine-free diet coke
contains 40mg of sodium, 2% of the US RDA.  I'm not on a low-sodium
diet and don't have blood pressure problems.  If I drink caffeine-free
diet coke, I'll drink much more fluid during the day than if I just
drink water, so I'm considering keeping my intake of caf-free diet
coke at about a 36oz/day level.

If I drink caffeine-free diet coke, will I be hydrating or dehydrating
my body?

How much less hydrated will I be, drinking equal amounts of caf-free
diet coke versus water?

Are there health concerns regarding hydration and caffeine-free diet
coke that I haven't thought of?

Caffeine is a diuretic.  If I drink regular, caffeinated Diet Coke,
will I be hydrating or dehydrating my body?

Thanks!

Hello.

Contrary to "conventional wisdom," the latest research indicates that
beverages such as coffee, tea and sodas are not dehydrating after all.

'In a study published in the October issue of the Journal of the
American College of Nutrition, researchers at the Center for Human
Nutrition in Omaha, Neb., measured how different combinations of
water, coffee and caffeinated sodas affected the hydration of 18
healthy adults who drank caffeinated beverages routinely.
"We found no significant differences at all," says nutritionist Ann
Grandjean, the study's lead author. "The purpose of the study was to
find out if caffeine is dehydrating in healthy people who are drinking
normal amounts of it. It is not."
The same goes for tea, juice, milk and caffeinated sodas: One glass
provides about the same amount of hydrating fluid as a glass of water.
The only common drinks that produce a net loss of fluids are those
containing alcohol - and usually it takes more than one of those to
cause noticeable dehydration, doctors say.'
source:
"Really not necessary to gulp all that water"
By Benedict Carey, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Monday, February 26, 2001, hosted by geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/3464/News/water.html

"Most fluids can fulfil hydration requirements
Susan Aldridge, PhD
You don't need to drink plain water to stay well-hydrated as most
other beverages will do the job.
We're often told to make sure to drink about eight 8-ounce glasses of
water every day to keep hydrated and healthy. But the water content of
food, and beverages other than water can hydrate the body equally
well, say researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition at the
University of Nebraska.
A group of 27 healthy male volunteers was put on one of two diets.
Either they got their fluids from plain water, or from other beverages
like orange juice, cola drinks or coffee. Urine analysis and body
weight measurements revealed no significant differences between the
two groups. This suggests that if it's difficult to get access to
plain water every day, you can still fulfill your hydration and health
needs by drinking other beverages.
Source: Journal of the American College of Nutrition 1st April 2003"
source: healthandage.com
http://www.healthandage.com/Home/410!gid1=3609!gm=21

"Study Shows Caffeine Does Not Increase Dehydration"
http://www.news.uconn.edu/rel02087.htm

"Water, Water, Everywhere
How Much Water Do You Really Need to Drink?"
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/14/1668_51096

"New Hydration Research"
http://www.hydrationinfo.com/html/research.htm

"The Effect of Caffeinated, Non-Caffeinated, Caloric and Non-Caloric
Beverages on Hydration"
Grandjean, A. C., Reimers, K. J., Bannick, K. E., Haven, M. C. (2000)
Journal of the American College of Nutrition
http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/19/5/591
PDF version:
http://www.jacn.org/cgi/reprint/19/5/591.pdf

"The Effect on Hydration of Two Diets, One with and One without Plain
Water"
Ann C. Grandjean, Kristin J. Reimers, Mary C. Haven, and Gary L.
Curtis (2003)
Journal of the American College of Nutrition; abstract:
http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/2/165

"Coffee Lovers: Don't Worry About Dehydration
July 28, 1998"
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/deanfulltexttopics.cfm?ID=1298&storytype=MedicalReports

------------

Thus, to answer your questions based upon the research cited...

Q. "If I drink caffeine-free diet coke, will I be hydrating or
dehydrating
my body?"

A. Hydrating.


Q. "How much less hydrated will I be, drinking equal amounts of
caf-free
diet coke versus water? "

A. No significant difference. As mentioned above, "...the same goes
for tea, juice, milk and caffeinated sodas: One glass provides about
the same amount of hydrating fluid as a glass of water."


Q. Are there health concerns regarding hydration and caffeine-free
diet
coke that I haven't thought of? 

A. Not about hydration.  Some folks have expressed health concerns
about other soft drink ingredients such as aspartame and phosphoric
acid.
 
Aspartame.
see: U.S. Food and Drug Administration-Sugar Substitutes
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdsugar.html
Phosphoric Acid
see: Healthlink.mcw.edu
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/959705343.html


Q. Caffeine is a diuretic.  If I drink regular, caffeinated Diet Coke,
will I be hydrating or dehydrating my body? 

A. Hydrating.


search terms: soda, hydrating, hydration, cola
dehydrating, dehydration, caffeine, caffeinated

I hope this helps. If anything is unclear, please use the "request
clarification" to let me know.  Thanks.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 21 Jul 2003 01:08 PDT

I should have also mentioned that it is simply untrue that soft drinks
(regular or diet) are high in sodium.  Soft drinks have substantially
less sodium than many other beverages such as milk.

sources: 
"Q: Is it true that diet soft drinks are high in sodium?
A: No. The sodium content of diet soft drinks sweetened with
NutraSweet is generally in the same range as regular soft drinks - 10
to 30 milligrams of sodium per eight-ounce serving. Soft drinks
sweetened with sodium saccharin are slightly higher - about 37
milligrams in eight ounces - yet this even falls within the legal
classification of a "low-sodium" food; the cutoff is 140 milligrams a
serving."
http://www.losaltosonline.com/articles/2002/08/14/foodwine3.txt

Australasian Soft Drink Association: Sodium
http://www.softdrink.org.au/html/Ingredients/Sodium/sodium.html

Also see "Sodium in Drinking Water" from Ksu.edu :
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/H20QL2/MF1094.PDF

excellent!  not only did the researcher answer the questions clearly
and concisely, but but also provided contextual information _and_ a
followup comment.  The researcher also mentioned a popular corollary
to my question (regarding aspartame), but was not distracted into
answering the wrong question.

Please be advised, Aspartame is pure poison.
For some reason(s), it appears that governmental corruption has
continued to allow this toxic substance on the market.
For info untainted by extreme governmental bias, start with the URL:
<http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/>
The symptoms of this poisoning are so varied, and so profound, and
yet, it's so difficult to know they are from the Aspartame.  My
personal experience, was that I read an obscure article about
Aspartame, stopped drinking the more than a quart a day I sometimes
was consuming, and immediately got rid of some really debilitating
numbness in my legs.  I'm very sure it was doing a lot of other bad
things to me, that were not as easy to identify.

Katten:
Thank you for the tip.
-juggler

It's my pleasure, juggler-GA.  If you are over a certain age, you tend
to believe that government agencies, (i.e. the FDA in this case), are
trying to protect you, to the best of their ability.  In the case of
Apartame, I can hardly believe my eyes, when I see what murder the FDA
seems to be getting away with.
The FDA has always been bureaucratically heavy-handed, I think, but
this appears to be a case of outright, blatant corruption.
I did not intend to give any impression that I was improving on your
answer, since you already covered the fact of health concerns about
Aspartame. But because of my personal experience with Aspartame, and
because I feel so incredibly betrayed by the FDA, I had to emphasize
what you already covered.

Oh, gosh, I just noticed you meant the $5.00 tip, from katten-GA.
Well, as the little old lady on Sat. Night Live used to say.....
"Nevermind". :)