system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Is drinking 8 cups of any liquid (i.e. pop, juice, coffee, beer, etc) pretty much the same as drinking 8 cups of water in terms of hydrating your body since the primary ingredient in any drink is water?
gpt
There's some difference. First these beverages are high on water, but it's not all water. Cola has like 88% water in it. Black coffee like 98%. Also, the amount of minerals make it either easier to absorb and keep the water, or harder. If you'd drink something high on salt (like sea water), you'd actually get really sick because partially the salty water in your bowels will attract water from you. This will cause diarrea and causes dehydration.
Some ingredients work as a diuretic, which means you will pee more because of them. Think of beer and coffee. While uptake may be the same as with normal water (but probably isn't the same) you also excrete more of it. So, the additional ingredients do matter.