So, you’ve about had it with everyday plain water. You’re looking to introduce something new and exciting into your life, but you don’t want to introduce anything into your drinking plan that adversely affects hydration by falling short of the way water hydrates your body. While regular water may be the best way to stay hydrated when matched against drinks with added sugars and added flavorings, you may be surprised to find sparkling water is on par with the original recipe.
What Is Sparkling Water?
To create sparkling water, a variable is introduced into that original recipe of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Carbon dioxide gas is sent into the water, which induces bubbling and instills that water with the aspect known as carbonation.
Sparkling water needs less added carbonation than other carbonated waters because it comes from springs where it gains some carbonation from the minerals it contains.
Sparkling Water vs. Regular Water
When it comes down to it, sparkling water can offer a drinking experience that normal water can’t. Meanwhile, it provides you with the same level of hydration as regular water, albeit at a slower rate. Why does the body take longer to obtain the same amount of hydration from carbonated water as it does from classic water?. Because it has to wait for the stomach to separate water from carbonation.
There are other carbonated beverages extremely similar to sparkling water—so much so that the term “sparkling water” is commonly used interchangeably with the other members of its carbonated family—but it’s important to understand their differences.
Seltzer water is regular water infused with carbon dioxide. It lacks the minerals of sparkling water. Club soda is seltzer water that also receives an infusion of minerals, usually sodium bicarbonate and potassium sulfate. Those minerals give it a salty taste. Tonic water includes carbonation and minerals along with quinine, a medication used to treat malaria. Flavored syrups and sugars are frequently introduced into tonic water.
Benefits of Switching to Sparkling Water
Bubbles Encourage Drinking
Sodas can be enticing for a number of reasons—everything from marketing to flavor profile can pull you in and influence your drink decisions. For some people, though, soda is all about the bubbles.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which endorses sparkling water as an alternative for those who don’t drink regular water, the bubbles can encourage people to drink more by making sparkling water easier to swallow than normal water.
Helps With Diet
When that carbonation is separated from carbonated water, it can help contribute to a feeling of fullness. Sparkling water benefits can include keeping meals to healthy proportions or fixing an issue with overabundant water consumption. Drinking sparkling water may also help with mild acid reflux or indigestion.
As a side note, removing tap water from your diet in favor of sparkling water can also remove some of the fluoride your body is used to. Consider other ways your teeth can get the fluoride they need.
Steers You Clear of Soda
If you find yourself reaching for a soda, try finding carbonated water instead. The bubbles are one important factor that helps with sparkling water’s drinkability, but many sparkling waters now include no-calorie or low-calorie flavoring options that put healthier carbonate drinks on an even playing field with their less healthy relatives. There are more carbonated water options on the market than ever before, with a wide variety of flavors available to the curious consumer. Once again, studies find that carbonated water hydrates at near identical levels as still water—something soda can’t claim.
Possible Risks of Sparkling Water
Can Damage Teeth
Those bubbles may be what lifts carbonated waters above regular water for some drinkers, but the carbonation used to create those bubbles also creates carbonic acid in the drink. That acid is consumed while drinking carbonated waters, but it’s a weak acid. However, if the producer of your sparkling water of choice is adding acids like phosphoric acid or citric acid for flavor, the water can reach the point where prolonged drinking could cause erosion.
The theme repeats itself here, too: even if those acids are added to sparkling water, its corrosive power is still less than that of soda.
Can Cause Bloating
If you’re prone to bouts of bloating or gas, carbonated water can add fuel to that fire. It can also cause a level of fullness that promotes discomfort instead of a satisfied feeling.
The acidic nature of some carbonated beverages could make acid reflux worse instead of better, but there’s not a lot of data on just how much carbonated beverages contribute to acid reflux.
If sparkling water begins to promote this kind of response in your body, dial back your consumption.
Can Include Sneaky Additives
Sugary beverages are America’s leading source for added sugar, and if you aren’t careful, sparkling water can contribute to that problem instead of alleviating it. Like with anything else you put into your body, read the nutritional facts and ingredients list before purchasing any carbonated waters. Look for the word “essence” in the ingredient list, along with low levels of any added fruit juice.
Can Slow Down Hydration
Yes, studies show that carbonated waters hydrate at near-identical levels as regular water. However, those studies also show that the body must first separate any carbonation from the water before using it to hydrate. This downtime could make a detrimental difference in an emergency situation, during exercise, or for physically intensive jobs like athlete or construction worker.
Maintain Optimal Hydration with DripDrop and Save 25%
Sparkling water provides near-identical hydration as its still counterpart, so adding an oral hydration solution like DripDrop will help the hydration process in near-identical fashion. DripDrop adds flavor with a third of the sugar you’d consume in a sports drink. It also adds three times the electrolytes of a sports drink, helping the body better utilize the hydration you’re consuming with sparkling water.
If you already have your favorite flavors picked out, you can subscribe and save 25%. If you want to try DripDrop’s flavor offerings, grab a multi-flavor pouch.
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