7 Amazing Benefits of Sparkling Water
There are a ton of negative myths floating around about sparkling water, from it causing bones to dissolve to destroying our teeth.
I even had one friend tell me that no she doesn’t drink sparkling water since she’s on a diet and doesn’t want to add more calories.
Sadly these misconceptions continue to spread, yet little is ever said about the Benefits of Sparkling Water.
Benefits such as;
- Increase Water Intake and Hydration
- Helps with Weight Loss and Managing Weight
- Improves Bowel Movements and Stopping Constipation
- Can Relieve Gas in Stomach
- Relieves Motion Sickness
- Safer than Tap Water
- Helps to Prevent Diabetes
So in this article, I hope to explain how sparkling water can have a positive impact on your life and also debunk some these prevailing myths.
This article will be divided into two parts;
- the first dealing with the benefits of Sparkling Water and the
- second dealing with the benefits of Sparkling Mineral Water.
Sparkling Water is just water with CO2 gas dissolved in it, whilst Sparkling Mineral Water has CO2 along with certain minerals dissolved inside.
Benefits of Sparkling Water
1- Increase Water Intake and Hydration
We all know drinking water is good for us, yet we seem to always neglect to get the recommended 8 glasses of water a day.
On the other hand what we don’t struggle to do on a day to day basis is to pop open bottle after bottle of Sugary Sodas.
One study by the CDC reported that 47% of Adult Americans drink less than 4 cups of water a day. Citation.
How Sparkling Water Increases Water Intake
Sparkling Water gives you the best of both worlds with the same benefits of Water and the added factor that it is more appealing and exciting, minus all the sugary problems of soda.
One Study reported that individuals who owned a SodaStream, which is a carbonation appliance that makes sparkling water, tend to drink 43% more water.
I know a lot of you might be thinking that’s because they invested money in a SodaStream and they forced themselves to use it more and thus drank more water.
This could be true but the results are the same, you end up drinking more water.
My wife and I, since we have had our SodaStream have both been drinking more water.
Being more hydrated can have many positive effects such as;
Reduce Headaches and Migraines
One of the most common causes of headaches is being dehydrated.
These headaches usually follow with a feeling of dizziness and a lack of energy.
Our body is composed of 70% water and every day our body loses water via sweat, urine etc, and if we don’t replace the lost water it can throw off our internal balance of water and cause major problems.
So drinking more carbonated water can help fight off headaches and keep our bodies balanced. Citation.
Improves the Look of Our Skin
If you are dehydrated your skin will be dry, flaky and rigid. By being more hydrated can give your skin that bright glowing effect. Citation.
By consuming more water allows our body to produce more sweat and much-needed natural body oils to keep our skin nice and healthy.
Prevents Muscle Cramps and Strengthen Muscles
You know that terrible pain when the muscle in your legs locks or tightens for several minutes of excruciating pain.
A few studies have linked muscle cramps with dehydration. So if you are prone to these cramps increasing your water intake is highly advisable.
Water also helps to build up muscles and keep them working in good order. Citation.
Washes Out Toxins
Drinking more water is one of the best ways to get rid of toxins in the body.
Every day our body builds up toxins either from highly processed food, medical drugs, or even stress and one of the natural ways the body gets rid of these toxins is through urination or sweat.
And the more water we drink the more we urinate and sweat these toxins out. Citation.
Helps Prevents HangOvers
Alcohol makes you dehydrated and is one of the reasons why you feel so terrible after a night of drinking.
One simple tip is to drink one glass of water for every glass of alcoholic beverage you drink.
This will make your hangovers much more manageable and also cut down the number of calories you consume. Citation.
Improves Heart Function
By increasing your water intake helps keep your blood the correct viscous level and this can significantly decrease the strain on your heart, by making easier to pump blood around the body.
Reduce Blood Pressure
One of the most natural and simple ways to reduce and manage your blood pressure is to be well hydrated. Citations.
This won’t apply with Sparkling Mineral Water since sparkling mineral water has traces of sodium inside which can increase blood pressure.
Strengthen Immune System
Being properly hydrated has been shown to help the body fight off viruses and other infections. Citations.
Improves Brain Function
The brain like all organs in the body needs to have a constant balance of water to work at an optimal level and by always being hydrated keeps your brain fit, active and more alert. Citation.
Water has been shown to even affect out mood, several studies have shown that dehydration can lead us to be unhappy and irritable, so the next time you feel stressed out, grab a glass water it might help. Citation.
2-Sparkling Water Helps with Weight Loss
The great irony is the sparkling weight doesn’t cause any weight gains, it will help you to lose weight and also keep you from gaining weight.
This myth stems from people mixing up Sparkling water with Sugary Soda.
How Does Sparkling Water Help With Weight Loss
It helps in two ways;
- Sparkling Water can act as a Substitute for Sugary high-calorie Sodas.
- Sparkling Water Makes You Feel Full and Less Hungry.
You can read more about this myth about Sparkling Water Making you Gain Weight and Why and How it Helps you to lose weight in my article Is Sparkling Water Fattening.
3-Helps to Settle Stomach by Relieving Gas
There have been many reports from around the world that sparkling water helps to relieve built up gas in the stomach.
Usually, this build-up of gas happens when you go for a long period without food, a common example is when you skipped a meal.
I have done some research on this claim and have found a 2002 study that helps to substantiate this belief. Citation.
How carbonated water helps to relief build up pressure in the stomach
This is purely my opinion, I think that the CO2 gas in carbonated water helps to induce burping which helps to force out the air in our stomach.
4-Helps to Improve Bowel Movement and Decrease Constipation
Sparkling water has been shown to help improve bowel movement and prevent constipation. Citation.
How Sparkling water does this is not fully understood but I think one of the factors that help is that drinking lots of water, in general, helps to improve bowel movement. Citation.
5-Reduces Motion Sickness
Motion Sickness is caused when there is a difference in how your senses see the world.
A good example of this is being in a fast moving car, your eyes see that you are moving, your inner ears feel like you are moving but your muscles know that you are still.
This difference in your senses leads to a feeling of uneasiness and nausea.
Sparkling water has been shown to reduce nausea, though the reason why isn’t fully yet understood. Citation.
6-Much Safer than Tap Water
When you drink bottled sparkling water, you can feel safe to know that the water has been treated and purified, whilst tap water can be known to have sediments, especially in third world countries.
So if you are traveling abroad and you don’t trust the local water ask for sparkling water, you can rest assured that the water has been treated.
7-Prevents Diabetes and Other Diseases
Not too long ago my neighbor’s teenage son got diagnosed with Type Two Diabetes, for years now he struggled with his weight.
And I would remember his dad always complaining to me that couldn’t get him to control his eating habit, and one of the sore points of his diet was constantly drinking of sodas.
I don’t know if sodas are the main cause of his diabetes but I am sure that it played a factor.
It was an eye-opener for me, with my two boys who too liked sodas a bit too much, since them, my wife and I have made the conscious effort to wean them off the store bought sodas with more homemade drinks.
There are tons of research that show that sodas are linked to diabetes and obesity Citation.
One of the great things about sparkling water is that it can be used as a healthy replacement to sodas, for my kids we usually add kool-aid or other flavors to make sparkling water more kids friendly.
You can check out my article How to Make Sparkling water taste better for more great tips.
Benefits of Sparkling Mineral Water
Sparkling Mineral water is carbonated water containing minerals and other compounds.
Compounds such as Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Chloride, and Sulfur compounds.
All of these minerals will vary based on the brand of the sparkling mineral water, what I know is that Perrier has all these minerals in ample quantities because it is my choice of sparkling mineral water. Citation.
What I would advise is to read the labels to see the exact contents.
These minerals are what gives Sparkling Mineral Water their amazing benefits.
Such as
- Fighting against Osteoporosis which is a loss in bone mass and Helps with Bone Growth.
- Helps with the teeth formation
- Improves Heart Health
- Prevents Migraines
- Relieving anxiety
- Replaces Electrolytes
Bone Growth
Sparkling Mineral water contains calcium which as you probably know is needed from bone growth since our bones are composed of calcium.
What you might not know is that Magnesium which is also found in sparkling mineral water helps with the absorption of calcium.
Now as you get older your body struggles to utilize the calcium that it consumes and magnesium helps the body to utilize the calcium and prevents osteoporosis which is a common bone disease of old age. Citation.
Helps With teeth Formation
Our teeth are composed largely of calcium and they are constantly being lost due to normal wear and tear.
Sparkling Mineral like I stated before is full of Calcium and Magnesium which are both essential minerals for healthy teeth formation.
Improves Heart Health
There are two main minerals in sparkling mineral water Magnesium and Potassium both of which helps to develop strong and healthy heart muscles.
And also they have been shown to reduce atherosclerosis, which is the fatty build up in the walls of our arteries, that can lead to a stroke. Citations 1 and 2.
Replaces Electrolyte
As any athlete would now as you exercise and sweat you lose electrolytes.
Electrolytes are just another word for minerals such as sodium, magnesium, and potassium, all of which sparkling mineral water is rich in.
So sparkling mineral water is perfect for those who don’t like drinks like Gatorade.
Prevents Migraines
Deficiency in Magnesium and Potassium has been shown to have a link to Migraines and headaches this because both compounds are needed for healthy nerve functions. Citation.
Helps With Anxiety
Low levels of magnesium and potassium have been shown to cause anxiety and irritability this is due to both minerals are needed for proper nerve function. Citation.
Improves Overall Muscle and Nerve Function
All of these minerals are needed for everyday muscle and nerve function, potassium, magnesium, and sodium are key in the action of neurotransmitters which are needed for rapid muscle actions. Citation.
I found a Short Video highlighting some more benefits of sparkling water see below.
