Companies like Soda Stream and Perrier must have been bubbling with anger over the latest research: apparently drinking sparkling water is bad for your health.
Popularly viewed as a healthy alternative to diet or soft drinks, two new studies have revealed another side to soda water.
Sparkling water, which uses carbon dioxide to produce fizz, may trigger a hunger hormone, called ghrelin, making us eat more than we usually would and lead to weight gain. Even fizzy drinks with no calories were shown to produce the same findings.
Soft drink companies are fighting back. They argue the latest research was conducted on lab rats and won’t necessarily make humans gain weight.
Yet even dentists have recently cautioned that soda water can rot your teeth. They argue fizzy water is acidic, which means the bubbles can erode your tooth enamel, causing painful, yellow and cracked teeth.
Some dentists say it’s flavoured fizzy water that can have this impact. They all agree more research needs to be done on the effects of plain bubbly water to know for sure.
Do you believe the recent hype? I drink a lot of soda water and I’m not necessarily convinced this is a bad thing. Feel free to weigh in.
Hogwash. Bubbly water fills me up
Can't be true. Everyone in Berlin drinks sparkling water and there's nary a fat person around.
Sounds pretty sketchy… ghrelin is a hormone that is supposed to trigger hunger… I have never felt particularly hungry after consuming sparkling water.
Carbonation can cause bloating for some people… But that isn't the same as "getting fat".