Is Drinking Too Much Sparkling Water Bad for You?

In the fridge of our rented house 

One of the houses we rented during our recent trip had some fizzy (or sparkling) drinking water in the fridge. My younger boy tried it and seemed to like it. It was just a novelty to him. At home in Singapore, we drink filtered water and my wife doesn't allow our boys any sodas or fizzy drinks.

On the topic of sodas, some of you may remember I used to drink lots of Coca Cola while I was still competing. Actually until just before my accident. Sometimes I still get an urge to drink them, especially after a long bike ride.

Very few things beat the refreshing taste of an ice cold Coke or 100 Plus after a tough workout. One of my patients tells me he drinks sparkling Perrier water with lime to get the refreshing sensation without the sugar. He was also concerned about whether the bubbles (or carbonation) was bad for his teeth.

What my patient drinks after exercise

Yes, remember I wrote previously about how endurance athletes had significantly higher rates of tooth erosion.

So I decided to do a little search. Here's what I found regarding sparkling water. Unlike sports drinks, the carbonation in the sparking water will probably not erode your enamel and wear out your teeth (Reddy et al, 2016). Since sparkling water has no phosphoric acid, it won't affect your calcium absorption and leech the calcium from your bones.

Unlike here in Singapore, sparkling water is very popular in the United States of America and Europe. In America, sales of sparkling water from La Croix went from $10 million in 2010 to $667 million in 2016.

So the evidence seems to suggest that plain carbonated (or sparkling) water is just as hydrating and healthy as regular (flat) water. Just be wary of the flavored varieties as some may have added sugar. That's when your dental health may be affected if your consume too much of it.

 If your crave some flavor, I'll recommend adding some fruit. I often add lemons (yes, you read correctly) in my drinking bottle while cycling.

Lemons in my cycling bottle

Other than lemons, at home I like mint and watermelons. But that's just me.

Reference

Avanija R, Norris DF et al (2016). The PH Of Beverages In The United States. J Am Dental Assoc. 147(4): 255-263. DOI: 10.1016/j.adaj.2015.10.019.

Plain sparking water is best

Going Bananas?

Ready to go riding with my bananas

I've written before that sports drinks cannot  totally replace your electrolyte losses during exercise. Moreover, sports drinks are manufactured and may contain flavorings and chemicals that you may want to avoid.

And if you're like me and prefer eating real food and drinking lemon water (or just plain water) rather than sports drinks while exercising, then you may be doing enough to replace the carbohydrates to fuel your exercise and even speed recovery.

A preliminary study in 2012 found that cyclists performed better for a strenuous bike ride if they had a banana or sports drink compared to water. The cyclists also had lower levels of inflammation after the ride. That study did not show why and how the carbs were aiding recovery.

The same authors did a new study that was recently published using more sophisticated techniques to track molecular changes inside the cyclist's bodies.

The subjects' underwent a intense 75 km bike ride inside the laboratory. In one ride, they drank only water while in another ride, they had water, eight ounces of a sports drink or half a "Dole" banana every 30 minutes.

The subjects' blood was tested before during and immediately the ride and even 45 hours after the ride. Inflammatory blood markers and metabolites were assessed during and after to test how much stress was taken by them.

When the cyclists' drank only water during the ride, relatively high levels of inflammatory markers were found. These same markers were much lower if the cyclists' had consumed the banana or sports drinks. Metabolite profiles were less stressed regardless of whether they had the banana or sports drink compared to without.

One obvious difference was those cyclists' that ate the bananas had blood cells that produced less COX-2 (a genetic precursor of an enzyme). This was not seen if they drank only water or had the sports drink.

For those interested, COX-2 enzyme stimulates prostaglandin production, which increases the intensity of inflammation. Those of you who take inflammatory medication like Arcoxia or Celebrex tablets note that they are COX-2 inhibitors. They help reduce inflammation.

This study suggest that bananas might perform comparably although it is unknown how bananas affect the cells' gene expression. So instead of popping pills like Arcoxia and Celebrex prescribed to you, you may want to eat more bananas and ginger.

It was calculated by the researches that half a standard banana provided similar carbohydrates as a cup of sports drink and the cyclists' had half every 30 mins. Bear in mind your needs may be different. Some cyclists' also complained of feeling bloated after eating that amount of bananas.

So be warned before you go bananas over ingesting bananas in your next long ride or race.


References

Nieman DC, Gillitt ND et al (2012). Bananas As An Energy Source During Exercise: A Metabolomics Approach. PlosOne. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0037479

Nieman DC, Gillitt ND et al (2018). Metabolic Recovery From Heavy Exertion Following Banana Compared To Sugar Beverage Or Water Only Ingestion: A Randomized, Crossover Trial. PlosOne. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0194843

*Note that Dole Foods which sells bananas funded both studies. However, they company did not have any involvement in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparing the article.