Ah, sparkling water – the fizzy, low calorie alternative to regular water that also comes in many flavors. It’s probably your go-to if you’re trying to kick a bad soda habit or find drinking regular water boring. However, with its increasing popularity, myths about sparkling water started to surface around the internet.
In a recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, Dax Shepherd told listeners that he would find himself drinking liters of San Pellegrino every night, and said he was making so many trips to the bathroom that he thought he developed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Yikes!
The good news is that there might be an explanation for this.
Studies show that one of the cures to constipation is to drink more water, but does drinking sparkling water really make you poop that much? Drinking carbonated drinks can make you bloated and probably a little gassy, but you won’t develop IBS from sparkling water. In fact, according to Bustle, our bodies process this water the same way we do with regular water.
And just to clarify, there is a difference between sparkling water and seltzer water. The bubbles within seltzer water tend to be artificial (so they are pumped in by a machine), just like with club soda, whereas sparkling water contains bubbles that are naturally occurring.
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This isn’t the only myth out there about the popular drink — others claim that it makes them dehydrated, it makes your bones brittle, damages your tooth enamel, and makes you gain weight — just to name a few. Despite these false rumors, though, sales for sparkling water have increased in recent years (which we imagine is thanks to millennials who can’t get enough of La Croix).
Fortunately, such unfortunate sparking water claims are just myths. So enjoy your favorite sparkling water drink – there’s really nothing to be afraid of!
