Sparkling water: benefits and harm to the body

Sparkling water is always refreshing. She is tasty, enjoyable, so the world is full of her fans.

Composition and calorie content

Carbonated water is called a cooling drink, saturated with carbon dioxide bubbles. It is slightly carbonated, medium carbonated, highly carbonated. For its manufacture, both simple, ordinary water and mineral water are used. Water gasification is carried out in two ways. The first is mechanical, the second is chemical.

In the mechanical method, water is saturated with carbon dioxide using special apparatus - siphons, acratophores or saturators. The process takes place under increased pressure, and air is first removed from the water. Typically, carbon dioxide is introduced into the water from 5 to 10 g per liter. Disinfection of water as a result of carbonation does not occur.

In the chemical process, water is saturated with carbon dioxide during the fermentation process. The carbonation process takes place similarly to the result of which champagne, beer, kvass are obtained. Carbonation occurs when baking soda and acid come into contact.

Water dissolves carbon dioxide well, and as a result of the aeration process, it acts as a preservative. On the bottle labels indicate its code - E290.

The chemical composition of each bottle is purely individual and depends on what source water was taken for carbonation. So, mineral water can be neutral (like plain, ordinary water) and alkaline.

If we consider this drink from the point of view of the presence of minerals in it, then there are a huge number of variations. Water can be sulfate, glandular, bicarbonate and bicarbonate-chloride, chloride, sodium, calcium, magnesium, magnesium-calcium, fluorine-containing, bromine, iodine, iodine-boron-containing, etc.

With all the variety of choices, the buyer can be sure: the caloric content of such water - both mineral and ordinary - is zero, since its composition is completely absent of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, from the presence and quantity of which the products acquire one or another energy value.

But carbonated sweet waters - all kinds of soft drinks, tarragon and cola - are saturated with sugar and a whole group of substances that significantly increase the energy value of drinks.

What is useful carbonated water

General benefit

Today, sparkling water is one of the most popular and best-selling drinks in the world. A glass of such liquid, especially chilled, is pleasant to drink on a hot day, it quenches thirst better than still. It refreshes, cleanses the body, removes toxins, saturates cells, helping to prolong youth and beauty.

But for the most part, only carbonated mineral water can bring serious benefits to the human body. And this benefit will directly depend on how much you follow the recommendations on the amount of its use. If everything is in order, then water normalizes the digestion processes, supports the active production of enzymes, saturates with useful minerals, as a result of which bones and teeth are strengthened.

The systematic use of sparkling water can reduce blood cholesterol, and this directly affects the improvement of heart function. In addition, it has been observed that water with gas helps purify the blood, increase hemoglobin and improve cell nutrition.

For women

Soda water helps women to retain beauty and youth in the first place. It saturates the cells with liquid, which slows down the aging process of the skin. The ability of water to improve metabolism and stimulate blood circulation also works to preserve youth. Saturation of the body with minerals helps ladies keep their hair and nails attractive. And another plus of soda for women is the active participation of water in the process of losing weight.

For men

Men smoke more than women, drink alcohol, eat fatty foods. Against these harmful addictions of the stronger sex, carbonated water resists perfectly: it cleanses the blood, liver, lowers cholesterol and supports the cardiovascular system, pushing away a dangerous potential heart attack.

During pregnancy

The use of mineral soda for a pregnant woman will be useful for the most part because it makes up for the loss of mineral substances, the consumption of which will increase sharply during this period. To save teeth and hair, expectant mothers can sometimes drink such water, but slightly and only slightly carbonated, because carbon dioxide bubbles can cause bubbling in the stomach, flatulence and even heartburn. In addition, excess consumption of mineral water will lead to the opposite effect, so it is quite possible leaching of calcium from bones. So for pregnant women, the main rule is moderation and accuracy.

When breastfeeding

Although natural soda is useful for breastfeeding, according to some experts, it is better to give it up temporarily - until the child is at least six months old - to refuse, since colic and flatulence are possible not only in the mother, but also in the baby. And 6 months after giving birth, you can slowly introduce it into your diet and monitor how the baby’s body will react.

For kids

Children love soda, especially sugary drinks. From such should be protected in every possible way, since their use is fraught with obesity, nervous excitability and bad teeth. The cause of all problems is excess sugar.

A simple mineral water will be useful due to the set of substances necessary for the growth and development of children - potassium, calcium, magnesium. Soda increases appetite, with inflammation of the upper respiratory tract in children, it helps to relieve sputum.

But a lot of soda is not allowed for children, since carbon dioxide increases the secretion of gastric juice, which can lead to gastritis. It is better to wait with the acquaintance of a child with soda up to three years.

Is it possible to drink sparkling water while losing weight

Everyone who decides to lose weight needs to drink enough water, since it improves metabolism, accelerates the removal of decay products from the body, and helps to eliminate constipation. Fluid is necessary to restore normal digestion, unbalanced by the absence of familiar foods on the menu. In addition, a glass of water can dull the feeling of hunger.

Carbonated water in this sense is as good a helper as ordinary: it does not contain proteins, fats and carbohydrates, therefore its calorie content is zero.

However, it is not necessary to be too fond of drinking sparkling water, that is, to sit on it alone, since bloating, flatulence is possible. If such problems do not bother, sparkling water will be very slim.

Sparkling water in medicine

Sparkling water known to mankind for a long time. In one of the books of the ancient Greek healer and philosopher Hippocrates, it is written about how miraculous healing properties water has in mineral natural sources.

Today, experts no longer doubt the fact that sparkling water shows its beneficial properties both for internal use and for external use. Yes, and thirst soda copes faster than still water.

Doctors prescribe mineral sparkling water mainly for those patients who have problems with the acidity level of gastric juice, such drinks control its formation. It is also recommended for other problems with the gastrointestinal tract and liver.

In addition, mineral water enriches the body with useful substances, without which a normal healthy human life is impossible, at the same time removes toxins, toxins, that is, actively balances the metabolism. This is also taken into account by doctors when prescribing such water.

With diabetes

Normal soda and mineral sparkling water with a small amount of salts - 500 mg per liter - for diabetes is not forbidden to drink. It has no contraindications, it has a beneficial effect on metabolic processes, stimulates digestion and removes toxins.

In the medicinal-table water there are more salts - up to 1000 mg per liter. It is not necessary to abuse it, and then it will have a positive effect on the course of diabetes. If a reasonable dosage is exceeded, imbalance of salt metabolism is possible.

Healing mineral water, in which salts will be contained above 1000 mg per liter, can be drunk only as directed by a doctor.

With pancreatitis

Pancreatitis refers to those diseases in which the patient's condition directly depends on what he eats and drinks. Therefore, people who have a history of this disease should very carefully choose the right water and choose one that will have a beneficial effect on the state of the pancreas. Moreover, carbonated mineral water is often prescribed as a therapeutic agent, but only a doctor can do this.

A carbonated mineral water can relieve inflammation of the pancreas, relieve pain and spasm of the organ, and also facilitate the patient's return to normal food intake, if he had previously been prescribed therapeutic fasting.

With gastritis

Gastritis is a disease in which a carbonated mineral water is prescribed without fail. Moreover, it is better to use it directly from natural sources and undergo an annual three-week course of treatment. A doctor prescribes water for each patient, depending on the condition and course of the disease. But there are general rules.

So, gastritis with low acidity of gastric juice is treated with sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride waters. With gastritis with high acidity, sulfide and bicarbonate waters are prescribed.

Start taking water with a third of a glass and gradually increase the rate over three days, bringing to a full glass. If the acidity is increased, the water should be heated to 40–45 ° C and drunk in large sips one and a half hours before meals. If acidity is lowered, water should be at room temperature, and drink it in small sips.

For constipation

With constipation, any sparkling water is shown - both simple, ordinary, and mineral. It helps to soften feces, strengthens the contractility of the intestine and cleanses its walls.

Therefore, the systematic absence of stool is a direct indication for the intake of sparkling water. In this case, soda diluted with laxative herbal decoctions or mineral water will have the best effect. In case of constipation, water should be taken heated to a temperature of 37 ° C, in a small glass three times a day.

With gout

The list of methods for treating joint pain includes the appointment of alkaline mineral water. During the period of exacerbation, it can eliminate painful symptoms and calm the joints. Of course, its administration should be combined with drug treatment.

The cause of pain in the joints is the wear of the cartilage due to lack of water and a decrease in the volume of synovial fluid. A carbonated mineral water makes up for the lack of fluid and helps to restore diseased joints.

With gout, you need to drink at least two liters of alkaline mineral water per day.

For the liver

Often, outside the period of exacerbation of chronic liver disease, the doctor prescribes the patient to take carbonated mineral water, which contains a large amount of salts - more than 4 g per liter. In this case, the goal is to normalize the water-salt balance in the body, since its constant violation causes severe pathologies - up to cirrhosis of the liver.

A carbonated mineral water makes up for the lack of potassium, sodium, sulfates, chlorine compounds in the body, thus playing a preventive role for liver complications. At the same time, there is an improvement in the biochemical composition of blood and accelerated elimination of toxins from the body.

In case of poisoning

In case of poisoning, an important role is given to carbon dioxide contained in sparkling water. Due to its ability to stop the growth of bacteria, it is often recommended to drink it in case of poisoning.

Application in cosmetology

The use of carbonated mineral water for cosmetic purposes is quite popular. Women all over the world use it for washing. The application is based on the fact that its acidity is close to that of human skin and is pH 5.5, while in ordinary water from a water supply, its value is 7.5, so after it the skin dries. That is, soda is more suitable for washing.

In addition, the soda contained in it removes excess fat, and minerals have a beneficial effect on the general condition and health of the skin. Due to its vasodilating ability, it is able to improve complexion and blood circulation. Such water is able to “wake up” the skin in the morning, stimulate metabolic processes in it.

Mineral water is especially good as a cleanser for those with sensitive skin. For owners of dry and normal skin, medium- and low-saline water, in which salts contain up to 500 mg per liter, is well suited. Those with oily skin will benefit from water that is more saturated with salts, thanks to which the pores will narrow, the oily sheen will decrease. The same water is recommended for those girls who have combination skin type.

If you leave the water bottle open for 30 minutes before washing, the excess gas will come out and it will have a milder effect on the skin.

Experts recommend switching to washing with mineral water not immediately, but little by little. You need to watch how the skin responds to this experiment, whether she likes such water. You need to start with two washings in a week. If everything is in order, you can continue the procedure. After two months of systematic use, the effect, as they say, will be on the face.

In the cosmetics industry, sparkling water is used in Korea and Japan, where they make tonics and fabric masks based on it.

Mineral water is also good for hair, it is even considered a natural balm. Thanks to its use, the scalp returns to normal, tones, the sebaceous glands begin to work like a clock, the hair becomes stronger and moisturized, shiny and silky. If you systematically use a carbonated mineral water, you can forget about dandruff.

But to make carbonated water really useful and not harm, not dry your hair and make them look like a bundle of straw, you need to buy one that contains not a lot of salts and trace elements.

Those whose scalp is dry and prone to irritation should use water with a low mineral content of not more than 500 mg per liter. People with oily scalp are recommended to take more mineralized. It is good to clean your hair and give shine to water with sodium bicarbonate in the composition.

If you drink a glass of such water daily, not only the hair will receive additional nutrition, but also the nails, which will lead to their strengthening.

Soda can rinse hair after washing, as well as add it to masks, cooked at home with your own hands, so that water enhances the effectiveness of the composition. Before rinsing the hair, the soda should be warmed to room temperature. You can enrich the composition with a decoction of the medicinal herb to enhance the strengthening effect or with a calcium tablet to give an additional volume to the hairstyle.

Hair spray

At present, adverse environmental conditions and air conditioning in offices negatively affect the health of hair, which becomes dry, inconspicuous, and breaks. Helps maintain hair spray, which is quite capable of doing at home. To do this, you need to dilute the carbonated mineral water with lemon juice, taking twice as much water as the juice. Add essential oil there (10 ml) - orange is best. Keep this spray for no longer than 7 days on a dark shelf; when using, spray hair along its entire length, in the mornings and evenings.

Styling agent

Boil a glass of water with lemon cut into slices until the volume is halved. After filtering, add a couple of drops of alcohol. Spray this product on hair before styling.

Refreshing face mask

Take honey, glycerin, oatmeal and carbonated mineral water in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 2. Mix well and spread over a clean face. Rinse off after 20 minutes with mineral water, heated to 38–40 ° C.

Anti-aging mask

Two teaspoons of honey to mix with 50 ml of sparkling mineral water, apply to the face, you can - on the neck. Rinse off after 10 minutes, it is better to use a cool mineral water for this. This mask is especially effective if you do it for a month, applying three times a week.

Whitening mask

Mix lemon essential oil (2 drops) with lemon juice (7–8 drops) and 1 teaspoon of oatmeal, a pinch of salt and 50 ml of carbonated mineral water. Cleanse the skin, open soda, so that the gases come out, and the water is prepared for washing, then apply a mask. Rinse off after 10 minutes using prepared soda. After this mask, the skin will not only whiten, but also become tender. It can be used for those with normal or oily skin.

Express mask "Cinderella"

Such a mask looks like a compress, it saves in cases where you need to instantly refresh your face, give it a charming look. But, as in the fairy tale about Cinderella, her action ceases quickly - after about 10 hours. You need two basins - with cold soda and hot water, as well as two towels. Towels should be wet in turn - one in a cold basin, the other in a hot one. Apply them to the face also alternately, in between towels, lubricating the skin with a nourishing cream. Repeat the procedure 6 times.

The use of soda in cooking

Sparkling water will complement any table - whether it is a regular dinner or a gala reception. It is perfect for all dishes and products - from salads and appetizers to desserts, "friends" with both salty and spicy foods, and with hot and cold. It can be eaten with fruits, and with meat, and with fish. If you add ice and a slice of lemon, grapefruit or orange to such water, you will get a surprisingly tasty drink.

Mistresses learned to use sparkling water in the cooking process. Pies and pancakes are very lush, tender and soft, if you add soda to the dough. To do this, use mineral water - with a minimum amount of salts, while there is no need to add salt and soda.

Add sparkling water to brines and marinades for vegetables - so that the process goes faster. To this end, you need a highly carbonated drink. Moreover, if you take mineral water with a high salt content, then the finished product will acquire an interesting original taste. For example, for salting half a kilogram you need 350 ml of mineral water, 3 cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of salt, dill, a leaf of horseradish and, if desired, currant and cherry leaves.

To make pancakes, milk and sparkling water are taken equally - 2 cups, 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 2 eggs are added, 2 cups of flour are mixed in this composition. The dough is ready, you can bake!

Use sparkling water and for the preparation of barbecue, it speeds up the pickling process. So, if you mix soda, kefir and spices in the marinade, pour it into the meat and add the onions - in an hour you can send the barbecue on the grill.

Is it possible to boil

If necessary, ordinary carbonated water can even be boiled. It even makes soup or makes tea.

Mineral sparkling water is better not to boil. During boiling, carbon dioxide and a certain proportion of liquid will evaporate from it.The salts in its composition will precipitate and will not be normally absorbed by the body. The smell and salty taste inherent in natural mineral water will not go anywhere, they will remain. There will no longer be any benefit from such water, rather, even a person will harm himself by using boiled mineral water.

Harm and contraindications

Carbon dioxide contained in ordinary carbonated water can increase the acidity in the stomach, and this leads to bloating. Therefore, you should refrain from drinking such water if you are diagnosed with a stomach ulcer, gastritis, and other diseases of the digestive system. In such cases, you can use only mineral water.

Special care should be taken with waters containing radon or hydrogen sulfide, they can cause various unpleasant side effects, especially for patients with tuberculosis, during periods of exacerbation of renal diseases, cancer patients with serious problems with blood vessels, etc.

But relatively healthy people should not uncontrollably consume mineral soda. The risk is associated with the possibility of salt deposition in various organs, most often in the kidneys and joints.

In addition, water of artificial aeration has little benefit in comparison with natural. Its constant use is fraught with belching, heartburn and flatulence.

How to choose and store

On the shelves of shops the choice of sparkling water is huge. If you need to buy regular soda, not mineral, it is better to choose the one that has passed more than one stage of purification. It is better to take bottles, on the labels of which there is information that it is table water or drinking water. If any sediment is visible at the bottom of the bottle, let it remain on the store shelf.

At home, sparkling water should be in the refrigerator, while observing all the conditions written on the label. And if the bottle has already been opened and water has been poured out, it must be tightly closed so that microbes and bacteria do not multiply.

How to carbonate water at home

About thirty years ago, in almost every house there was a siphon with replaceable cans containing carbon dioxide. So homemade soda was always available.

Every Soviet child also had a grandmother who knew that the first soda was called soda (the name came from its ingredient - soda). In her magical recipe, soda was also a major ingredient. Usually, the grandmother dissolved three or four tablespoons of jam in a liter jar of water, added dry citric acid to the tip of the spoon, dissolved in a liter of water, added a third of a teaspoon of vinegar and filled half a teaspoon of soda. That's it, the reaction has gone! Sweet homemade soda is ready!

Currently, there are many recipes for soda, but they are already somewhat modernized. For example, you can make soda with mineral water. Soda and citric acid (or lemon juice) will also be required. Pour a teaspoon of soda into a glass with a mineral water and then add a teaspoon of citric acid (or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice). Get lemonade. And if you fry sugar - it will be very similar to Coke.

Is it possible to drink tablets with sparkling water

Is it possible to drink “soda” or not? This question often arises in front of people taking pills. And doctors most often offer to abandon this idea. This is explained by the fact that carbon dioxide contained in any carbonated water can adversely affect the substances that are components of the tablet. And if the water is also mineral, then it is quite possible to enter into a chemical reaction with the ingredients of the pill. The consequences of this can be disastrous. So, in some types of sparkling water there are iron ions, as a result of the interaction of which, for example, with tetracycline or lincomycin, insoluble compounds can form, and for this reason the drugs will be absorbed much worse.

At the same time, sometimes it makes sense to drink medicine with alkaline mineral water. For example, when taking pills that have a negative effect on the stomach, this applies to iodine preparations and a number of antibiotics.

Is it possible to give animals sparkling water

There is no categorical ban on plain sparkling water for animals.It cannot be considered particularly harmful to cats and dogs, but there is no benefit from it. Moreover, after the pet drinks such water, an inevitable accumulation of gas in his stomach and intestines. And the animal is anxious, and the owner is probably not very pleased to hear the loud rumbling in the stomach, or even the emission of gases out.

Therefore, if a dog or cat really wants to drink, and there is no other water, it is better to release gas first. And mineral sparkling water should not be given at all - due to the increased content of various salts in it. If the animal will drink it often, it can result in liver problems or urolithiasis, to which castrated cats are especially prone.

Is it possible to water flowers with sparkling water

Florists get stuck when they are asked if it is possible to water flowers with soda water. Meanwhile, in the USA, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, they conducted an experiment in which they tried to find out whether plants would benefit from soda, in particular mineral water. Experimenters based themselves on theoretical assumptions that plants watered with such water should grow faster because it contains more mineral salts. The theory was confirmed practically during the experiment: plants that were regularly watered with a carbonated mineral water, due to the potassium, sulfur, sodium and phosphorus dissolved in it, became more dense green and grew faster than their relatives who did not receive such watering.

So such an experiment can be safely repeated at home, but you can’t take cold water, you must let it warm to room temperature. It is watered with mineral water once a week, not more often. If the earth in the pot dries earlier, you need to water it with plain water.

It is also possible to water indoor plants with ordinary sparkling water - not mineral -. But there is no point in this, there is no useful effect to wait. It is better to take plain water.

Interesting facts about sparkling water

1. The fact that carbon dioxide can saturate water, the English chemist Joseph Priestley told the world back in 1767. Three years later, the Swedish designer Tober Bergman assembled a compressor to mix water with carbon dioxide under high pressure. But such production in those years was extremely expensive. And only more than a century later, in 1883, the chemical production of sparkling water was patented - using soda. It was in the USA. And only after that it became possible to produce soda on an industrial scale. The world procession of sparkling water began with the Jacob Schweb factory, and until now Schweppes has been one of the leaders in the manufacture of sparkling products.
2. If in the USA the first soda was most often sold in bottles, in the rest of the world they used siphons that were refilled. And so they used water not only at home, but even in catering establishments - bars and cafes. And then came up with machines, from which you could drink soda right on the street.
3. Today, every American on average drinks 180 liters of soda per year, a resident of Russia - 50, a Chinese - about 20.

Photo of sparkling water