(video) is sparkling water ok?

is sparkling water ok? absolutely. especially if the water quality is good, sparkling water can be a great compliment to your daily hydration goals.  watch our video and read on to learn more, including specific brand recommendations.

our process

everything that we put out there is from the heart, with the intension to help you along your path, and make a healthy lifestyle livable in a modern world.  

in an ideal situation, we would have nothing but what’s available thru nature, everything would be pristine with no toxins, no issues, no ingredients.  but that’s not the reality of our world.  therefore, we allow some concessions, and we do not take this lightly!

when we make a recommendation, we always consider the following:

• research.  this includes research into the scientific literature (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed), as well as looking at some anthropological texts to search for historical and evolutionary context.
• cohorts.  we have a network of holistic practitioners that we are in constant contact with.  some of them daily.  we always pose questions to our network of closest cohorts.
• groups and forums.  we have several groups and forums that we post our questions to.
• client experience.  we have hundreds if not thousands of people that we’ve worked with over the years.
• gut instinct and intuition.  we will pull all this information together with intuition and gut instincts, and make final assessments that we feel are pretty damn solid.
• ongoing flexibility.  because we are committed to supporting you for life, we are also committed to being flexible and changing our views!

on sparkling water

if water quality is good, is sparkling water acceptable, healthful or damaging to health?

• CO2 is fine to consume in moderate amounts – we breathe it out every breath.  carbonated water has no effect on the body’s ability maintain bone density or to bone remodel.  there are several studies following women for months with no change in bone density.  in fact it actually seems that mineral rich water improved calcium status (thanks Mark’s Daily Apple :).
• it may be slightly, minutely corrosive to tooth enamel, if consumed all day every day.  but not to a large degree and not if you’re consuming it in small amounts in the context of drinking your own filtered water most of the time.
• it seems to help with indigestion and constipation, which may be because of the minerals.
• if you drink it with alcohol, it seems you need less alcohol to get the same desired effect.
• thank you to Mark’s Daily Apple for providing some of these bullet points :)

many sparkling waters come from pristine springs, which means they contain bioavailable minerals in a form that our ancestors are used to consuming.

so in theory, sparkling water fine, mineral sparkling water is even better.  so the next question is looking at specific brands.

specific brands

Pelligrino – GREAT

• one of the world’s most popular Italian products because people just love it. 
• their whole bottling process takes place inside one plant, built in 1961.
• the San Pellegrino Plant operates 24 hours a day with shipping to more than 120 countries around the world.
• they place quality control on the bottles, caps, labels, boxes and cans.  
• they have up-to-date water quality reports and mineral reports.  visit https://www.sanpellegrino.com/us/en  and check out Factory & Quality.

Perrier – GREAT

• source is south of France.  the water dates back over 100M years.
• has naturally occurring minerals and naturally occurring effervescence.  
• naturally filtered through layers of limestone, cracked marl, and white sand.  
• water became naturally carbonated thru intense heat and such.
• now the company actually captures the water and gases separately and then re-combine in their plant.
• 2015 mineral and water analysis
• they have up-to-date water quality reports and mineral reports on their website.  visit https://www.perrier.com/us/ and click on Quality report.

The Mountain Valley Spring Water – GREAT

• located in Ouachita Mountains, surrounded by 2,000 acres of protected forest.   area has been protected since 1871.  
• quality report upon request.  visit https://www.mountainvalleyspring.com/ and read more About the Source.  you may also contact them directly for mineral and quality reports.

Whole Foods – SUSPECT

• Whole Foods does NOT have information readily available or easy to access.  on the bottle it references http://wholefoodsmarket.com.  through thorough searching, there is no water quality information available.
• we contacted Whole Foods through their website at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/customer-service.  it took several emails back and forth to get a water quality report.  the report seemed ancient, it was a poor scan, and was dated back to 2013 (as of this post, it’s 2016, which means this is over 3 years old).

LaCroix – OK

• LaCroix Sparkling Water is locally sourced at various locations throughout the U.S. using tap water.
• the water is treated using reverse osmosis and deionization.  which means it’s ultra clean.
• the flavors are derived from what they term “natural essence oils” extracted from the named fruit used in each of the LaCroix flavors. 
• there are no sugars or artificial ingredients contained in, nor added to, these extracted flavors.
• we emailed LaCroix to verify “natural essence oils.” 
• http://www.lacroixwater.com/

SodaStream – GREAT

for around $100 you can carbonate your own water.

• start with a SodaStream Source Home Soda Maker Starter Kit.
• use your own, pre-filtered water.  ideally chill your water first before carbonating.
• after carbonating, add essential oils, salt, and minerals.

spindrift – OK

• spindrift products are triple filtered, fluoride free from reverse osmosis (RO) treatment prior to carbonation and flavoring.
• spindrift’s flavors are natural plant juices, either fresh squeezed, crushed, or pressed.
• for more information visit http://spindriftfresh.com/ or contact them thru their contact page here.

going forward, here’s what you can do

• for any brands not listed, do some research.  go to their website.  poke around.  look for a source for water.   look for mineral and quality reports, and make sure they are relatively recent.
• you can check out all waters at ewg.org. type the name of the brand in the search bar and see what comes up.  understand EWG is rating based on label information and purification methods.  many sparkling waters come from springs and do NOT go through purification, and therefore may not get a good rating.  so just see what EWG has to say and factor it into your overall assessment.
• your daily hydration should come from your own filtered water.  sparkling water should be a compliment to your daily hydration goals, not the majority of your hydration.

YOU.  ARE.  FREAKIN’.  AWESOME.