Soda water: composition, beneficial and harmful properties.

Sparkling water is always refreshing. It is tasty, pleasant, that's why the world is full of its fans.

Composition and Calories

Sparkling water is a cooling beverage saturated with carbon dioxide bubbles. It comes in low-carbonated, medium-carbonated, high-carbonated. Both plain water and mineral water are used for its production. Water carbonation is carried out in two ways. The first one is mechanical, the second one is chemical.

In the mechanical method water is saturated with carbon dioxide with the help of special devices - siphons, acratophores or saturators. The process takes place under increased pressure, with air being removed from the water first. As a rule, carbon dioxide is introduced into the water from 5 to 10 g per liter. The water is not disinfected by carbonation.

The chemical method saturates the water with carbon dioxide during the fermentation process. The carbonation process is similar to the one which produces champagne, beer and kvass. Carbonation occurs when baking soda and acid come into interaction.

Water is quite good at dissolving carbon dioxide, and it acts as a preservative as a result of the carbonation process. Its code, E290, is indicated on the bottle labels.

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

If we consider this drink in terms of minerals, there are a huge number of variations. Water can be sulfate, ferruginous, hydrocarbonate and hydrocarbonate-chloride, chloride, sodium, calcium, magnesium, magnesium-calcium, fluoride, bromine, iodine, iodine-borate, etc.

With all the variety of choices the buyer can be sure that the caloric value of such water, be it mineral or regular, is zero, since it contains no proteins, fats or carbohydrates, the presence and quantity of which determine the energy value of the product.

But carbonated sweet waters - all sorts of lemonades, tarragon and colas - are saturated with sugar and a whole group of other substances that significantly increase the energy value of drinks.

How is carbonated water useful?

General benefits

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

But for the most part only sparkling mineral water can be of serious benefit to the human body. And this benefit will depend directly on how to comply with the recommendations on the amount of its intake. If everything is normal, then the water normalizes the digestive processes, supports the active production of enzymes, saturates the body with useful minerals, and as a result the bones and teeth are strengthened.

Systematic consumption of carbonated water helps to reduce blood cholesterol levels, and this directly affects the improvement of heart function. In addition, it is noticed that gas water helps purify the blood, increase hemoglobin and improve cell nutrition.

For women

For women, sparkling water primarily helps maintain beauty and youthfulness. It saturates the cells with fluid, which slows down the aging process of the skin. The ability of water to improve metabolism and stimulate blood circulation also contributes to the preservation of youthfulness. The 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 weight loss process.

For men

Men smoke, drink alcohol and eat fatty foods more than women. Against these harmful cravings of the stronger sex, soda water counteracts perfectly: it cleans the blood, the liver, lowers cholesterol and supports the cardiovascular system, delaying a dangerous potential heart attack.

During Pregnancy

Consumption of mineral soda for pregnant women will be useful for the most part because it replenishes the loss of minerals, the consumption of which during this period will increase dramatically. To save teeth and hair, expectant mothers can sometimes drink such water, but a little and only weakly carbonated, because the carbon dioxide bubbles can cause bubbling in the stomach, flatulence and even heartburn. In addition, the excessive use of mineral water will lead to the opposite effect, so it is possible calcium washout from the bones. So for pregnant women the main rule is moderation and accuracy.

When breastfeeding.

Although natural soda is useful when breastfeeding, according to some experts, it is better to give it up temporarily - until the child is at least six months old - because colic and flatulence are possible not only for the mother, but also for the baby. And 6 months after delivery, you can slowly introduce it into your diet and watch how the baby's body reacts.

For kids

Children adore soda, especially sweet drinks. From these should be protected in every possible way, as their consumption is fraught with obesity, nervous excitability and bad teeth. The cause of all the problems is excess sugar.

A simple mineral water will be useful because of 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 helps move sputum.

But a lot of soda in children can not, as carbon dioxide increases the secretion of gastric juice, which can lead to gastritis. It is better to wait with acquaintance of the child with soda until the age of three.

Can you drink carbonated water to lose weight?

Everyone who has decided to lose weight needs to drink enough water because it improves the metabolism, accelerates the elimination of decay products from the body, and contributes to the elimination of constipation. Fluid is necessary to restore normal digestion, unbalanced by the absence of familiar products in the menu. In addition, a glass of water can blunt the feeling of hunger.

Carbonated water in this sense is as good assistant as usual: it does not contain proteins, fats and carbohydrates, so its caloric value is zero.

However, it is not necessary to drink carbonated water in excess, that is, to sit on it alone, because it is possible to get bloated stomach and flatulence. If such problems do not bother, carbonated water will be very helpful to the thinners.

Sparkling water in medicine

Carbonated water has been known to mankind for a long time. Even in one of the books of the ancient Greek healer and philosopher Hippocrates wrote about the miraculous healing properties of water in mineral natural springs.

Today experts have no doubt that carbonated water shows its beneficial properties both when used internally and externally. And with the thirst soda copes more quickly non-carbonated water.

Doctors prescribe mineral carbonated water mainly to those patients who have problems with the level of acidity of gastric juice, such drinks control its formation. They also recommend it for other problems with the gastrointestinal tract, liver.

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

For Diabetes Mellitus

Normal soda and sparkling mineral water with a small amount of salts - 500 mg per liter - are not prohibited for diabetes. It has no contraindications and has beneficial effects on metabolic processes, stimulates digestion and removes toxins.

Therapeutic table water has more salts - up to 1000 mg per liter. Abuse it is not necessary, and then it will have a positive effect on the course of diabetes. If you exceed a reasonable dosage, it is possible imbalance of the salt metabolism.

Therapeutic mineral water, in which salts contain more than 1000 mg per liter, you can drink only by doctor's prescription.

In pancreatitis

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

Sparkling mineral water is able to get rid of pancreatic inflammation, relieve pain and spasm of the organ, as well as facilitate the patient's return to normal eating, if previously he was prescribed therapeutic fasting.

Gastritis

Gastritis is a disease in which carbonated mineral water is prescribed on a mandatory basis. And it is better to consume it directly from natural sources and take an annual three-week course of treatment. Each patient is prescribed water by the doctor depending on the condition and the course of the disease. But there are general rules.

For example, gastritis with low acidity of gastric juice is treated with sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride waters. Gastritis with hyperacidity is treated with sulphide and hydrocarbonate waters.

The intake of water should begin with a third glass and gradually increase the rate over three days, bringing up to a full glass. If 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 reduced, the water should be at room temperature, and drink it in small sips.

When you are constipated

Any carbonated water - both plain and mineral - is indicated for constipation. It helps to soften stools, increases the contractility of the intestine and cleans its walls.

Therefore, systematic lack of stools is a direct indication for taking sparkling water. The best effect will be a soda diluted with laxative herbal decoctions, or mineral water. In case of constipation, water should be taken heated to a temperature of 37 ° C, a small glass three times a day.

In case of gout

The list of techniques for the treatment of joint pain also includes the appointment of alkaline mineral water. During an exacerbation, it is able to eliminate painful symptoms and soothe the joints. Of course, its reception should be combined with medical treatment.

The reason of joint pains is the wear and tear of the cartilage tissue due to water shortage and reduction of the amount of synovial fluid. Carbonated mineral water makes up for the lack of fluid and helps to restore painful joints.

At least two liters of alkaline mineral water a day should be drunk with gout.

For the liver

Often outside the period of exacerbation of chronic liver disease, the doctor prescribes a patient to take carbonated mineral water, which contains a large amount of salts - more than 4 grams per liter. The aim is to normalize the water-salt balance in the body, as its continuous disturbance causes severe pathology, up to and including cirrhosis of the liver.

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

At poisoning

Carbon dioxide in carbonated water plays an important role in cases of poisoning. Because of its ability to stop the growth of bacteria, it is often recommended to drink when poisoning.

Cosmetic applications

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

In addition, the baking soda it contains removes excess fat, and minerals have a beneficial effect on the overall condition and health of the skin. Thanks to its vasodilator ability, it can improve the complexion and blood circulation. Such water is able to "wake up" the skin in the morning, to stimulate its metabolic processes.

Mineral water is especially good as a means of washing for those with sensitive skin. For owners of dry and normal skin, medium and low-mineralized water containing salts up to 500 mg per liter is suitable. Those who have oily skin will benefit from water, more saturated with salts, thanks to it pores will shrink, oily sheen will be reduced. The same water is recommended for those girls with combination skin.

If we leave the bottle of water open for 30 minutes before washing, the excess gas will be released, and it will have a softer effect on the skin.

Experts recommend switching to mineral water washing not immediately, but little by little. You need to watch how the skin will respond to this experiment, whether she likes such water. You should start with two washes a week. If all is well, you can continue procedures. After two months of systematic use, the effect, as they say, will be - on the face.

In the cosmetics industry carbonated water is used in Korea and Japan, there make tonics and tissue masks based on it.

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

But in order to make sparkling water really useful and not harmful, not to dry out the hair and not to make it look like a bunch of straw, you should buy one that does not contain too many salts and trace elements.

Those whose scalp is dry and prone to irritation, it is better to use water with a low mineral content - no more than 500 mg per liter. People with an oily scalp is recommended to take more mineralized. Water with bicarbonate of soda will help cleanse the hair well and give shine.

If you drink a glass of such water every day, not only will your hair get extra nutrition, but your nails will be strengthened as well.

You can rinse your hair with baking soda after washing, as well as add it to the masks prepared at home with your own hands, so that the water enhances the effectiveness of the composition. Before rinsing hair soda should be heated to room temperature. You can enrich the composition with decoction of medicinal herbs to strengthen the strengthening effect or a calcium tablet to give additional volume to your hair.

Hair Spray

Nowadays the unfavorable ecology and air conditioned air in offices negatively affect the health of the hair, which becomes dry, unattractive, breaks. It will help to maintain the hair spray, which is quite possible to make at home. For this purpose, the carbonated mineral water should be diluted with lemon juice, taking water twice as much as the juice. Add there the same essential oil (10 ml.) - preferably orange. Keep such a spray for no longer than 7 days in a dark shelf, spray the hair all over, in the mornings and evenings.

Styling product

Boil a glass of water with lemon cut into slices until the volume is halved. After straining, add a drop or two of alcohol. Spray this product on the hair before styling.

Refreshing facial mask

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

Rejuvenating mask

Mix two teaspoons of honey with 50 ml of carbonated mineral water and apply to face and possibly to the neck. Rinse off after 10 minutes, it is better to use cool mineral water for this. Especially effective this mask 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 rolled oats, a pinch of salt and 50 ml. Clean the skin, open the baking soda so that the gases come out and the water is prepared for washing, then apply the mask. Wash off after 10 minutes, using the prepared baking soda. After this mask, the skin will not only whiten, but also become soft. It can be used by those with normal or oily skin.

Express mask "Cinderella"

Such a mask looks like a compress, it saves in cases when you need to instantly refresh the face, give it a charming look. But, like in the fairy tale of Cinderella, it stops quickly, after about 10 hours. You need two basins with cold soda and hot water, as well as two towels. The towels should be wet one by one - one in the cold basin, the other in the hot one. Apply them to the face, too, alternately, in between changes of towels, smearing the skin with nourishing cream. Repeat the procedure 6 times.

Using carbonated water in cooking

Soda water complements any table, whether it is an ordinary lunch or a festive reception. It goes well with all dishes and foods - from salads and appetizers to desserts, it is "friendly" with both salty and spicy food, as well as with cold and hot. It can be eaten with fruits, meat and fish. If you add ice and a slice of lemon, grapefruit or orange to this water you will get a surprisingly delicious drink.

Housewives have learned to use sparkling water in cooking as well. Pies and pancakes turn out very puffy, tender and soft if you add baking soda to the dough. Mineral water is used for this - with a minimum amount of salt, eliminating the need to add salt and soda.

Add carbonated water to brines and marinades for vegetables - so that the process went faster. A strongly carbonated drink is needed for this purpose. And if you take mineral water with high salt content, then the finished product will acquire an interesting original taste. For example, to pickle half a kilo you need 350 ml of mineral water, 3 garlic cloves, a tablespoon of salt, dill, horseradish leaf and optionally currant and cherry leaves.

To prepare the pancakes, take milk and carbonated water in equal parts - 2 cups each, add 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 eggs, mix into this composition 2 cups of flour. The dough is ready, you can bake!

Use carbonated water and for cooking kebabs, it speeds up the marinating process. So, if you mix baking soda, kefir and spices in a marinade, pour it into the meat and add onions - in an hour you can send the kebab on the grill.

Can it be boiled?

If there is a need, ordinary sparkling water can even be boiled. It is even used to make soup or brew tea.

It is better not to boil sparkling mineral water. In the process of boiling, both carbon dioxide and a certain amount of liquid will evaporate from it. The salts it contains will settle and will not be properly assimilated by the body. The smell and salty taste inherent in natural mineral water will not disappear, they remain. There won't be any benefit from such water, it's more likely that a person harms himself by drinking boiled mineral water.

Harms and contraindications

Contained in ordinary carbonated water, carbon dioxide can increase acidity in the stomach, and this entails bloating of the stomach. Therefore, you should refrain from drinking such water if you have been diagnosed with a stomach ulcer, gastritis or other diseases of the digestive system. In such cases you can use only mineral water.

You should be especially careful with waters containing radon or hydrogen sulfide, they can cause various unpleasant side effects, especially for patients with tuberculosis, in periods of exacerbation of renal diseases, cancer patients who have serious vascular problems, etc.

But even relatively healthy people should not consume mineral soda uncontrolled. The risk is connected with the possibility of deposition of salts in various organs, most often in kidneys and joints.

In addition, the artificially carbonated water has little benefit compared with the natural one. Its constant use is fraught with belching, heartburn and flatulence.

How to choose and store

On the shelves of stores the choice of carbonated water is huge. If you need to buy a regular soda, not mineral, it's better to choose one that has gone through more than one stage of purification. It is better to take bottles, which labels have information that it is a table or drinking water. If you can see some sediment at the bottom of the bottle, let it stay on the store shelf.

At home, carbonated water should stand in the refrigerator, and all the conditions written on the label must be observed. And if the bottle has already been opened and the water has been poured out, it must be sealed tightly, so that germs and bacteria do not multiply.

How to Carbonate Water at Home

Thirty years ago, almost every home had a siphon with a removable cylinder that contained carbon dioxide. So homemade soda was always available.

Even every Soviet child had a grandmother who knew that the first soda was called baking soda (the name came from its ingredient - soda). In her magical recipe, baking soda was also the main ingredient. My grandmother used to dissolve three or four spoons of jam in a liter jar of water, add a spoonful of dried citric acid, dissolve it in a liter of water, add a third of a teaspoon of vinegar and half a teaspoon of soda. That was it, the reaction was on! Sweet homemade soda is ready!

Nowadays 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 needed. You need to pour a teaspoon of baking soda into a glass with mineral water and then add a teaspoon of citric acid (or 2 spoons of lemon juice). This will make lemonade. And if you toast the sugar, it will be very similar to cola.

Can I wash down the pills with sparkling water?

Can I drink "soda water" or not? Such a question often arises before people who take pills. And doctors most often suggest abandoning this idea. They explain this by the fact that the carbon dioxide contained in any carbonated water can have a negative effect on the substances that are the components of the pill. And if the water is also mineral, it is quite possible that they react chemically with the ingredients of the pill. The consequences can be disastrous. For example, some kinds of carbonated water contains iron ions, as a result of the interaction of which, for example, with tetracycline or lincomycin can form insoluble compounds, and for this reason the drugs will be absorbed much worse.

At the same time, sometimes it makes sense to wash down the drugs 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.

Can I give carbonated water to animals?

There is no categorical ban on plain sparkling water for animals. It is not particularly harmful for cats and dogs, but there is no benefit from it either. Moreover, after a pet drinks such water, an accumulation of gas in his stomach and intestines is inevitable. And the animal worries, and the owner probably not very pleasant to hear a loud rumbling in the stomach, and even the emission of gas outside.

So if the dog or cat is really thirsty and no other water is available, it is better to let the gas out first. Still mineral sparkling water should not be given at all, because of the high content of various salts in it. If the cat drinks it often, it may end up with liver problems or urolithiasis, to which neutered cats are particularly prone.

Can I water flowers with baking soda?

Florists are stumped when they are asked if they can water flowers with baking soda water. Meanwhile, in the U.S., at the University of Colorado at Boulder, an experiment was conducted to see if plants would benefit from soda water, particularly mineral water. The experimenters were guided by the theoretical assumption that plants watered with such water should grow faster because it has more mineral salts. The theory was confirmed in practice during the experiment: plants which were regularly watered with carbonated mineral water, due to potassium, sulfur, sodium and phosphorus dissolved in it, became more dense green color and grew faster than their relatives who did not receive such watering.

So that such an experiment can safely repeat at home, but you can not take cold water, you have to let it warm up to room temperature. Watered with mineral water once a week, not more often. If the soil in the pot dries out earlier, water with plain water.

Watering indoor plants with ordinary sparkling water - not mineral water - is also possible. But there is no point in doing this, you will not get a useful effect. It is better to take ordinary water.

Interesting facts about carbonated water

1. The English chemist Joseph Priestly told the world that carbon dioxide can saturate water 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 proved to be extremely expensive. It was only more than a century later, in 1883, that the chemical production of carbonated water was patented - with the help of soda. This was in the United States. It was only after that that it became possible to produce carbonated water on an industrial scale. The worldwide march of carbonated water began with Jacob Schweppes' factory, and to this day Schweppes remains among the leaders in carbonated products.
2. In the USA the first carbonated water was mostly sold in bottles, in the rest of the world siphons were used and refilled. And so water was consumed not only at home but even in public catering establishments - bars and cafes. And then they invented vending machines from which one could drink a soda right in the street.
3. Today, each American on average drinks 180 liters of soda in a year, the resident of Russia - 50, the Chinese - about 20.

Photo of sparkling water