When losing weight, drink sparkling water - is it possible, who and why not, in what volume is allowed?

Plain and sparkling water differ only in the presence of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is beneficial to the body with the following properties:

regulation of the synthesis of digestive enzymes;
normalization of metabolism;
improving the absorption of essential nutrients;
increased breathing;
increase in pressure.

But the gas contained in drinking water works completely differently. Carbon dioxide in drinks has a harmful effect . Harm from carbonated water :

gas accumulated in the stomach stretches its walls;
it causes belching and fermentation in the intestines, bloating;
appetite increases, which is difficult to resist;
Carbon dioxide promotes digestion, that is, it speeds up the process. So digestion occurs in no more than half an hour. And then the feeling of hunger arises again. At the same time, beneficial nutrients from food do not have time to be absorbed and begin to rot in the intestines;
If you drink carbonated water on an empty stomach, then the cold liquid goes into the lower sections of the intestine, and carbon dioxide expands the stomach. A person experiences severe hunger, the hydrochloric acid produced begins to corrode the walls and mucous membranes, which leads to gastritis and ulcers.

Carbonated water will do much more harm than good when losing weight. Therefore, such drinks should be excluded from your diet.

But naturally carbonated mineral water can be useful:

when cool, it quenches thirst better;
useful for low stomach acidity;
natural gas well alkalizes blood plasma and nourishes cells;
thanks to sodium, the acid-base balance is maintained and the production of enzymes is enhanced;
bones are strengthened by calcium and magnesium, the nervous system is supported;
natural carbonation improves lymphatic drainage, blood circulation, heart function, increases hemoglobin in the blood;
Water gives you energy and improves muscle tone.

But you can't drink it all the time . You need to drink mineral carbonated water of natural origin according to the following plan. To do this, you should consult a nutritionist.

Useful natural mineral waters include “Essentuki” and “Borjomi” . They improve intestinal motility and cleanse the body of toxins. You can drink naturally carbonated mineral water for no longer than a week according to the following scheme :

to cleanse the intestines and thin the gastric juice in the morning before meals;
throughout the day half an hour before meals. It helps reduce appetite and eat 30% less.

The mineral water diet requires adherence to a certain diet. You need to give up fast food, sweets and starchy foods, alcoholic beverages, processed foods and salty foods. Losing weight with carbonated water will be very slow. You definitely need to do physical exercise.

Due to the high salt content when losing weight, the maximum amount of mineral carbonated water is no more than 500-600 ml per day . The level of mineralization should not exceed 4 mg.

As for sweet carbonated drinks, even those labeled “0 calories” or “diet”, they must be completely excluded . These are just marketing gimmicks.

Carbonated water is not only dangerous in itself, but also does not go well with many foods. Among them are dairy products, in particular kefir. At first glance, the two drinks are quite beneficial for the body. Kefir and carbonated water should help you lose weight.

But their combination gives an interesting reaction: combining in the stomach, kefir and soda provoke a small explosion, like in a chemical plant . The consequences take a long time and are unpleasant for a person. He begins to belch, colic and heaviness.

Therefore, you cannot combine kefir with carbonated water for weight loss . It is better to drink at different times. For example, kefir in the morning for breakfast or in the evening before bed, and naturally carbonated mineral water for lunch before meals to reduce appetite.

If you really want to drink sparkling water, then you should follow these recommendations::

To prevent phosphoric acid and carbon dioxide from corroding tooth enamel, you need to drink the liquid through a straw;
You should not drink sweet drinks, as they contain a lot of sugar, flavorings, chemical additives, and preservatives. All this slagging the body;
You can let the water sit for a while so that the carbon dioxide comes out.

Read more in our article about sparkling water for weight loss.

The benefits and harms of soda

When choosing soda, you should give preference to naturally carbonated water.

It has a lot of useful properties:

quenches thirst well;
indicated for low levels of hydrochloric acid in the stomach;
maintains acid-base balance;
normalizes lymph flow, blood circulation, and functioning of the cardiovascular system;
nourishes the body at the cellular level;
alkalizes plasma.

Naturally carbonated mineral water is not suitable for continuous use.
It is drunk according to a plan drawn up by a nutritionist. Nutritionists warn about the negative consequences of drinking carbonated water:

Stretching of the stomach walls. Increased gas formation contributes to an increase in stomach volume and a constant feeling of hunger.
Carbon dioxide can cause fermentation in the stomach, cause belching, and acid reflux into the esophagus.
When drinking soda before meals, liquid enters the lower intestine, carbon dioxide expands the stomach, causing it to secrete more hydrochloric acid. A person experiences an irresistible feeling of hunger, but is limited in nutrition.

Excess hydrochloric acid in the stomach in the absence of food can cause gastritis and ulcers.

Does sparkling water make you lose weight or make you fat?

You can come across radically opposing statements about the possible effect of soda on weight. A study published in 2012 showed that its consumption increases the feeling of fullness and, accordingly, can counteract overeating and weight gain. The scientific work is often remembered, but only 19 people participated in it, so its results cannot be called unambiguous.

In 2015, scientists discovered that drinking soda can stimulate the production of ghrelin, the so-called “hunger hormone.” Accordingly, it can potentially stimulate overeating. But one cannot draw conclusions for real life from this work. The main thing is that it was carried out on rats, so its results cannot be projected onto people. In addition, ghrelin is not the only regulator of appetite, and a specific obesity epidemic has not yet been identified in the population of sparkling water drinkers.

It can be assumed that carbonated water promotes weight loss, but not on its own, but if you drink it instead of sugary drinks. Such studies were conducted for ordinary water: replacing one serving per day of a sugary drink or beer with water, according to calculations, reduces the risk of obesity.

Contraindications

Experts do not allow people with the following diseases to drink soda:

gastritis;
high stomach acidity;
peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum;
pancreatitis, colitis;
pathologies of the cardiovascular system;
diseases of the urinary system;
diabetes.

Making soda the main source of fluid when losing weight is strictly prohibited.

Proper menu planning for every day

What dishes to cook is up to you. It is not necessary to buy exactly the same set of products that are often included in the diet. Some of them may simply be missing or unavailable on supermarket shelves. The main thing is to know the principle of the diet, which can include a wide variety of menus.

Breakfast

For breakfast you can eat foods rich in carbohydrates. It can be any porridge, tea with your favorite sweets, but in moderation. During the day they will be processed and not put aside. In addition, such a party will reduce the risk of interference if you allow yourself to try your favorite scent at least once a day.

Fruit should be added to the main dish. Fruit porridge contains fiber, which takes a long time to digest in the body, maintaining a feeling of fullness. Porridge can be seasoned with olive oil or linseed oil.

The first feeling of hunger after breakfast begins after 3 hours. At this time, you can add proteins to your diet and reduce the amount of carbohydrates. For dinner, you can eat cottage cheese or any fermented milk product with fresh or frozen berries; they are not as high in calories as dried fruits and are easily digestible. You can also eat an apple, orange or grapefruit.

Eat more food at lunch than you have all day. It should consist of the first and second. For the first meal, you need to prepare vegetable soup. If you cook in broth, use only lean meat (chicken, turkey, beef, rabbit, veal or horse) with no by-products. The skin and veins have more fat than other parts, so they should be excluded.

For the second course, order meat dishes: white baked fish (red meat is too fatty), steamed or oven chicken, cutlets, meatballs, etc. You can prepare a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and a lot of herbs. Season with 1 tablespoon of unrefined oil of any origin.

Afternoon snack

Towards evening, the calorie content in the dish should decrease. The afternoon snack should consist of a light vegetable salad, perhaps with the addition of boiled eggs or cheese. You are also allowed to eat low-fat cottage cheese, seasoned with 1% sour cream, with blueberries (without jam) or eat 2 green apples.

For dinner you can prepare vegetable stew, julienne with mushrooms, cabbage rolls, peppers or cabbage rolls. That is, the main thing is boiled vegetables, preferably without oil and sauce. Add to them a fish dish with a reduced fat content (hake, cod, flounder, river perch, blue whiting, pike and others).

If you still feel hungry before bed, it is better to have a snack than to go to bed hungry. You can limit yourself to a glass of warm mineral water with a slice of lemon. If this does not work, take an egg white, a piece of low-fat cheese, cottage cheese or an apple.

Important: This note for use is for informational purposes only. Before embarking on a diet that includes drinking medicinal table waters or medicinal waters, you should consult a gastroenterologist and be screened for contraindications.

How to use?

Losing weight with the help of soda will be slow, but you can speed it up by following a diet and physical activity. The volume of sparkling water per day should not exceed 0.5-0.6 liters. The optimal level of mineralization is 4 mg.

Experts advise drinking soda:

In the morning before meals. This helps dilute gastric hydrochloric acid.
Half an hour before meals, a glass twice a day. One glass of soda helps you eat a third less.

Nutritionists allow the use of naturally carbonated mineral water. The mineral composition depends on the individual characteristics of the patient. Before buying mineral water, it is better to consult a gastroenterologist.

All the most important information about drinking water during weight loss is here. A lot of useful and important information about water consumption is presented in this section.

Why you shouldn't drink while on any diet

It doesn’t matter whether a person has changed his eating habits due to health problems or the desire to acquire a thin waist - drinking is contraindicated for him. There are several explanations for this:

All alcoholic drinks contain a large amount of calories.
Having refused a bun and drinking a glass of wine before going to bed, the person losing weight conventionally “eats” the same bun. Losing weight with such an attitude towards obesity will never work.
The calories present in ethyl alcohol are absolutely useless.
People who have learned to manage calorie counters take alcohol wisely while losing weight - that is, without exceeding the maximum allowable daily caloric intake. But at the same time, they forget that alcohol is an absolutely useless source of calories. It does not contain any useful substances and does not even give a feeling of fullness. But it causes harm to health.
Drinking slows down metabolic processes.
This means that the weight loss process slows down. Alcohol stops the burning of fat and promotes its rapid deposition in the tissues of the abdomen, thighs, buttocks, etc.
After drinking alcohol, your appetite increases.
This effect goes against all dietary programs. The situation is complicated by the fact that, being in a state of alcoholic euphoria, those losing weight begin to treat their weight loss less responsibly. Then he goes to the refrigerator and eats everything he can get his hands on. The result is an extra couple of kilograms on the scale and a setback in weight loss for several weeks.
Ethyl alcohol inhibits testosterone production.
Without this hormone, lipolysis (fat burning) processes stop for some time or become completely ineffective.

If you decide to follow a certain diet, then strictly abstain from alcohol. Only then will your chances of getting healthy and losing weight remain high.

Drink recipes vary, but most contain the following ingredients:

Sparkling water. It is produced by dissolving carbon dioxide in water under pressure.

Sugar substitute. These include conventional artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, etc.) or natural ones (stevia). Sweeteners are usually 200–13,000 times sweeter than sugar.

Acids. To add astringency, some acids are used - citric, malic, phosphoric, etc.

Dyes. The most commonly used are carotenoids, anthocyanins and caramel.

Flavors. Diet drinks use natural juice concentrates and artificial flavors.

Preservatives . Without them, the drink will quickly spoil. The most commonly used preservative is potassium benzoate.

Vitamins and minerals. Some manufacturers of diet lemonades make them fortified to promote them as “healthy” drinks.

Caffeine. Many diet lemonades contain the same amount of caffeine as regular ones. A can of Coca-Cola Zero has 46 milligrams of caffeine, and a can of Pepsi has 35 milligrams.

Since lemonades with sweeteners usually have no calories, it is logical to assume that they help you lose weight.

However, research shows less clear results.

Several studies have shown that drinking artificial sweeteners and drinking large quantities of diet drinks is associated with an increased risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Scientists have suggested that lemonade may increase appetite by stimulating hunger hormones, altering sweet taste receptors and triggering dopamine responses in the brain. And, although the drink itself does not contain calories, it can provoke us to eat more sweet and high-calorie foods.

Other experts tested this hypothesis on volunteers and found no confirmation.

They suggested that the correlation between diet drink consumption and weight gain was explained by participants' poor eating habits. People who buy lemonade more often eat less healthily overall, and soda in this case is not a cause, but a symptom.

Another group of researchers found that diet lemonade still helps you lose weight if you replace it with regular drinks with sugar.

Adding to the confusion is bias in the scientific literature.

Studies funded by sweetener manufacturers have produced more "pleasant" optimistic results. And independent research is darker.

Scientists also disagree on this issue.

Some studies have shown an 8-13% increase in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes when drinking one glass of diet soda per day. Others "raised" the rates to 21% after a study of 65,000 women.

A third group of scientists recently contradicted the findings of previous studies and attributed diabetes risks to the health status, weight changes and body mass index of the participants.

The story is similar for cardiovascular disease - research shows a 9% increase in the risk of hypertension for every glass of "zero" soda (and a slight increase in the risk of stroke).

But all these studies are observational, which means that the connection between drinking lemonade and risks may have another explanation associated with other reasons.

It's possible that participants already at risk for diabetes and hypertension simply chose to drink more lemonade and eat less healthily.

Maybe.

In a recent study, researchers analyzed the diets of 15,000 people and found that the risk of severe kidney disease increased with each additional serving of zero soda.

Seven glasses of lemonade per week (versus one) doubled the risk.

Scientists have suggested that the reason for this may be the high phosphorus content of lemonade, which likely increases the acid load on the kidneys.

But in science there are no simple answers, so scientists note that the correlation can be attributed to other lifestyle and dietary factors.

Doctors do not advise drinking mineral water just like that

If table mineral water can be safely used for drinking and cooking, then medicinal table and medicinal water have a number of indications and contraindications. Medicinal table water, if its mineralization is more than 2-2.5 g per liter, is drunk after consultation with a doctor, usually no more than 2-4 glasses a day, in courses; medicinal mineral water can be drunk strictly according to medical advice. A simple example: for residents of those areas where the water is not chlorinated, but fluoridated, fluoridated mineral water, which is actively recommended all over the world for the prevention of caries and osteoporosis, will not help, but will do harm. Water with a high content of calcium (such as Vittel, Contrex, San Pelegrino) is usually recommended for those who eat little dairy products and women over 50 years of age (to prevent osteoporosis), water with a high content of magnesium (Narzan, Contrex) - accordingly, it can be prescribed by a doctor in case of its deficiency (for example, for those who are on a diet) or to improve the functioning of the biliary system, with a high sodium content (“Karmadon”, “Novoterskaya”) - to regulate the water balance in the body, bicarbonate (“ Essentuki No. 17") - for digestive problems, sulfate ("Lipetsk pump-room", "Novoterskaya healing", "Moskovskaya") - to facilitate the functioning of the liver, and so on.