# carbonation health effects **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2007, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455 "2007-12-10T07:04:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455/1 "2007-12-10T07:04:54Z")
I’m curious about the health effects of drinking carbonated water. I’ve heard claims that carbonation supposedly breaks down the calcium in your bones, thus weakening them, and I’ve heard that when considering how much water you should be drinking on a daily basis, that carbonated water “doesn’t count.” But I’m highly suspicious of these claims. I’ve found lots of wacko new-age sites that repeat this sort of information, but nothing convincing to back it up. Anyone got any insight? To take it a step further: if one were to replace all the water in their diet with, say, unflavored carbonated water, would there be any ill health effects? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455/2 "2007-12-10T07:11:18Z")
It’s Wiki, so take it for what it’s worth… > **[Carbonated water](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_water)** > > Carbonated water\[a\] is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure, or occurring due to natural geological processes. Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the water an effervescent quality. Common forms include sparkling natural mineral water, club soda, and commercially produced sparkling water. > Club soda, sparkling mineral water, or some other sparkling waters contain added or dissolved minerals such as potassium bicarbonate, sodium ... > [@wiki](#): > > **Health effects** > Sparkling mineral waters show slightly greater tooth enamel dissolution potential than still waters, but levels remain low and are of the order of one hundred times less than soft drinks. De-gassing of a sparkling mineral water reduces its dissolution, but the total levels are still relatively low, suggesting that carbonation of drinks may not be an important factor per se in respect of erosive potential. [4] > > Intake of carbonated beverages has been associated with increased bone fracture risk in observational studies, but the net effect of carbonated beverage constituents on calcium economy of the body is negligible. Thus, the skeletal effects of carbonated beverage consumption are likely due primarily to milk displacement (drinking club soda and thus drinking less milk). ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455/3 "2007-12-10T07:45:05Z")
Looks like no. Here’s a reasonably conclusive, cited, qualified, direct response: > **[Ask Dr. Weil | Questions & Answers | Andrew Weil, M.D.](https://www.drweil.com/ask-dr-weil/)** > > Do you have concerns about health and wellness? Ask your question here and it may be selected by our editors for a future response. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455/4 "2007-12-10T07:55:27Z")
The amount of CO2/carbonic acid your body produces every day as you metabolically burn fat and sugar to meet your energy needs is far higher than the small amount of CO2 you ingest with carbonated water. The enzyme carboanhydrase catalyses the reaction H2CO3 \<-\> CO2+H2O, if your blood contains too much H2CO3 (carbonic acid), your breathing rate increases to get rid of the excess CO2. Actually, this is the prime mechanism by which your body regulates the acidity of your blood. Thus any potential ill effects of drinking carbonated water would be restricted to effects in the mouth and digestive track: Carbonated water is more acidic than plain water, thus not as gentle to your teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455/5 "2007-12-10T10:35:03Z")
[QUOTE=WoodenTaco] Looks like no. Here’s a reasonably conclusive, cited, qualified, direct response: [http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA157077](http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA157077) [/QUOTE] Isn’t Weil a quack? Although that doesn’t preclude him being right in this case, a stopped clock and all that. Looking at his website, he seems to be promoting a lot of dubious stuff (chiropractic, ayurveda, homoeopathy, reflexology). ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455/6 "2007-12-10T13:10:22Z")
I think water with CO2 dissolved in it, but no sugar or artificial sweetener or dye or other ingredients, often gets wrongly lumped in with sugary “soda pop” like Coca-Cola only because people are imprecise with their terms and call them all “carbonated beverages”. I suspect this is partly because there are so many terms for water with CO2 and nothing else. “Seltzer”, “Soda water”, and “Soda” are all used to mean water + CO2 only, and also all used to mean other things. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonation-health-effects/429455/7 "2007-12-10T20:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] Isn’t Weil a quack? Although that doesn’t preclude him being right in this case, a stopped clock and all that. Looking at his website, he seems to be promoting a lot of dubious stuff (chiropractic, ayurveda, homoeopathy, reflexology). [/QUOTE] Eek, you’re right! I got fooled by the well-designed page and the fact that he cited studies in his response. My bad. :smack: