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Comment by skizm | Hacker News Reader

I've never been able to get a real answer: does sparkling water hydrate you the same way flat water does? Also if there are "natural flavors" in the sparking water, how does that affect hydration. I personally don't mind drinking water, and always do during/after workouts, but prefer flavored sparking water if the option is available. Just wondering if drinking a few cups of that per day is the same as drinking a few cups of flat water per day.

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According to CNN[1] and a scientist in Scotland- yes! It hydrates pretty much equally, though it's slightly worse for your teeth. Not nearly as bad as regular soda/pop/etc, though.

Missed the second part. The article doesn't address it, but from my knowledge flavoring shouldn't affect the hydration unless the flavor includes other components like sugar/acid/salts/caffeine/etc.

[1]: https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/19/health/sparkling-water-hydrat...

From what I've been able to find out, yes, it's pretty much the same. But you have to be aware that mineral water has potassium and magnesium, sometimes even sodium and calcium. If you're drinking it as a substitute of plain water all day you are at risk of kidney stones and kidney damage (this is from a conversation with a nephrologist, but I haven't found any research paper talking about it).

Sparkling water seems to be inoffensive. However, if you're going to add sugary flavor to it, remember that you need to add a lot of sugar to CO2-infused water to be able to taste it (that's why sodas have so much sugar but don't taste like it). Be careful with sugar and sparkling water.

It’s the nitrates and nitrites in mineral water that you should also consider.

But that’s something an oncologist would tell you to worry about, not the nephrologist ;)

Per volume? Not quite, but not really measurably different. The CO2 dissolved in the solution has to take up some small amount of space. Otherwise it's basically identical; our bodies interact with enough CO2 in a day that you simply aren't making a dent.

"Natural flavors" are essentially adding sugar and a couple chemicals to the water. You can think of it as being effectively the same as drinking an equivalent amount of H2O and taking a tablet that contained all of the "natural flavors". No real difference in hydration, but taking in a bunch of sugar after a workout is generally frowned upon. Go get some protein instead.

Pedantic note: this is not actually true, it's possible and normal to dissolve something in water, increasing the density and not the volume.

Like what? Sugar increases volume of water.

Sodium chloride decreases the volume of water at saturation by nearly 2%

"Natural flavors" is in seltzer water with 0 sugar. It is also advertised to have "no artificial sweeteners", which I realize might be bending the truth somehow, but I'm pretty sure food and drink companies can't outright lie about that stuff. From what I've gathered it doesn't affect insulin levels like the artificial sweeteners from diet soda does, but I also can't figure out what it actually is.

Side-note: sugar after a workout is the best time for sugar. You want to replenish muscle-glycogen as soon as possible and sugar is a fast track to that. Obviously you should opt for fruit over a Gatorade or sweets though.

Be aware though, they can advertise 0 calories as long as it rounds to 0, so a couple calories of sugar is "0 calorie natural flavor".

So your intention is to skip all of the other nutrients your body needs to recover after a workout? That doesn't seem wise. I guess it's your body though.

Taking in sugar both during and after a workout is important. However, there is the problem that "workout" leaves a lot to interpretation. Do you do 20 minutes on a stationary bike? Do you walk around for an hour from circuit machine to circuit machine, with less than 10 minutes actually spent during sets? If you answered yes, then sugar isn't what you need. You don't need anything at all, except some real exercise.

If on the other hand, your exercise is strenuous, and depletes your bloodstream's glucose, and your liver's short-term supply of glucose, then you absolutely need sugar. Otherwise, your body will efficiently convert whatever is at hand to sugar. The most "at hand" ingredient from your body's point of view, is your lean muscle mass. You don't want to lose that. However if you have these kind of exercise sessions, then you already know this, so keep on doing what you're doing.

A real meal has everything your body needs to recover. Shooting back some sort of energy drink is a stop-gap, at best, and prevents you from noticing your body's needs, at worst. Hence ending with "Go find some protein". If you're considering whether or not your muscle-glucose levels are going to be replenished, you've already missed the plot.

I drink chocolate milk, usually about 1 hour in. After the exercise is complete, a real meal is exactly what you need. No arguments there at all.

While you're training someone(or yourself) for any type of endurance event(eg triathlon), it's not uncommon to toss them a sugary(decaffeinated!) soda or juice. You're goal is to make sure they never exhaust that available supply of glucose until the event is complete. If they do, along with cannibalizing their muscle mass, they're going to have short-term discomfort(cramps, mental fogginess).

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