Bubly sparkling water is, for most people, a perfectly fine everyday drink. It contains no sugar, no calories, no artificial sweeteners, and no sodium, which puts it in a fundamentally different category from soda, juice, or even most diet soft drinks. The real questions worth asking are narrower than “is it good for you?” and more like: does the carbonation do anything to your teeth, your gut, or your bones? And do the “natural flavors” or the aluminum can introduce anything you should think about? The answers are more interesting than the marketing on either side suggests.
What Is Actually in the Can
Bubly’s ingredient list is short: carbonated water and natural flavors. No sweeteners of any kind, no added sodium, no citric acid listed as a separate additive. The “natural flavors” in products like these are typically volatile compounds extracted from fruits. Analysis of flavored water products has found that the dominant flavor compounds tend to be monoterpenes like citral and limonene, which are naturally present in citrus peels and similar plant materials.1PubMed. Flavored waters: influence of ingredients on antioxidant capacity and terpenoid profile by HS-SPME/GC-MS These are present in tiny concentrations and are generally recognized as safe by food regulators. They are not nutritionally meaningful in either direction.
The carbonation itself is just dissolved carbon dioxide. When CO₂ dissolves in water, it forms a weak acid called carbonic acid, which is what gives sparkling water its slight tang. This is the ingredient that generates most of the health questions, and it is worth examining each one on its own terms.
The Tooth Question Is Real but Overblown for Plain Sparkling Water
Dental erosion is the concern people raise most often about sparkling water, and it is not completely baseless. Carbonic acid does lower the pH of water, and acids can dissolve tooth enamel over time. But the magnitude matters enormously, and most of the alarming findings come from flavored sparkling waters, not plain ones.
A study comparing mineral waters and soft drinks found that sparkling mineral waters dissolved slightly more enamel than still water, but the levels were roughly one hundred times less than those caused by soft drinks. The researchers also found that simply de-gassing a sparkling water reduced its erosive effect, suggesting that carbonation on its own is not a major erosion driver.2PubMed. Investigation of mineral waters and soft drinks in relation to dental erosion That is a reassuring ratio. You would need to bathe your teeth in plain sparkling water for an extraordinary amount of time to approach the damage from a single glass of cola.
Flavored sparkling waters are a different story. Research on flavored sparkling water brands found that all of them had pH values well below the critical threshold for enamel erosion, ranging from about 2.7 to 3.3, and showed erosive potential comparable to or greater than pure orange juice.3PubMed. The erosive potential of flavoured sparkling water drinks Another study confirmed that all tested flavored waters sat below the critical pH of 5.5.4Open Journal of Stomatology. The pH and Titratable Acidity of Still and Sparkling Flavored Waters: The Effects of Temperature and Storage Time And in a lab study that soaked actual human enamel specimens in flavored waters over nine days, measurable enamel loss began from day one and accumulated over time.5Brazilian Dental Science. The long-term effect of sparkling flavored water on human tooth enamel determined by gravimetric analysis: a preliminary evaluation
Where does Bubly fall? It is flavored, so it is likely somewhat more acidic than plain sparkling water. But these lab studies use continuous immersion, which is not how people drink. In real life, saliva constantly buffers acid and re-mineralizes enamel between sips. The practical takeaway: drinking Bubly throughout the day is not equivalent to soaking your teeth in it for hours, but sipping any acidic drink slowly over a long period does extend your teeth’s acid exposure. If you are concerned, drinking it with meals rather than between them, and not swishing it around your mouth, reduces the contact time meaningfully. A separate lab study also found that carbonated water with added calcium ions produced significantly less enamel damage than other carbonated water formulations, which hints at why mineral-rich sparkling waters may be gentler.6PubMed Central. Effect of carbonated water manufactured by a soda carbonator on etched or sealed enamel
Digestion, Bloating, and Reflux
Carbonation can make you burp and feel bloated, which is not a health problem so much as a comfort one. But people with gastroesophageal reflux or irritable bowel syndrome reasonably wonder whether sparkling water makes their symptoms worse.
The reflux question has been studied, and the evidence is surprisingly inconclusive. A systematic review of the literature on carbonated beverages and reflux found that carbonated drinks have not been consistently shown to cause reflux-related symptoms.7PubMed. Systematic review: the effects of carbonated beverages on gastro-oesophageal reflux disease An evidence-based review of lifestyle measures for reflux noted that while one study linked carbonated soft drink consumption to reflux symptoms, and another small study found that carbonated water reduced lower esophageal sphincter pressure (the mechanism that would theoretically worsen reflux), no trials had actually tested whether stopping carbonated drinks improved symptoms.8Archives of Internal Medicine. Are Lifestyle Measures Effective in Patients With Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease? An Evidence-Based Approach So if you have reflux and sparkling water seems to bother you, trust your experience. But the blanket advice to avoid it is not well supported.
On the more positive side, there is some evidence that carbonated water may help with constipation and indigestion. A trial of people with functional dyspepsia found that those who drank carbonated water experienced a significant increase in how much they could eat before feeling uncomfortably full, suggesting improved digestive function.9European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Effects of carbonated water on functional dyspepsia and constipation Another study found that carbonated water did not change the overall speed at which the stomach emptied after a meal, but it did shift where food sat within the stomach, concentrating more of the meal in the upper portion.10PubMed. Effect of carbonated water on gastric emptying and intragastric meal distribution Whether that redistribution matters to your comfort depends on your individual anatomy and sensitivity.
The Bone Health Myth
The idea that carbonated water weakens bones is one of the most persistent misconceptions about sparkling water, and it appears to come from a confusion between sparkling water and cola. Cola contains phosphoric acid, which is a different compound entirely from carbonic acid and has been linked in some research to lower bone density. Plain carbonated water does not contain phosphoric acid.
A study of older women that adjusted for age, weight, calcium intake, exercise, and use of medications like estrogen and thyroid hormone found no association between consumption of any type of carbonated beverage and bone mineral density. The researchers concluded that modest carbonated beverage intake does not appear to have adverse effects on bones.11PubMed Central. Carbonated beverage consumption and bone mineral density among older women: the Rancho Bernardo Study If you are drinking Bubly instead of milk and your calcium intake is low, that is a dietary pattern problem, not a carbonation problem.
How Bubly Compares to Diet Soda
Many people reach for Bubly as an alternative to diet soda, and the comparison is worth making explicit. Diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners like sucralose and acesulfame potassium, and emerging research suggests these may not be as biologically inert as once assumed.
A pilot study comparing diet soda to sparkling water over eight weeks found that diet soda consumption increased the relative abundance of certain gut bacteria, including Proteobacteria and Enterobacteriaceae, compared to sparkling water.12PubMed. Consumption of sucralose- and acesulfame-potassium-containing diet soda alters the relative abundance of microbial taxa at the species level: findings of two pilot studies Research on the gut microbiome is still young, and the health significance of these shifts is not fully understood, but Proteobacteria increases are generally considered a marker of microbial imbalance.
Separately, a study measuring hormonal responses found that diet sodas stimulated the release of GLP-1, a hormone involved in blood sugar regulation, compared to plain seltzer water. Insulin levels were also nominally higher after all artificial sweetener conditions, though blood sugar itself was not affected.13PubMed Central. Hormonal responses to non-nutritive sweeteners in water and diet soda None of this makes diet soda dangerous in moderate amounts, but it does mean that sparkling water without sweeteners sidesteps these biological signals entirely. Bubly, having no sweeteners at all, is a cleaner swap.
Weight Management and Hydration
If you are using Bubly to replace sugary drinks, the math is straightforward and favorable. Research has found that substituting sweetened caloric beverages with water was associated with a decrease in total energy intake of about 200 calories per day over twelve months, and that the caloric deficit was not negated by people eating more food to compensate.14PubMed. Replacing sweetened caloric beverages with drinking water is associated with lower energy intake Sparkling water functions identically to still water in this regard, since it contains no calories to account for.
There is an interesting wrinkle around whether carbonation affects appetite. A study in rats found that carbonated beverages increased levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, leading to greater food intake compared to flat beverages. A parallel observation in twenty healthy men showed elevated ghrelin after drinking carbonated drinks.15PubMed. Carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages induces ghrelin release and increased food consumption in male rats: Implications on the onset of obesity But a human study looking at the same question from a different angle found that a carbonated beverage consumed before a small meal actually suppressed ghrelin compared to water, without affecting food intake at a subsequent larger meal.16PubMed Central. The role of a pre-load beverage on gastric volume and food intake: comparison between non-caloric carbonated and non-carbonated beverage Research in young women similarly found that carbonated water increased feelings of fullness and decreased hunger ratings.17Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology. Oral Carbonation Attenuates Feeling of Hunger and Gastric Myoelectrical Activity in Young Women
The appetite picture is genuinely mixed, and the practical effect in either direction is probably small. Carbonation is not going to make or break your diet. If Bubly helps you drink more water and fewer sugary drinks, that effect swamps any theoretical ghrelin fluctuation.
On the hydration front, carbonated water hydrates you just as effectively as still water. The carbonation adds no barrier to absorption, and some research suggests that the fizz and cold together may actually encourage people to drink more. A study found that when people were blinded to how much they were drinking, they estimated they had consumed about 22% more fluid when the beverage was cold and carbonated compared to room-temperature still water.18PLoS ONE. Oral Cooling and Carbonation Increase the Perception of Drinking and Thirst Quenching in Thirsty Adults Feeling like you’ve had enough to drink sooner might mean you drink slightly less in a single sitting, but it also makes the experience more satisfying, which for many people means they reach for water more often throughout the day.
What About the Can Itself
Bubly comes in aluminum cans, and there is a separate line of research worth knowing about regarding beverage packaging. A screening of 162 beverage products found endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including PFAS and bisphenols, in the vast majority of them. Drinks packaged in metal cans had higher detected concentrations of these compounds compared to those in glass, plastic, or carton packaging.19PubMed. Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals from beverage packaging materials and risk assessment for consumers The internal linings of aluminum cans are coated with polymers to prevent corrosion, and these coatings can be a source of both chemical leaching and microplastic contamination.
A separate analysis found that sparkling water samples consistently contained certain PFAS compounds, with concentrations varying between brands.20Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. HS-SPME-Arrow-GC-MS/MS method for quality control of neutral per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water: Contamination profiles in commercial bottled and sparkling waters for food safety assessment These levels are low, and their health significance at typical exposure is debated, but the contamination is not unique to Bubly or even to sparkling water; it shows up in bottled still water too and appears to reflect broader source-water contamination.
This is not a reason to panic about your Bubly habit. The exposures involved are orders of magnitude below levels that have caused harm in toxicology studies. But if you are someone who already tries to minimize PFAS exposure for precautionary reasons, it is worth knowing that no commercial beverage packaging is completely inert.
Carbonated Water and Blood Pressure
An unexpected area of research involves carbonated water’s short-term effects on blood pressure and blood flow to the brain. Studies in people resting or exercising in the heat have found that drinking cold carbonated water produces a brief bump in blood pressure and cerebral blood flow compared to flat cold water. Participants also reported feeling more alert and motivated after carbonated water.21PubMed. Ingestion of carbonated water increases middle cerebral artery blood velocity and improves mood states in resting humans exposed to ambient heat stress After exercise in the heat, carbonated water transiently improved post-exercise low blood pressure to a greater degree than still water.22PubMed Central. Ingesting carbonated water post-exercise in the heat transiently ameliorates hypotension and enhances mood state
These effects are temporary, lasting about a minute after each bout of drinking. A systematic review of sparkling water’s effects on blood pressure confirmed that the current research focuses almost entirely on these brief post-ingestion windows, mediated by nervous system reflexes, rather than any lasting change in cardiovascular health.23PubMed. Systematic Review of the Effects of Sparkling Water Consumption on Blood Pressure There is no evidence that habitual sparkling water consumption raises resting blood pressure over time. The fleeting bump is more of a physiological curiosity than a health concern.
Kidney Stones and Mineral Content
Bubly is made from purified water rather than mineral springs, so it has negligible mineral content. This distinguishes it from many European sparkling waters, where the mineral composition varies enormously. A comparison of 126 sparkling water brands across ten European countries found that sodium levels ranged from about 3 mg/L to 63 mg/L, and sulphate levels ranged from 6 mg/L to 263 mg/L.24PubMed Central. Variations in the mineral content of bottled ‘carbonated or sparkling’ water across Europe: a comparison of 126 brands across 10 countries That kind of variation matters for people with kidney stone disease, since certain minerals can promote or inhibit stone formation depending on the stone type.24PubMed Central. Variations in the mineral content of bottled ‘carbonated or sparkling’ water across Europe: a comparison of 126 brands across 10 countries
For Bubly specifically, the near-zero mineral content means it is unlikely to contribute to stone formation in either direction. It is essentially the same as drinking filtered tap water from a kidney perspective, with bubbles. If anything, the fact that carbonation makes water more appealing may help stone-prone people stay better hydrated, which is the single most effective dietary strategy for preventing recurrent stones.