You know how you think you’re being virtuous by drinking all that sparkling water instead of soda? We've got bad news.
Olga Khazan, a health writer for The Atlantic, recently did some digging into the effects of carbonated water on tooth enamel. Turns out, it’s not great.
She spoke with dentists and looked back at studies that have found that sparkling waters--particularly flavored seltzers--have a pH of between 5 and 6. (For comparison, still water has a neutral pH of 7, and some sodas are closer to 2.5.)
Yeah, it’s a bummer. But on the plus side, it’s still way better for your teeth than that can of Coke. And, hey, you can always drink it through a straw.