Drink healthily

We've been asking ourselves this question for some time now as we browse through refrigerators in stores and crates full of beverage waters. We often choose drinks based on packaging or brand, when we should primarily consider the chemical composition. Not all beverages are suitable for drinking in large quantities because they contain a range of substances that, although permitted for consumption, can be harmful to health.

Water, or hydrogen oxide (less commonly used names include hydrogen monoxide, and according to current IUPAC nomenclature - oxidane), is a chemical compound with the formula H2O, occurring under standard conditions (room temperature) in a liquid state. In the gaseous state, water is referred to as water vapor, and in the solid state - ice. colloquially, the word "water" is often used to refer to each of the states of matter.

Mineral water is natural drinking water enriched to a significant degree with mineral salts (or other components) in the form of ions. In 1 liter of mineral water, the concentration of mineral salts must be greater than 1 gram. Additionally, it may contain dissolved gases of natural origin (carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide). Most commonly (in retail trade in Poland exclusively), it is groundwater, which has acquired minerals from rocks through which it has flowed. Types of mineral waters include: acidic waters (containing CO2), brines (containing chloride), sulfur waters.

The problem with unhealthy products lies in the fact that chemicals are added not only to beverages but also to candies, chewing gums, and even dairy products. Colored foods are most often consumed by children, and due to their usually low weight, it is easy for them to exceed permissible doses or accumulate in their bodies. And it happens that a child gets sick, or - for no apparent reason - suddenly starts gaining weight.

In recent years, there has been a lot of publications about the harmfulness of food dyes and various food additives. Nevertheless, few people realize what they really eat. Just 6 years ago, about 180 different food additives could be used in Poland. Today, according to EU standards, there are almost 400 of these substances. A significant portion of them is added to beverages. Among them are, for example, phosphates (E 339, E 340, E 341, E 343, E 450-452, and others) blocking the absorption of calcium and magnesium, sulfur compounds (E 514-517 and E 520-523) accused of causing asthma, colorants such as tartrazine, sunset yellow, azorubine, brilliant blue, indigo carmine, carmine, quinoline yellow, and many others (respectively: E 102, 110, 122, 133, 127, 132, 124, 104) which can cause various symptoms of illness, benzoates (E 211 - 213), added as antibacterial and antifungal preservatives to beverages, including absolutely synthetic ones (!), which are suspected of causing allergies and destroying vitamin C, aspartame (E 951, 962, a component of chewing gums, sweeteners, "light" drinks, and thousands of other products) containing methyl alcohol, which breaks down into formaldehyde in the body, suspected of causing dozens of ailments (the harmfulness of aspartame is the subject of a fierce battle between the US manufacturer and European food and drug agencies), corn syrup, to which consumers become accustomed to the taste like to morning coffee, which is an important step towards obesity.

These are just some of the many additives present in colored beverages that burden the consumer's body. The quantity of some of them (e.g., sulfates) is not strictly regulated in milligrams per liter but is added "quantum satis," i.e., as much as needed. To the manufacturer.

The least doubts about the quality and content of chemical substances arise in mineral waters. What sets them apart from colored beverages is primarily that they are obtained from proven sources and underground deposits. Meanwhile, colored fluids are often produced from ordinary tap water, especially by small, local producers. Mineral waters also cannot hide the actual content of chemical substances and biological contaminants, whereas in colored beverages, all bacteria are killed by preservatives.

Usually, mineral water is tested for the content of nitrates, iron, barium, ammonia compounds, ozone, bacteria with a breakdown by type, and even labels. It turns out that even pure water can have reservations. Recent studies have shown that the most suitable for drinking are Staropolanka, Cisowianka, Nałęczowianka, Muszynianka and Ustronianka.

Are such detailed studies conducted for colored beverages? No. For a simple reason: they contain too many substances to accurately determine their origin and whether the chemical composition of the water has been "adjusted" in the final product. Therefore, it is worth trusting plain, pure water and giving up for it color-falsifying additives, even if they contain beloved by many sunset yellow, brilliant blue, or carmine.