Does carbonation cause cellulite? Nope, it’s all the other junk in fizzy drinks that give you cellulite.
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Soda / fizzy drinks and cellulite
Caffeine in energy drinks does not cause cellulite but moderation is key
Sugar in soft drinks: a major cause of cellulite
Sweeteners in diet soda: sucralose, aspartame, stevia and cellulite
Does sparkling water cause cellulite? Carbonation, fizzy drinks and sparkling water.
Cola itself is innocent
Phosphates in cola drinks and cellulite
Preservatives, "dead drinks" and cellulite
If sweet fruit juice is unhealthy, then sugared, processed, diluted fruit juice is downright evil
Can linings and cellulite
Alcopops, beer, champagne, cava prosecco and cellulite
Carbonated, flavoured, sugared water - or how to eliminate all the benefits of water
Tonic water and cellulite
Sparkling / seltzer water and cellulite
Do bubbles cause cellulite? Of course not, don't believe the urban myth
How did "bubbles" get a bad name?
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Soda / fizzy drinks and cellulite
Fizzy drinks have been implicated as one of the main causes of cellulite. However, not all fizzy drinks are the same. Different fizzy drink ingredients have a different effect on cellulite: some are detrimental to the health and appearance of your thighs and butt, whilst a small minority are absolutely harmless - all depending on the ingredients found in them.
The most common ingredients in fizzy drinks are: phosphoric acid, caffeine, sugar in all it’s forms, carbonate, cola, aspartame, sucralose, preservatives, fruit juice, alcohol and flavourings among others.
Initially we will comment on each ingredient separately and then we will give you the lowdown on the best and the worst fizzy drink ingredients and the best and worst fizzy drinks for cellulite.
Caffeine in energy drinks does not cause cellulite but moderation is key
Caffeine, is a well known diuretic and stimulant. Due to its diuretic action caffeine may temporarily reduce water retention, an important part of cellulite.
However, continuous and excessive use may lead to caffeine tolerance on the kidneys and consequent chronic water retention.
Nervous stimulation from caffeine does temporarily increase energy levels and therefore energy consumption and fat burning, but the effect is short-lived and the subsequent fatigue will lead to reduced energy consumption and, more importantly, to cravings for sugar, the number one cause of cellulite today.
A reasonable amount of caffeine (1-3 caffeine drinks a day) will not cause any harm or increase cellulite. On the other hand, excessive consumption (10 caffeine drinks a day are not uncommon in some people) will definitely cause various health disturbances, as well as cellulite.
Caffeine is typically contained in cola drinks and “energy" drinks.
Caffeine’s cellulite-producing factor: ⭑
Sugar in soft drinks: a major cause of cellulite
As we mentioned above, sugar is the number one cause of cellulite - period.
Sugar consumption has skyrocketed in the last few decades:
Partly due to an emphasis on low fat diets and the subsequent availability of foods low in fat and high in sugar
And partly due to increased stress caused by more and more sedentary, desk-bound occupations and subsequent “treat” consumption
Sugar is the number one enemy of your legs:
Sugar is converted into fat unless it is used immediately
Sugar causes skin aging and skin damage via the process of glycation
Sugar increases levels of inflammation in the body (inflammation consequently leads to increased blood viscosity and poor circulation, as well as adipose tissue fibrosis, part of cellulite)
Sugar in cakes may be bad enough, but sugar in drinks, fizzy or nor, is really fattening, due to the very fast absorption of the mixture and the very high glycemic index.
The above do not apply to sucrose only (what we call commonly call ‘sugar’) but also to all other refined/concentrated sugars, including:
fructose
high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
glucose
agave syrup
maple syrup
honey
brown sugar
molasses
There is a big difference between sugars contained in a whole apple, and isolated, refined sugars such as high fructose corn syrup contained in a fizzy drink.
The former has positive effects on your body, while the latter is detrimental to your health and appearance. Sugar is present in all fizzy drinks except the sugar-free ones, i.e. sparkling water, soda water and the sweetener-based ones.
Sugar’s cellulite-producing factor: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Sweeteners in diet soda: sucralose, aspartame, stevia and cellulite
Artificial (sucralose, aspartame etc) and natural (stevia, erythritol etc) sweeteners may not contain any calories but they still stimulate insulin secretion and eventually contribute to increased calorie intake.
You may initially be tricked to think that you had got your sugar fix, but when no sugar reaches your bloodstream you react by feeling hungrier and by consuming more calories by the end of the day.
In general, anything sweet is to be avoided and only used as a treat - like the old days - not as a self medication for stress, depression and boredom.
Sweets make you temporarily feel better only to make you feel worse soon after - leaving you with a few extra grams of cellulite in the process.
Sweeteners’ cellulite-producing factor: ⭑⭑⭑
Does sparkling water cause cellulite? Carbonation, fizzy drinks and sparkling water.
Carbonation is the process of adding carbonate (carbonic acid) into water, in order to produce the familiar carbon dioxide bubbles in soda / fizzy drinks.
Carbonate is a very weak acid that becomes carbon dioxide when not under pressure, i.e. as soon as you open the bottle or the can.
Carbonate does not increase acidity in the body as it gets broken down in the stomach or simply evaporates. The same cannot be said for phosphate or orthophosphate found in cola drinks which do leave an acid residue when absorbed by the body. Carbon dioxide is easily removed though breath.
Together with water, carbonate is the only innocent ingredient in fizzy drinks. Since carbonate is the substance that gives the fizzy drinks their fizz, it is contained in all fizzy drinks.
Sparkling water which only contains water and carbonate is absolutely innocent and you can drink as much as you want of it, without any problems (except from stomach distention, if you drink too much, of course).
Sparkling water / carbonate’s cellulite-producing factor: -
Cola itself is innocent
Cola extract is obviously included in cola drinks. Although cola is a source of caffeine, it contributes very little caffeine to cola drinks, with most of the caffeine being added to them.
Cola extract is absolutely fine and it is occasionally used in health supplements, although we would stop short of calling Coca Cola a herbal drink, as they attempted to call it a few years ago…
Cola’s cellulite-producing factor: -
Phosphates in cola drinks and cellulite
Phosphoric acid, or phosphate, is an inorganic acid that increases acidity in the body.
Excessive acidity reduces the detoxification capacity of the liver and forces the body to remove calcium from the bones and teeth in an effort to re-alkalinise the body (calcium is alkaline and neutralises acids such as phosphoric acid). Phosphates are contained in cola drinks.
Phosphoric acid’s cellulite-producing factor: ⭑
Preservatives, "dead drinks" and cellulite
Different fizzy drinks contain different types of preservatives. Most preservatives used today have been tried and tested for decades and are not as bad as we think.
However, the problem with food and drinks containing preservatives is not so much the preservatives per se, the problem is that the food and drinks are not fresh.
Fizzy drinks are quite often stored in aluminium cans and plastic bottles for months, absorbing chemicals from the plastic container or plastic lining of aluminium cans.
Eating dead food, or dead drinks for that matter, surely cannot be good for you. There is a big difference between freshly squeezed orange juice and a fizzy orangeade type of drink, even if the drink contains no preservatives or other artificial ingredients. Preservatives are contained in almost all fizzy drinks.
Preservatives’ cellulite-producing factor: ⭑
If sweet fruit juice is unhealthy, then sugared, processed, diluted fruit juice is downright evil
Moving to the subject of fruit juice now, we would like to make it clear that fruit juices are good for you, but only if they are fresh, unadulterated and only consumed after exercise or other intense, prolonged physical activity.
Canned fizzy drinks that contain juices are a clear example of dead food, mentioned above.
The juice in these drinks has been pasteurised or dried and re-constituted, it’s nutrient content decreased, enzymes destroyed, sugar content amplified without even adding sugar and the fruit’s fibre removed.
The end result is a mixture of water, sugars and whatever managed to survive of the vitamins / phytochemicals that were initially present in the fruit.
In any case, juices are not to be consumed at any other time except after exercise, because our body has not evolved to consume liquid foods - with the exception of infancy.
Juices consumed by a sedentary person can be as fattening and cellulite-producing as a can of sugar-laden cola. This applies to both flat and carbonated juices/juice drinks.
Carbonated fruit juice cellulite-producing factor: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Soda/fizzy drink can lining and cellulite
Almost everyone overlooks how nasty the fizzy drink can lining is for both female/male hormone health and cellulite/obesity.
The disposable aluminium can that contains your fizzy drink is not just an environmental disaster, it is also a health disaster, as it is lined by a nasty resin lining that contains BPA, BPS or similar endocrine disrupting, gender-bending, cancer-causing chemicals.
The fact that all fizzy drinks are acidic doesn’t help, as it enhances the leaching of BPA / other endocrine disruptors from the lining into your drink.
Avoid canned drinks like the plague. Glass is best or at worst prefer normal plastic (PP) containers, which are better (kinda, just a bit).
BPA-leaching soda drink can lining cellulite-producing factor: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Alcopops, beer, champagne, cava prosecco and cellulite
Alcohol, as you already know, is fattening, a cause of water retention, damaging to your liver and a cause of cellulite.
A bit of alcohol, especially in the form of red or white wine, is relaxing and good for you - but that applies to only one glass a day or every other day. It certainly does not apply to binge drinking a whole bottle on a weekend night. And no, you can not “save” your alcohol allowance during the week in order to consume it all on the weekend.
Alcohol is contained in alcopops, together with lots of sugar and other nasties.
However, the ultimate cellulite-producing alcoholic fizzy drink is good old beer.
Champagne, cava and prosecco (especially) contain a higher percentage of sugar in comparison to wine, but not as much as beer does, so moderate consumption is just about OK. Excessive consumption is definitely not recommended:
I have had several clients over the years who lived the so-called "champagne lifestyle" only to be depressed by the severe cellulite they developed in the process, in just a few months.
And no, expensive champagne is not different in this regard in relation to cheaper versions.
Alcohol’s cellulite-producing factor: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Carbonated, flavoured, sugared water - or how to eliminate all the benefits of water
Flavourings are contained in most fizzy drinks.
The latest drink fad involves fruit-flavoured waters laden with aspartame, sucralose or sugar, for those who hate plain water.
Most flavourings used today are natural, but no sweetener is good, so there is nothing good about flavoured water.
Sweetened, flavoured water’s cellulite-producing factor: ⭑⭑⭑⭑
Tonic water and cellulite
Tonic water contains either sugar or sweeteners and is definitely not a good idea.
Tonic water’s cellulite-producing factor: ⭑⭑⭑⭑
Sparkling / seltzer water and cellulite
And now a few words about water, the most abundant ingredient in any drink.
Can water consumption when drinking fizzy drinks make up for the detrimental effects of ingredients such as sugar, sweeteners, caffeine etc?
Absolutely not. Water helps indeed to keep the skin in good condition, prevents fluid retention and boosts detoxification, but water consumption can not offset the negative effects of sugar etc. on your cellulite.
The only fizzy drink you can have, that will offer you the benefits of water without the negative side effects of the ingredients mentioned in this page, is sparkling/soda water.
Do bubbles cause cellulite? Of course not, don't believe the urban myth
So, do fizzy drinks cause cellulite? The answer is simple: carbon dioxide bubbles themselves do not cause cellulite. Obviously.
What causes cellulite is the sugar, “fruit juices”, sweeteners and alcohol contained in those drinks.
So naturally or artificially sweetened fizzy drinks are indeed a major cause of cellulite, along with all other sugar-containing foods, but not because of the bubbles or caffeine.
Why did "bubbles" get a bad name?
Carbonate (carbonic acid) acquired a bad name when experts started advising against the consumption of “fizzy drinks” (UK) / soda drinks (US), having in mind SUGARY fizzy drinks.
Consequently uninformed “experts” started parroting the same advice but included in the advice everything which has bubbles in it, even if it had no sugar. It's a classic example of "Chinese whispers".
Hence, most of my clients think that they will develop cellulite if they drink pure, good old sparkling water or soda water, which is just absolutely plain wrong.
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