When you’re flagging at work it’s tempting to turn to coffee or Red Bull to perk you up – but sparkling water could give you the lift you need, experts say.
A new study has found fizzy water can boost concentration and alertness for hours while sitting at a desk.
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba in Kapan asked 14 casual gamers to play virtual football for three hours.
In one of the sessions they drank plain water, while in the other they drank a sparkling alternative.
Analysis revealed the fizzy water was best for maintaining attention levels and minimising fatigue throughout the experiment.
It also made the games more enjoyable, the researchers said.
The team said it could prove to be a great caffeine and sugar-free method to give yourself a boost throughout the day.
‘Ultimately, sparkling water could offer a low-risk, sustainable alternative to caffeine- or sugar-based interventions for mitigating cognitive fatigue in modern digital life,’ they wrote in Computers in Human Behavior Reports.
The team found that participants reported less fatigue and more enjoyment when they drank the sparkling water (SW) compared to plain water (PW)
For the study, the participants consumed either plain water or sparkling water that had been chilled to 4°C.
They drank at regular intervals across the three-hour study, consuming 500ml in total. A few days later, they repeated the experiment with the alternative drink.
During the tasks, participants were asked to rate their enjoyment and tiredness, while their pupil diameter – a sign of fatigue – and heart rate were constantly measured.
‘Compared to plain water, sparkling water significantly attenuated increases in subjective fatigue, enhanced enjoyment, and preserved executive function, along with preventing pupil constriction,’ the team wrote.
Sparkling water has already been shown to boost performance in some cognitive tasks, and it is believed that the carbon dioxide in the drink triggers sensory receptors in the mouth called ‘transient receptor potential’ (TRP).
This, in turn, increases brain arousal.
The players also committed fewer in-game fouls when they drank sparkling water, the team explained – a sign that they were more in control of their teams.
While the study did appear to show an improvement compared to still water, it was not compared against coffee or energy drinks directly, the researchers said.
Analysis revealed the fizzy water was best for maintaining attention levels and minimising fatigue throughout the experiment (file image)
‘Caffeine and sugar, the main components of energy drinks, are commonly used to counteract cognitive fatigue,’ the scientists concluded.
‘They are typically suited for short term-high intensity situations that require elevated focus and rapid responses, such as examinations or competitive events.
‘However, chronic use of these substances carries risks due to their potential for dependence and overconsumption, which can lead to adverse physical and mental health outcomes.
‘In contrast, regular consumption of sparkling water, being free of caffeine and sugar, has not been reported health risks.
‘Therefore, sparkling water should serve as a safer and more sustainable alternative to caffeine and sugar for managing daily cognitive fatigue.’
Experts have previously discovered why fizzy drinks tingle on the tongue – and it’s all to do with a chemical receptor hidden in taste buds that lights up in the presence of carbonated drinks.
Food and drink experts used to think that the tingle from fizzy drinks came from the explosion of bubbles on the tongue.
But the discovery – published in the journal Science – reveals that the reason is more complicated.
Dr Nicholas Ryba, author of this study at the National Institutes of Health in the US, said: ‘When people drink soft drinks, they think that they are detecting the bubbles bursting on their tongue.
‘But if you drink a carbonated drink in a pressure chamber, which prevents the bubbles from bursting, it turns out the sensation is actually the same.’
Research on mice found that the taste of carbonation is triggered by an enzyme attached like a small flag to the surface of taste buds that normally detect sour food.
The enzyme interacts with carbon dioxide to switch on the sour taste buds and send a message to the brain.
‘That’s what gives carbonation its characteristic sensation,’ Dr Ryba said.
