Is Clear American Water Healthy? What Ingredients Does It Have?

After claiming that the drink had 0 sugar, 0 calories, 0 caffeine, and 0 sodium, the Clear American Water has been one of the go-to options for many. And the fact that it came in different flavors made it gain more popularity as well.

It tastes great, it looks clear, and it states that there is no artificial flavoring involved. That is why most people are switching from sodas to this drink. However, there is one big concern. And that would be is clear American water healthy or not.

Many would believe as it does not contain any sugar, it must be healthy. However, we dug a little deeper. We wanted to know what it actually has and if the ingredients are actually safe for the health or not. And the things we learned were pretty interesting, and we believe you will find them mind-boggling too.

What Is Clear American Water?

Many people believe that Clear American Water is just an alternative to soda. However, the brand never did market this as soda, and neither are there any elements that make it achieve the trait of a soda. Yes, it does have bubbles and has a fizzy taste. But not all of the fizzy waters are soda.

You might already be familiar with sparkling water. If you are not, it is basically water that has the fizziness and bubbliness that sodas usually have. The liquid gets this characteristic for being carbonated, which the sodas have too. But sodas and sparkling water are not the same things.

On the one hand, the sparkling waters are naturally carbonated. The bubbly characteristics come from the spring, where the natural carbonation process takes place. Also, it contains natural minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, and sodium. These minerals are all beneficial to health.

Conversely, sodas do not have the carbonated trait right from the very beginning. In other words, sodas do not come naturally carbonated. They have to go through the infusion process where the CO2 is injected into the water to make them achieve that bubbly trait.

But does that mean that sodas do not contain any minerals? Well, not really. Different soda brands will infuse minerals during the infusion process. However, the difference here is that sparkling water has all of them from the source, whereas sodas get all these traits during the infusion process.

That being said, as Clear American Water does not go through the carbonation process, we can conclude that it is actually sparkling water, not soda.

What Ingredients Does Clear American Water Have?

Unlike some of the other brands that are offering sparkling water to the market, Clear American is pretty transparent regarding its ingredient list. They are:

Filtered carbonated water
Citric acid
Natural flavoring
Potassium citrate
Potassium benzoate
Aspartame
Acesulfame potassium
Phenylketonurics

Firstly, you might be wondering what the filtered portion of the carbonated water refers to. Well, as the source of the water is a spring, there are contaminants inside the water. For that reason, it must be filtered. However, during the filtering process, it does not lose any of the minerals or beneficial elements.

Secondly, there is potassium benzoate. Among all the other forms of potassium that the formula contains, it is a type of preservative. It increases the shelf life of the bottles and makes sure it tastes well even when the water has been sitting on the shelves for a good amount of time.

Lastly, there is Phenylketonurics. That contains phenylalanine. And the rest of the ingredients are essential for the flavoring and the taste of the water.

Is Clear American Water Actually Healthy?

Even though the rest of the ingredients seem pretty okay, most nutrition experts are concerned about artificial sweeteners. To know a bit more about those, we went further into the topic.

That is where we stumbled upon the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It contains information about the additives that are safe and the ones that are not. Firstly, we looked into the Acesulfame Potassium and Aspartame. Both of these are a type of sweetener.

However, according to CSP’s chart, these two ingredients are the two food additives that people should avoid. But does that make the drink not healthy? Well, it is surely a healthy alternative to a soda. A simple soda will contain loads of sugar. And as you know by now, sugar is referred to as white poison.

In comparison, the Clear American sparkling water does not contain any sugar at all. That is exactly what makes the brand claim that the drink does not have any calories at all.

Now, it is pretty much clear that Clear American Water is certainly healthier than soda. But is it healthy in general? Anything that is not water will have certain downsides. In this case, the two food additives that we mentioned are the downsides. So, it would be better if you can avoid drinking this drink regularly.

Would It Be Wise To Drink Clear American Water Instead Of Water?

We get why people are so obsessed with these drinks. There are some factors that make it irresistible. Let us discuss them before going to the main answer:

Our bodies need to hydrate, and the drink is capable enough to hydrate our bodies
The tastebuds like anything that is sweet, and as the drink is sweetened, our tastebuds like it
Drinking or eating sweet food on a regular basis makes our tastebud get accustomed to sweetness; for that reason, you will feel like having them more often
After getting accustomed to the sweet foods, it will be difficult to enjoy foods that do not have any sweetness to them at all, so you end up drinking sweetened water more

As you can see, the higher the amount of sugar or sweetened food you take, the higher the threshold gets. And you will eventually reach a point where your diet will have too much sugar in it. That would not be good, would it? For that reason, you should not replace water with any sugary or sweetened drinks.

That being said, we believe you will be completely okay if you have this drink two times a week. However, we would still suggest against it. Even though it tastes good and claims that it does not have any calories, you shouldn’t rely on it to hydrate your body. Instead, drink more water. That will be beneficial for your health.

Is Clear American Water Actually Zero Calories?

Considering the fact that the drink does not contain any sugar at all, it gave the brand the right to promote it as a zero calory drink. However, there are other ingredients in the drink too. And they can contain hidden calories. So, we can not surely say that it is a zero calory drink.

Nonetheless, even if the drink might have some hidden calories, the total amount of calories will still end up lower than the sodas. Considering that, if you drink it twice a week, you can expect not to gain any weight. However, if you become dependent on it and can not seem to pass a day without it, you might gain weight.

Which Beverages Can I Consume Other Than Water On A Regular Basis?

There are plenty of drinks that are actually beneficial for the health. They will not contain any of the additives that might harm your body in any way. And you can completely have the peace of mind that there will be no side effects even if you drink them regularly.

Wondering which drinks are we actually talking about? Well, they are as follows:

Coffee:

A cup of coffee will give you the energy boost you require in the morning. However, do consider the adequate dosage of caffeine because overdosing on it will negatively affect your body.

Milk:

The good old calcium drink that most of us drank in our childhood is milk. You can have a cup of it daily without worrying about any side effects (unless you are lactose intolerant).

Tea:

Like coffee, tea is an excellent choice of drink that you can regularly have. But we would recommend opting for raw tea or green tea without adding any sugar to them. You can also have it by mixing a bit of milk.

Carbonated Water:

There is plenty of carbonated water available in the market that does not contain any harmful chemicals. Here, we are referring to the ones that only have unfiltered sparkling water. Those will not impact your health negatively, and you can have them daily.

Final Words

In true essence, you should rely on nothing but water to hydrate your body. And regarding the topic of is clear American water healthy or not, it is healthy compared to the sodas that most people tend to drink regularly. But it is not healthier than water. So, avoid drinking it too much.