Is Bubly Healthy? 13 Things You Should Know

Is Bubly a healthy beverage option?

Drinks can be unhealthy in so many ways. Some are full of sugar, others have artificial sweeteners. Even with sparkling water like Bubly, some people say it’s bad for your teeth, or they complain about the “natural” flavors. Today, let’s look closer… Is Bubly healthy?

Bubly is a sugar-free, zero-calorie sparkling water that is quite healthy. Unlike some sparkling water beverages, Bubly does not have artificial sweeteners, or any sweetener at all. It is also sodium-free.

Below, I’ll address whether Bubly is good for hydration, weight loss, dental health, and more. I’ll discuss the mysterious “natural flavors” in Bubly, and I’ll compare it side-by-side with diet soda and LaCroix to see which is best.

Is Bubly Good for You?

Here are the 13 questions we’re going to cover on Bubly nutrition. Click to skip ahead to any of them—or just scroll down to read it all:

1. What Ingredients Are in Bubly?
2. Is Bubly Good for Hydration?
3. Is Bubly Good for Weight Loss?
4. Is Bubly Healthier Than Diet Soda?
5. What Is in the “Natural Flavor” in Bubly?
6. Does Bubly Have Artificial Sweeteners?
7. Does Bubly Have Sugar or Carbs?
8. Is Bubly Bad for Your Teeth?
9. Does Bubly Have Sodium?
10. Does Bubly Have Caffeine?
11. Is It Ok to Drink Bubly Every Day?
12. Is Bubly Healthier Than La Croix?
13. Is Bubly Vegan?

1. What Ingredients Are in Bubly?

Let’s start by looking at what Bubly is actually made of. Bubly has a few different product lines, but all the ingredients are very simple:

Bubly Product Line	Ingredients
Bubly Sparkling Water	Carbonated Water, Natural Flavor.
Bubly Bounce (Caffeinated)	Carbonated Water, Natural Flavor, Caffeine.
Sodastream Bubly Drops	Natural flavor.

Here’s what I notice about these ingredients:

• Bubly has very minimal ingredients. I consider this a good thing. Many beverages have long lists of chemical-sounding ingredients. Many of those ingredients may be harmless, but it’s easier to trust a product that is more simple and minimal.

• Bubly is free of sugar. This makes Bubly an interesting choice for dieters. Bubly doesn’t have all the calories and carbs usually found in sweetened drinks. Below, we’ll look more closely at Bubly for weight loss.

• Bubly is free of artificial sweeteners. Most artificial sweeteners (and even natural sweeteners like stevia) have some possible connections to health risks. With Bubly, you don’t have to worry about those.

• Bubly has no artificial colors. Many drinks have artificial colors. Since such dyes are controversial for safety, I consider it positive that Bubly doesn’t have any.

• Bubly has “Natural Flavor.” Now, what does that mean exactly? We’ll discuss the details below, but it’s generally not considered to be an unhealthy or unsafe ingredient.

• Bubly does not have added electrolytes. This is a neutral point, really. Unless you’re exercising or sweating hard, you usually don’t need extra electrolytes in your beverages. But if you’re looking for that, be aware: Bubly doesn’t have electrolytes.

Overall, Bubly’s ingredients are quite “clean.” It is rare today to find a packaged drink that actually avoids pretty much all sugars, artificial sweeteners, sodium, and other processed ingredients. So, nice work, Bubly.

2. Is Bubly Good for Hydration?

Bubly is a fine choice for hydration. The only ingredients it has besides water are carbonation and natural flavors. This means Bubly avoids most of the unhealthy ingredients added to most other flavored water and carbonated drinks on the market.

However, Bubly may not be the optimal choice if you are acutely dehydrated or at risk of dehydration. In such a situation, you may want to use an oral rehydration solution like Pedialyte, or sports drinks like Gatorade (or Gatorade Zero).

Why? If you are really trying to re-hydrate yourself, you may want a beverage with added electrolytes. Bubly does not have added electrolytes.

Another thing to note: Just because Bubly helps with hydration, that doesn’t mean you should replace all your water with Bubly. Read the sections below on natural flavors and whether Bubly is bad for your teeth before considering that.

But yes, Bubly is hydrating. It is mostly water. Bubly can count as “water intake” for most practical purposes.

3. Is Bubly Good for Weight Loss?

One of the reasons people choose zero-calorie drinks like Bubly is to avoid extra calories. But this issue can sometimes get more complicated.

For example, evidence shows that consuming artificial sweeteners is surprisingly ineffective for weight loss. Some evidence even suggests they can even cause weight gain.

So, is there any reason why Bubly wouldn’t be good for weight loss?

Bubly is a great choice for weight loss. For every 12 ounces of sugary soda or juice you replace with Bubly, you will consume ~150 fewer calories. That change alone could cause weight loss over time, even without changing anything else.

Replacing high-calorie drinks with Bubly is essentially the same as replacing them with normal water. The only other added ingredients in Bubly are “natural flavor” and carbonation, which don’t have calories or any significant known effect on weight loss.

Bubly Bounce and Bubly Drops are also fine choices for weight-loss. The caffeine and the Sodastream format should not affect the suitability of the drink for weight loss.

But remember: The key to weight loss is your overall diet and calorie balance. One drink won’t make or break your diet. If you switch to Bubly but also eat extra snacks, you might cancel out the impact and stay stuck in a weight loss plateau.

If your goal is weight loss, you may want to consider tracking your calories as I describe in this post—or follow some of these 18 tips for weight loss without counting calories.

4. Is Bubly Healthier Than Diet Soda?

Bubly is generally healthier than diet soda. Diet sodas usually have artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium, several of which have been linked to possible increases in cancer risk, heart disease risk, obesity, and more.

I already covered some of the possible issues with artificial sweeteners above. But it’s worth digging into the details of diet soda nutrition a little bit more here.

There are some “diet sodas” that use natural zero-calorie sweeteners, like stevia. Stevia seems to have fewer problems, based on the research we have so far. But there still may be some downside, as I covered in my Zevia review.

There can be other sketchy ingredients in diet sodas, too. Diet Coke, for example, has caramel color and phosphoric acid. Both are controversial for their own reasons.

Of course, maybe some of the controversy is overblown for some of these diet soda ingredients. They may be safe in moderation. But Bubly avoids all those uncertainties by avoiding those extra ingredients all together. And personally, I love that.

Bubly is just carbonated water and natural flavor. It’s simple, and pretty easy to trust. But some people are still unsure about that “natural flavor”… So let’s cover that next.

5. What Is in the “Natural Flavor” in Bubly?

Bubly only has two ingredients: Carbonated water and natural flavor. But what is “natural flavor,” really? It’s not fruit juice, as that would add natural sugar and calories… So, what is it?

Unfortunately, it’s quite difficult to find out what is contained in Bubly’s “natural flavor.” And despite the word “natural,” many consumers have concerns about chemicals that it may contain—such as propylene glycol.

Propylene glycol is a food additive sometimes used as a solvent in “natural flavors.” Legally, it doesn’t need to be listed as an ingredient. But some people are freaked out by the fact that it’s also found in antifreeze and paint!

Bubly has stated on Twitter that none of its flavors contain propylene glycol. However, customers have replied by Tweeting pictures of their Bubly Drops, which clearly list “Propylene Glycol” as the first ingredient.

Some flavored water companies have actually faced class-action lawsuits based on the misleading use of “natural flavors” that include propylene glycol. (Propylene glycol is synthesized from fossil fuels.)

However, all the chemicals legally allowed in “natural flavors” are “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) by the FDA. So theoretically, there should be no cause for concern, safety-wise.

For example, propylene glycol seems to be quite harmless. There has only been one documented case of propylene glycol toxicity from food—and it resulted from someone consuming a much higher amount than usual. (source)

In the body, about half the propylene glycol we consume is just excreted by our kidneys. The rest is normally broken down into lactic acid. And this is not a concern at usual levels. (source)

If you eat other products with “natural flavors,” then you’re likely already consuming small amounts of propylene glycol or other processed solvents in those cases, too. So fo