Bubbling and Refreshing

There's water, and there's... soda water. Soda water is my favorite soft drink, especially in summer.. It is made of water to which carbon dioxide gas ( Co2) is added under pressure. It goes very well with wine creating a sparkling, refreshing drink.

They say it upsets the stomach, causes digestion discomfort. Quite the reverse,  it soothes the stomach, and eases discomfort..  As far as I know no one in my family ( all soda drinkers), has had anything to do with indigestion or stomach problems.
Soda water is also  'accused' of weakening the bones; no real evidence in this respect either.

I'm used to drinking it from an early age. In my childhood days, soda water was produced in a small factory where special glass bottles got filled with water and Co2, and then sold to customers. To buy a new bottle (named syphon), one had to return the empty one.

syphon*

 The next stage in the 'evolution', of this carbonated beverage, was home- made soda , the best kind of soda - as one can make it as strong or as weak as one wishes.

At first, the device for soda making  at home was the sypholux - a metalic, opaque, silver colored item (covering a glass inner bottle) which came with a plastic cartridge holder. To operate it one had to buy a package of replaceable Co2. cartridges. The more cartridges used, the stronger the soda. Usually three (3) cartridges were the optimal number for a fairly strong soda.

(The grey-red sypholux was a popular  wedding gift in those days, and subject to a lot of jokes , as the newly wed couples used to get more than two or three of them ).

bottle, head, cartridge, cartridge holder*

inserted cartridge holder *

The sypholux and cartridges got replaced after a while by the Soda Stream  company's device - a reusable bottle and a replaceable carbonating cylinder.
I wasn't happy with that method - too awkward and expensive for me.

soda stream kit*

Nowadays, I usually buy ready made soda water bottles /cans at the supermarket or kiosks. The bottles come in two sizes: family bottles and smaller personal bottles. It's important to read the label on the bottle before buying, as there are sometimes additions like sodium ,for example, supposed to give the soda  better taste.


* web pictures

Experiments and Decisions

We all have to make nutrition-related decisions based on factors such as  quality, taste, price, availability, shelf life. For instance: organic vs.inorganic products; tap water vs. bottled water. 

I sometimes do little, rudimentary, home experiments to help with my shopping decisions. Although  I have  preferrences as a result of these 'experiments', I often give in to price and availability, and... 'sleep well'  with that.

How come? Well,  my major conclusion is that most health issues stem  from lack of moderation and balance, less from eating conventional grown items (yes, with traces of pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones), or drinking tap water.

Eggs are a good example .  They have been linked to high cholesterol (major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases).
On the other hand,  their protein is of the highest quality regardless of production method.  Without good protein one might experience among other bad symptoms, hairloss and weight gain.

So, the bottom line would be moderation. One  boiled egg per two (2) days , is probably safe in the cholesterol area, and provides the protein neccessary for body functioning. One could also choose to eat the whites only,  have a tiny bit of the yolk or not  yolk at all.

Price and availability do play an important part in my decisions. The small apple with the worm (organic growth) is tastier, probably healthier, than the one with the traces of pesticide (inorganic), but  more expensive , and  not always available at the nearby grocery store. This applies to almost all fruit,legumes and veggies, 

Goat milk yogurt is definitely superior to cow milk yogurt (because of its probiotics benefits), and the taste is great.

Lately, the price of goat milk products has gone up steeply, so I  switched to balkanic cow milk yogurt for the time being (produced by the same firm - Gad Dairy)  ; it's cheaper and tastes good.

goat youghurt and cow milk youghurt in similar bottles

Tap water is cheapest and of optimal availability. However, after doing some  experiments in the kitchen (boiling the water and examining the deposits on the bottom),  I've decided in favor of bottled water both for cooking and drinking.

bottled water

(For my indoor plants - lucky bamboo - I buy distilled water at the pharmacy; that seems to be the best water for keeping them well).

In this post, I'm not referring  to people with allergies or specific health issues. I'll only mention a case that gives hope to many.  Sometimes at the supermarket, I meet a lady who has gone through any allergy one could possibly imagine (according to her stories).

Doctors have failed her, and she cannot always afford all those free gluten, free lactose, free sugar, free whatever, food items. So she has found a way of her own ,essentially  based  on  veggies, fruit, rice, and fish (all available at the local supermarket). In addition,  she also keeps away from doctors and medications.
Well, not only is she alive and active, but she even looks much younger than her 76 years.