Long before the boom of hard seltzers, and long before everyone and their mother-in-laws were drinking LaCroix (and then Topo Chico), there was SodaStream, manufacturers of products that allowed you to make your own fizzy drinks at home.
SodaStream has been around as a company for nearly a century, but it wasn't until the 2010s that the product went through a true boom in the United States.
As proof, during a 2014 Super Bowl commercial, actress Scarlett Johansson
seductively sipped a glass of bubbly SodaStream from a straw, called out co*ke and Pepsi by name, and implied that SodaStream was healthier for you than colas from those companies.
(Ah, 2014. Those were simpler times.)
Like air fryers and Instant Pots, it feels like everyone has (or has had) a SodaStream (or one of their competitors) in their kitchen at some point.
But does 2014 Scarlett Johansson speak the truth? Is her stance on SodaStream being healthier for you than traditional soda to be trusted? She is, after all, a spy in Black Widow.
We decided to run a few things by someone who wasn’t Scarlett Johansson and actually knows a few things about health: Mike Roussell, Ph.D., a nutrition consultant and author of the Men’s Health’s The MetaShred Diet.
If you’re using a SodaStream the right way, he says, you might reap some of the system’s proposed benefits. But you also have to be careful. Here’s what you need to know about SodaStream in terms of calories, sugar, and your health.
How does SodaStream work, anyway?
Yes, this is important.
Depending on which model you have the mechanism can differ, but, for the most part, you take a bottle filled with liquid, stick it into the SodaStream unit, which you've filled with a carbonating cylinder, and then you press a button to fill the liquid with bubbles.
SodaStream also sells a wondrous number of "flavors" you can add to whatever liquid you're carbonating.
The system is pretty straightforward, and versatile, which might b just some of the reasons its so popular.
Is SodaStream healthier than soda?
This depends on what you're using as liquid and as flavors.
If you're carbonating a high-calorie, sugary liquid (say, fruit juice) then it's not like the SodaStream is going to inject the drink with magical nutrition powders.
Among its many flavoring options, SodaStream does offer a "cola."
The mix includes zero-calorie Splenda (sucralose), and sugar, and it delivers 8 grams of sugar per 8-ounce serving. Compare that to co*ke, which has 27 grams of sugar. And if you break it down by calories per serving, SodaStream looks good with 35 calories versus nearly 100 calories for a co*ke.
So you’re consuming about two-thirds less sugar with SodaStream compared to normal soda. That’s great, unless you find it tough to stick to that small of a serving size. And many people do, says Roussell. “If you buy a 20 ounce co*ke bottle, you will drink all 20 ounces,” he says. “If you make a liter of SodaStream cola, you're probably going to drink the whole liter.”
While it doesn’t contain high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and there is a line of "naturally sweetened" flavors with no sucralose, in the end you’re still drinking sugar water. “When we are looking at the health impact on your body, does it matter is you drink a beverage that contains sugar that’s 55 percent fructose, like HFCS, or 50 percent fructose—like table sugar?” says Roussell.
The Bottom Line
It's less about "Is SodaStream cola healthier than traditional soda?" and more "Is Sodastream carbonated water healthier than traditional soda?"
Carbonated water has 0 calories and sugar. That's your best bet.
But what about flavor?
“I have a SodaStream and love it,” says Roussell. “Having freshly carbonated water and adding a little fresh lemon juice is a great change of pace from regular water or tea.”
If you like making your own fizzy beverages, then aim to keep consumption to that one 8 to 12 ounce glass per day.
