I once had a friend sheepishly confess a three-can-a-day LaCroix habit to me. Sure, her weekly grocery bill might have been a bit steeper, but did she have any reason to feel guilt? To be honest, I had always just assumed sparkling water was perfectly healthy. So I decided to dig in and find the facts. 

Best and Worst Drinks for Your Health

Best Choice: Water

It's essential for your body. It prevents dehydration, constipation, and kidney stones. Plus, with no calories, it’s the best beverage for your waistline. If you add 1 to 3 cups of water a day to your diet, you could end up taking in less fat, salt, sugar, and up to 200 fewer calories per day.  Too plain for your taste buds? Add a squeeze of citrus, a few berries, or your favorite herbs, like mint.

Best Choice: Filtered Coffee

Coffee has gotten a bad rap before, but studies show it may protect against type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and lower your odds of heart disease. Three to five cups a day seems to be healthy, as long as you go easy on the cream and sugar. But if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, ask your doctor how much to sip. If you have high cholesterol, brew yours with a paper filter. It gets rid of a substance called cafestol that can raise LDL cholesterol.

Best Choice: Tea

Green, black, and other kinds are full of antioxidants, which may protect you against some types of cancer, stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Plus, unsweetened brews are low in calories. Whether you like it hot or iced, the healthiest kinds are the ones you brew at home -- without the added sugars that bottled tea can have.

Good Choice: Milk

It’s a powerhouse of nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, which keep your muscles, teeth, and bones healthy. And a cup of it has more protein than a large egg. To get more nutrition from fewer calories, look for low-fat and skim options. And some non-dairy milks -- soy, almond, and others -- have some of the same nutrients as cow’s milk. 

Worst: Soft Drinks

They have no nutrients, and they're loaded with sugar. People who drink one or two a day take in more calories and may have a higher body weight. You’re also more likely to have type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems. 

Worst: Diet Soda

Yes, it’s low in calories, but it may not be a good swap for regular sodas. Diet drinks are linked to health problems such as type 2 diabetes. And over time, some experts think their artificial sweeteners may make you gain weight by tricking your body into wanting more calories. But if you’re trying to cut back on regular soda, diet versions may be a good way to help you make the switch to water and other healthier drinks.

Better Choice: Sparkling Water

It gives you a little fizz without the calories or artificial sweeteners of soda. But watch out for flavored seltzers that have added sugar. And remember, sparkling water is different from club soda, which has sodium, and tonic water, which has sodium and sugar. A safe bet is to add your own flavor, like a squeeze of lemon or lime, to plain seltzer or sparkling water.

Worst: Energy Drinks

They claim to give you a boost with big doses of caffeine -- equal to 4 to 5 cups of coffee -- and other ingredients like guarana, B vitamins, and ginseng. Most have loads of sugar or sweeteners, too. You may get a short bump in alertness, but don’t believe the hype about more energy, strength, and power. What you’ll really get is too many calories and too much caffeine, which can cause weird heart rhythms, anxiety, trouble sleeping, and digestive problems.

Sip Sparingly: Fruit Juice

If it’s 100% juice, it has most of the vitamins of its original fruit. But all the fiber gets left behind. Without it, most of what you get from this drink is sugar. That adds calories to your diet without filling you up. A cup of no-sugar-added juice with breakfast or a snack is fine, but for kids and adults, it’s best to eat fruit in its whole form, and limit how much juice you get. If you just enjoy the taste, add a splash or two to a glass of water.

Sip Sparingly: Smoothies

If you have a hard time getting enough fruits and veggies in your diet, smoothies could be a good solution. They have the vitamins of their ingredients, plus a bit of the fiber, too. But a typical store-bought one has almost 400 calories and 75 grams of sugar. Instead, make them at home, and go light on sweetened add-ons, like flavored yogurt, honey, or agave.

Sip Sparingly: Sports Drinks

The electrolytes and sugar in these drinks make them ideal for athletes who need to replenish their bodies after an intense workout. But unless you’re finishing an hour-long sweat session, you should skip these beverages. Many have almost as much sugar as a can of soda. All your body really needs to refuel is water.

Sip Sparingly: Coconut Water

It’s the clear liquid you’d find if you cracked open a coconut. It has electrolytes and less sugar than many sports drinks or fruit juices. Still, the nutrients vary a lot from brand to brand. For all but the most draining workouts, water is all you need to rehydrate. And some coconut water is sweetened with added sugar, so check the label.

Sip Sparingly: Wine

Drink the right amount of wine -- particularly red wine -- and you may improve your brain and heart health, and even your sex life. This may be due to antioxidants like resveratrol that protect your cells from damage. But drinking more than a glass or two per day isn’t good for your health, especially if you do it over the long term.

Sip Sparingly: Beer

It’s not a health drink of course, but it can be part of a healthy diet. Moderate beer drinkers -- 1 12-ounce beer a day for women and 2 for men -- may be less likely to get kidney stones than non-drinkers. But know what you’re sipping. Some brews have more alcohol by volume and calories than others. If you’re watching your weight, stick with a light beer (about 100 calories).

First, a quick primer: There are a few different kinds of fizzy water. Club soda contains added minerals including sodium (12 ounce of a leading club soda has 4 percent of the Daily Value for sodium). Mineral water contains natural minerals like magnesium and calcium. Tonic water contains quinine, a bitter compound from the bark of a tree, plus sweetener (sometimes several teaspoons per serving!). Sparkling waters like LaCroix and Bubly are carbonated water and contain added flavoring but no sodium or sweeteners.

When it comes to sparkling water, specifically, here’s what I found out:

Is it healthy? It’s better than soda, that’s for sure. Sugary drinks like soda, sweetened tea, and lemonade are the number-one source of added sugar for adults. In research, sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with a higher risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Even diet sodas may have downsides. Sparkling water typically doesn’t contain any sweetener, so if sparkling water satisfies your cravings for something fizzy and lets you skip soda, you’re much better off.

Is it hydrating? Yes. UK researchers tested how hydrating 13 different drinks were (based on urine output) and found that sparkling water was just as hydrating as plain water. Makes sense considering sparkling water is simply 100% water, plus carbonation for fizz (and a slightly tangy flavor) and natural flavors.

Is it harmful to your bones? No. Some previous research linked carbonated drinks with a higher risk of fractures. The thinking was that those drinks triggered the body to excrete calcium in the urine. But in a study of 20-40 year old women, that effect was only seen in caffeinated beverages (and even then, the effect was deemed minor). Most sparkling water is not caffeinated, but check labels if you’d like to avoid it.

Is it bad for your teeth? Maybe. The issue is that sparkling water has a lower pH than water--meaning it’s more acidic and has the potential to erode enamel, the protective coating around your teeth. Drinks that have a pH below 4 are thought to be potentially harmful to teeth, and researchers have found that sparkling water has a pH between 2.74 – 3.34. That’s on par with orange juice and only slightly less acidic than soda.

What makes it so acidic? Regular carbonation lowers the pH, and a common ingredient in sparkling water (and soda) called citric acid, used as a flavoring and preservative, lowers it even more.

Bottom line: Sparkling water can help keep you hydrated and is a healthy swap for soda. Just be aware that sipping it throughout the day probably isn’t great for your teeth. A better option would be to drink your sparkling water along with a meal or to chase it with plain water or a tooth-brushing (and avoid swishing fizzy water through your teeth,  which sounds weird but some people do it!). And if you already have issues with weak enamel, it’s smart to ask your dentist whether you should steer clear entirely.

But there are no health advantages to fizzy water over plain. So if you like your water flat, by all means keep drinking it. You’ll save a lot of money that way too!