{"id":556876300361,"title":"Is Sparkling Ice Good For You? A Registered Dietitian Answers","created_at":"2022-08-21T23:35:09-04:00","body_html":"\u003cscript type=\"application\/ld+json\"\u003e\/\/ \u003c![CDATA[\n{\n \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n \"@type\": \"Article\",\n \"headline\": \"Is Sparkling Ice Good For You? A Registered Dietitian Answers\",\n \"keywords\": \"is sparkling ice good for you, sparkling ice, sparkling ice review, sparkling ice reviews, sparkling ice caffeine, sparkling ice spiked, is sparkling ice bad for you, sparkling ice flavors, sparkling ice ingredients\",\n \"description\": \"Our research team and Registered Dietitian analyze the ingredients in Sparkling Ice, Sparkling Ice Caffeine and Sparkling Ice Spiked to determine whether the products are healthy or not. We compare them to popular drinks like soda, and share some additive ingredients in the products that we consider questionable.\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/blogs\/health\/is-sparkling-ice-good-for-you\",\n\"author\": {\n \"@type\": \"Person\",\n \"name\": \"Calloway Cook\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/pages\/calloway-cook\",\n \"sameAs\": \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/calloway-cook\/\",\n \"jobTitle\": \"President\",\n \"knowsAbout\": \"entrepreneurship, dietary supplements, herbal supplements, eCommerce, medical research\",\n \"alumniOf\": {\n \"@type\": \"EducationalOrganization\",\n \"name\": \"S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University\"\n },\n \"memberOf\": {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"Illuminate Labs\"\n }\n},\n\"creator\": {\n \"@type\": \"Person\",\n \"name\": \"Calloway Cook\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/pages\/calloway-cook\",\n \"sameAs\": \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/calloway-cook\/\",\n \"jobTitle\": \"President\",\n \"knowsAbout\": \"entrepreneurship, dietary supplements, herbal supplements, eCommerce, medical research\",\n \"alumniOf\": {\n \"@type\": \"EducationalOrganization\",\n \"name\": \"S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University\"\n },\n \"memberOf\": {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"Illuminate Labs\"\n }\n},\n\"editor\": {\n \"@type\": \"Person\",\n \"name\": \"DJ Mazzoni\",\n \"honorificSuffix\": [\n \"M.S.\",\n \"R.D.\",\n \"C.D.N.\",\n \"C.S.C.S.\"\n ],\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/pages\/dj-mazzoni\",\n \"sameAs\": [\n \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dj-mazzoni-rd-cdn-cscs-00a33038\/\",\n \"http:\/\/djmazzoni.com\/\"\n ],\n \"jobTitle\": \"Medical Reviewer\",\n \"knowsAbout\": \"food, nutrition, health, wellness, microbiome, exercise, workouts, strength and conditioning, probiotics, metabolism, obesity, weight loss, science, medical research, clinical trials, cardiovascular health, diet\",\n \"alumniOf\": {\n \"@type\": \"EducationalOrganization\",\n \"name\": [\n \"State University of New York College Oswego\",\n \"D’Youville College\"\n ]\n },\n \"memberOf\": {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"Illuminate Labs\"\n }\n},\n\"image\": {\n\"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\"url\": \"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0047\/1524\/9737\/files\/Sparking_Ice_Healthy_Thumbnail.png?v=1661139660\",\n\"width\": \"2522\",\n\"height\": \"2522\"\n},\n\"citation\": [\n\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/21130826\/\", \n\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7155288\/\",\n\"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/blogs\/health\/smart-sweets-review\",\n\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8824545\/\"\n],\n\"mentions\": [{\n \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n \"name\": \"soda\"\n },\n {\n \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n \"name\": \"preservatives\"\n },\n {\n \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n \"name\": \"natural flavors\"\n },\n {\n \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n \"name\": \"vitamins\"\n },\n {\n \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n \"name\": \"Vital Proteins Collagen Water\"\n }\n],\n\"datePublished\": \"2022-08-21\",\n\"copyrightHolder\": {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"Illuminate Labs\"\n},\n\"publisher\": {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"Illuminate Labs\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/\",\n \"description\": \"Illuminate Labs is the most transparent supplement company in the U.S., and is a leading publisher of research-based health information.\",\n \"knowsAbout\": \"supplements, science, nutrition, exercise, health, medication, pharmaceutical, wellness, diet, weight loss, medical research\",\n \"publishingPrinciples\": \"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/pages\/editorial-guidelines\",\n \"memberOf\": [\n {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"U.S. Chamber of Commerce\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.uschamber.com\/\"\n },\n {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"Certified B Corp\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.bcorporation.net\/en-us\/\"\n },\n {\n \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n \"name\": \"Natural Products Association\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.npanational.org\/\"\n }\n ], \n \"logo\": {\n \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n \"url\": \"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0047\/1524\/9737\/files\/Illuminate_Labs_Favicon_48x48_7595c3cc-e27b-47b8-a4fe-edcc7ed9b29a.png?v=1666502785\", \n \"width\": 48,\n \"height\": 48\n},\n \"foundingDate\": \"2019-01-30\",\n \"sameAs\": [\n \"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/illuminatelabs\",\n \"https:\/\/twitter.com\/illuminatelabs\",\n \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/illuminate-labs-supplements\",\n \"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpgSJAsIPb-fZ25djtTxBEA\"\n ]\n }\n}\n\/\/ ]]\u003e\u003c\/script\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0047\/1524\/9737\/files\/Is_Sparkling_Ice_Healthy_Article_Header_Image_Optimized.png?v=1661139322\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"dc\"\u003eS\u003c\/span\u003eparkling Ice is a popular zero-sugar beverage brand. The company sells a wide variety of fruit flavored drinks that are available both online and in many retail locations.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe brand positions itself as a healthier alternative to popular consumer beverages like soda, by highlighting the lack of sugar in their products and describing their offering as a “rainbow of colors” which is “sourced from nature.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn this article we’ll analyze the ingredients in Sparkling Ice and Sparkling Ice Caffeine based on published medical studies to determine whether we believe these products are actually good for you or not.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eSparkling Ice Ingredient Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0047\/1524\/9737\/files\/Sparkling_Ice_Ingredients_Optimized.png?v=1661139609\" alt=\"Sparkling Ice ingredients\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe above ingredient list is from Sparkling Ice Black Cherry, but all of the flavors contain very similar ingredients so our comments will hold for all flavors of this product.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe do consider it a good sign that the first ingredient is \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003esparkling water\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, and that some of the flavoring comes from real fruit; in this case \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003echerry juice concentrate\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e. Sparkling Ice also uses \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003efruit and vegetable juice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e as a natural colorant, which is a healthy choice and much superior from a nutritional standpoint to artificial food dye.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIf this product only contained the above-listed ingredients, we would recommend it. However it contains a number of questionable additive ingredients that we recommend consumers avoid.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSparkling Ice contains the preservative \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003epotassium benzoate\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, which has been shown in a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/21130826\/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eclinical trial\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e to be clastogenic (DNA-damaging), mutagenic (potential for genetic mutation) and cytotoxic (toxic to living cells) to human cells in a test tube study.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThese results don’t necessarily mean that this ingredient is toxic to humans at the dose used as a preservative, but we certainly don’t consider this a healthy ingredient, and we recommend avoiding ingesting preservatives entirely.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSparkling Ice also contains the artificial sweetener \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003esucralose\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, which was found in a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7155288\/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eclinical trial\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e published in the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eNutrition Journal\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e to cause insulin dysregulation in young, healthy adults. We consider this to be a concerning data point, given that young, healthy adults are arguably the best suited to process artificial sweeteners. We recommend avoiding artificial sweeteners altogether.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCitric acid\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e is a preservative and flavor enhancer that we recommend avoiding. As we documented in our \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/illuminatelabs.org\/blogs\/health\/smart-sweets-review\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSmart Sweets reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e article, there is medical evidence suggesting that a small subset of patients experience whole-body inflammatory reactions to citric acid. We don’t consider this ingredient as unhealthy as the two previously listed, but we still recommend avoiding it as a safety precaution.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSparkling Ice also contains \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003enatural flavors\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, which is a broad category term that could refer to any number of chemical compounds. Some will be safe and some may be harmful, but without knowing the specific flavoring agents used, we don’t know how consumers or researchers like us can assess safety. For this reason we recommend avoiding all products containing “natural flavors” described as such.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis drink also contains a blend of vitamins such as \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eVitamin A\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eVitamin B3\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e. As we’ve stated in many Illuminate Health reviews, we recommend avoiding products with random blends of vitamins because we’ve never come across any medical research suggesting that these blends improve human health. Since so many foods and beverages have these additives, we believe that some American consumers that eat a diet high in processed foods may be at risk of artificially elevated levels of certain vitamins due to this manufacturing practice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOverall we do not consider Sparkling Ice to be healthy, given the significant number of additives that we would consider questionable. We would consider this product healthier than soda, because it’s so much lower in sugar, and because it contains no artificial dye. But that’s a low bar, and we believe that drinking regular water would be much healthier than drinking Sparkling Ice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eSparkling Ice Caffeine Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0047\/1524\/9737\/files\/Sparkling_Ice_Caffeine_Ingredients.png?v=1661139509\" alt=\"Sparkling Ice Caffeine ingredients\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe ingredients in Sparkling Ice Caffeine are similar to the ingredients in regular Sparkling Ice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSparkling Ice Caffeine contains all of the same additive ingredients that we referenced in the previous section and recommend avoiding: potassium benzoate, sucralose, citric acid, natural flavors, and a vitamin blend.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe only real difference in this formulation is the addition of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003ecaffeine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSparkling Ice Caffeine contains 70 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, which we consider to be a safe dose for most consumers. It’s significantly less than the caffeine dose in one single cup of coffee (~ 95 mg). \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eConsumers with anxiety or high blood pressure may want to avoid caffeine, even at this dose, as it can cause negative effects to both health conditions in some patients.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOur overall take on this product is very similar to our take on Sparkling Ice. We don’t recommend it nor do we find it healthy. We would consider it a healthier alternative to some commercial caffeinated drinks, like a Starbucks latté with added sugar and caramel, but that doesn’t make it healthy overall in our opinion.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eSparkling Ice Spiked Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0047\/1524\/9737\/files\/Sparkling_Ice_Spiked_Ingredients.png?v=1661139488\" alt=\"Sparkling Ice Spiked ingredients\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUnlike the previous two products, Sparkling Ice does not appear to publish ingredients lists for their Sparkling Ice Spiked (alcoholic) products on their website. We urge the brand to publish ingredients lists on their product page, because this is important for consumer safety.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe got the above ingredients list from Instacart.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIronically perhaps, we would actually consider this to be a healthier formulation (if consumed in moderation) than the brand’s other products. It contains natural flavors, citric acid and sucralose but is free of preservatives and synthetic vitamin blends.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe do not recommend Sparkling Ice Spiked from a health perspective due to the additive ingredients.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eOur Healthy Beverage Recommendation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe recommend \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca rel=\"sponsored\" href=\"http:\/\/tracking.vitalproteins.com\/aff_c?offer_id=129\u0026amp;aff_id=16840\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eVital Proteins Collagen Water\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e as a healthy beverage for consumers who want something that tastes better than water but is free of questionable additives. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThese products are flavored with whole foods ingredients. As an example, Vital Proteins Blackberry Hibiscus Collagen Water is flavored with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eblackberry juice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003elemon juice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003ehibiscus extract\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eorange oil\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e. These are all nutritious botanical ingredients.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis drink also contains 10 grams (g) of protein in the form of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003ecollagen\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e. Not only will this protein dose provide energy without the crash of caffeine, but collagen at a dosage of 10 g is proven \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8824545\/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ein medical research\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e to have beneficial effects for skin. It reduces wrinkles and improves skin elasticity because it’s the core structural protein in skin.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe’re not suggesting that most consumers need a skin-boosting effect from their health drinks, but it’s a nice secondary benefit. We actually recommend collagen at exactly this dosage of 10 g in many of our skincare reviews because of this proven benefit.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eVital Proteins Collagen Water is free of any toxic or questionable additive ingredients. It has no preservatives, no artificial sweeteners, no vitamin blends and no citric acid.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eConclusion\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe do not believe that Sparkling Ice is good for you based on a review of the ingredients. We wouldn’t go as far as to say the product is necessarily bad for you, because it may be a healthier alternative to drinks like soda, but we certainly wouldn’t recommend any products sold by this brand.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSparkling Ice drinks contain many additive ingredients that we recommend avoiding from a health perspective, such as artificial sweeteners and preservatives.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe believe that Vital Proteins Collagen Water is a healthy drink alternative for consumers who want a healthy flavored beverage to consider, given that it’s composed of whole foods ingredients. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDrinking regular tap water would be a much better choice in terms of health than drinking Sparkling Ice in our opinion.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":49281925193,"author":"Calloway Cook","user_id":26601750601,"published_at":"2022-08-21T23:45:58-04:00","updated_at":"2022-10-23T02:30:49-04:00","summary_html":"We analyze the ingredients in popular drink brand Sparkling Ice, Sparkling Ice Caffeine and Sparkling Ice Spiked to determine whether the products are healthy or not. We compare them to popular drinks like soda, and share some additive ingredients in the products that we consider questionable.","template_suffix":"","handle":"is-sparkling-ice-good-for-you","tags":"_related:nutrition"}

Is Sparkling Ice Good For You? A Registered Dietitian Answers

Is Sparkling Ice Good For You? A Registered Dietitian Answers


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Read our Editorial Guidelines to learn more about what makes our site the premier resource for online health information.

Sparkling Ice is a popular zero-sugar beverage brand. The company sells a wide variety of fruit flavored drinks that are available both online and in many retail locations.

The brand positions itself as a healthier alternative to popular consumer beverages like soda, by highlighting the lack of sugar in their products and describing their offering as a “rainbow of colors” which is “sourced from nature.”

In this article we’ll analyze the ingredients in Sparkling Ice and Sparkling Ice Caffeine based on published medical studies to determine whether we believe these products are actually good for you or not.

Sparkling Ice Ingredient Review

Sparkling Ice ingredients

The above ingredient list is from Sparkling Ice Black Cherry, but all of the flavors contain very similar ingredients so our comments will hold for all flavors of this product.

We do consider it a good sign that the first ingredient is sparkling water, and that some of the flavoring comes from real fruit; in this case cherry juice concentrate. Sparkling Ice also uses fruit and vegetable juice as a natural colorant, which is a healthy choice and much superior from a nutritional standpoint to artificial food dye.

If this product only contained the above-listed ingredients, we would recommend it. However it contains a number of questionable additive ingredients that we recommend consumers avoid.

Sparkling Ice contains the preservative potassium benzoate, which has been shown in a clinical trial to be clastogenic (DNA-damaging), mutagenic (potential for genetic mutation) and cytotoxic (toxic to living cells) to human cells in a test tube study.

These results don’t necessarily mean that this ingredient is toxic to humans at the dose used as a preservative, but we certainly don’t consider this a healthy ingredient, and we recommend avoiding ingesting preservatives entirely.

Sparkling Ice also contains the artificial sweetener sucralose, which was found in a clinical trial published in the Nutrition Journal to cause insulin dysregulation in young, healthy adults. We consider this to be a concerning data point, given that young, healthy adults are arguably the best suited to process artificial sweeteners. We recommend avoiding artificial sweeteners altogether.

Citric acid is a preservative and flavor enhancer that we recommend avoiding. As we documented in our Smart Sweets reviews article, there is medical evidence suggesting that a small subset of patients experience whole-body inflammatory reactions to citric acid. We don’t consider this ingredient as unhealthy as the two previously listed, but we still recommend avoiding it as a safety precaution.

Sparkling Ice also contains natural flavors, which is a broad category term that could refer to any number of chemical compounds. Some will be safe and some may be harmful, but without knowing the specific flavoring agents used, we don’t know how consumers or researchers like us can assess safety. For this reason we recommend avoiding all products containing “natural flavors” described as such.

This drink also contains a blend of vitamins such as Vitamin A and Vitamin B3. As we’ve stated in many Illuminate Health reviews, we recommend avoiding products with random blends of vitamins because we’ve never come across any medical research suggesting that these blends improve human health. Since so many foods and beverages have these additives, we believe that some American consumers that eat a diet high in processed foods may be at risk of artificially elevated levels of certain vitamins due to this manufacturing practice.

Overall we do not consider Sparkling Ice to be healthy, given the significant number of additives that we would consider questionable. We would consider this product healthier than soda, because it’s so much lower in sugar, and because it contains no artificial dye. But that’s a low bar, and we believe that drinking regular water would be much healthier than drinking Sparkling Ice.

Sparkling Ice Caffeine Review

Sparkling Ice Caffeine ingredients

The ingredients in Sparkling Ice Caffeine are similar to the ingredients in regular Sparkling Ice.

Sparkling Ice Caffeine contains all of the same additive ingredients that we referenced in the previous section and recommend avoiding: potassium benzoate, sucralose, citric acid, natural flavors, and a vitamin blend.

The only real difference in this formulation is the addition of caffeine.

Sparkling Ice Caffeine contains 70 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, which we consider to be a safe dose for most consumers. It’s significantly less than the caffeine dose in one single cup of coffee (~ 95 mg). 

Consumers with anxiety or high blood pressure may want to avoid caffeine, even at this dose, as it can cause negative effects to both health conditions in some patients.

Our overall take on this product is very similar to our take on Sparkling Ice. We don’t recommend it nor do we find it healthy. We would consider it a healthier alternative to some commercial caffeinated drinks, like a Starbucks latté with added sugar and caramel, but that doesn’t make it healthy overall in our opinion.

Sparkling Ice Spiked Review

Sparkling Ice Spiked ingredients

Unlike the previous two products, Sparkling Ice does not appear to publish ingredients lists for their Sparkling Ice Spiked (alcoholic) products on their website. We urge the brand to publish ingredients lists on their product page, because this is important for consumer safety.

We got the above ingredients list from Instacart.

Ironically perhaps, we would actually consider this to be a healthier formulation (if consumed in moderation) than the brand’s other products. It contains natural flavors, citric acid and sucralose but is free of preservatives and synthetic vitamin blends.

We do not recommend Sparkling Ice Spiked from a health perspective due to the additive ingredients.

Our Healthy Beverage Recommendation

We recommend Vital Proteins Collagen Water as a healthy beverage for consumers who want something that tastes better than water but is free of questionable additives. 

These products are flavored with whole foods ingredients. As an example, Vital Proteins Blackberry Hibiscus Collagen Water is flavored with blackberry juice, lemon juice, hibiscus extract and orange oil. These are all nutritious botanical ingredients.

This drink also contains 10 grams (g) of protein in the form of collagen. Not only will this protein dose provide energy without the crash of caffeine, but collagen at a dosage of 10 g is proven in medical research to have beneficial effects for skin. It reduces wrinkles and improves skin elasticity because it’s the core structural protein in skin.

We’re not suggesting that most consumers need a skin-boosting effect from their health drinks, but it’s a nice secondary benefit. We actually recommend collagen at exactly this dosage of 10 g in many of our skincare reviews because of this proven benefit.

Vital Proteins Collagen Water is free of any toxic or questionable additive ingredients. It has no preservatives, no artificial sweeteners, no vitamin blends and no citric acid.

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Conclusion

We do not believe that Sparkling Ice is good for you based on a review of the ingredients. We wouldn’t go as far as to say the product is necessarily bad for you, because it may be a healthier alternative to drinks like soda, but we certainly wouldn’t recommend any products sold by this brand.

Sparkling Ice drinks contain many additive ingredients that we recommend avoiding from a health perspective, such as artificial sweeteners and preservatives.

We believe that Vital Proteins Collagen Water is a healthy drink alternative for consumers who want a healthy flavored beverage to consider, given that it’s composed of whole foods ingredients. 

Drinking regular tap water would be a much better choice in terms of health than drinking Sparkling Ice in our opinion.




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