Do Carbonated Drinks Make You Pee More: See The Science Behind

Did you know that there is an important relationship between carbonated drinks and peeing? In this blog post, we will explore the question of whether or not carbonated drinks make you have to pee more often. 

Many people believe that drinking a lot of CO2-filled soda water makes them urinate more frequently than usual.

But what is going on in your body when this is happening? And why does it happen at all? To find out, let’s take a look at the science behind fizzy beverages!

You see, when soda is carbonated, that means that it is filled with carbon dioxide gas under pressure.  This gas gets put into the liquid during production.  When you open a closed bottle of soda and release the pressure, most of the CO2 escapes from the liquid in a process known as “outgassing”.

If you could look inside of a bottle of fizzy soda, what would it look like?

The unopened bottle has the same number of gas molecules as liquid molecules.

When you open and release the pressure, however, the CO2 escapes from the liquid and leaves behind an empty space.

The bubbles that we see in carbonated drinks are actually pockets of gas.  Since most sodas have a specific amount of CO2 under pressure, the bubbles always take up the same volume.

The faster you open the bottle or can containing the soda, the more CO2 escapes at once. This causes larger bubbles to form with less liquid inside them. The smaller bubbles disappear quickly while the larger ones stick around for a while.

Now that you know what’s going on with your fizzy drink, let’s go back to the original question!

Does drinking soda make you pee more?

The short answer is yes.  Drinking any liquid will make you need to pee at some point because liquids empty from your body quickly compared to solid foods.

The rate at which they leave your body depends on how quickly they are absorbed by your gut or processed by your kidneys.

Carbonated drinks, however, have an extra effect on the amount of liquid in your bladder. When you drink fizzy soda, the carbon dioxide bubbles in the drink instantly add volume to the liquid in your bladder.  This can make you need to go even when there is still plenty of soda left in the bottle.

In addition, since most of the CO2 from a can or bottle of soda escapes as soon as you open it, the bubbles that stick around are smaller and less numerous.  As a result, they don’t last as long so carbonated drinks also cause more frequent bathroom visits compared to non-carbonated beverages.

So next time you’re thirsty, think about whether you want something fizzy or non-fizzy to drink.  If you want your thirst quenched quickly and frequently, choose water.

Thanks so much for reading this blog post on the science behind drinking carbonated beverages.