Transcript
I just found out that I don’t understand how CARBONATED DRINKS WOrk!
Sure there’s lots of health stuff we could talk about, but I mean the MOUTH FEEL. You know how when you take a big sip of a very fizzy drink, it feels almost like the bubbles are burning a bit in your mouth? DRINK Turns out, it’s NOT THE BUBBLES! Researchers proved this by having people drink carbonated water in a high pressure chamber where bubbles couldn’t form- the CO2 just remained fully in the liquid, but they still felt the burning.
Welcome to the first installment of “research papers that changed how I view the world”
So what’s happening?
It’s the ACID!
We’ve got an enzyme called Carbonic anhydrase that quickly converts some of the CO2 into carbonic acid, which then produces the burning feeling. When researchers put a chemical on the tongue that inhibited the enzyme, participants reported less burning.
Mind blown.
Researchers first