I have my own diy carbonation system. I love carbonated water, and it is absolutely amazing mixing it with juice or simple syrup, or just carbonating whatever liquid I feel like, like pasta sauce.
I was trying to reduce the amount of Coke I was drinking. I discovered it was the fizz I liked, not the syrup. Now I have a sodastream machine I use to make fizzy water.
It mimics soda in that it triggers the same release as I get from chugging soda. It's a particular "refreshing" feeling that makes my eyes water. I suspect for soda it was the sugar addiction that gave me the release, but because both are carbonated it tricks my brain. Or maybe it's the carbonation alone that triggers it.
100%. I especially get a craving for coke after having carbs or fried foods. I recently tried Topo and have fallen in love with it since it fills that craving. But make no mistake, other sparkling waters to me taste like shit. Topo just hits different.
My wife hates it, but I have always enjoyed it. It also works excellent to breakup thick mucous when you have had radiation to the neck area. Your thin mucous from salivary glands stop producing, while the thicker saliva keeps being formed. Regular water does hardly anything, the sparkling water breaks it up.
CO2 molecules are heavier and denser than water, and in a closed container, it isn't in gaseous form. So sparkling water is heavier than normal water of the same volume.