The Prime Hydration drink is so popular it’s protected in some areas as fans keep clearing it off the shelves.
The brand – co-owned by YouTuber and professional wrestler Logan Paul and former rival KSI – has become hugely successful, being the official beverage sponsor of the United Fighting Commission (UFC) and Arsenal Football Club.
Despite its popularity as a sports drink, fitness influencer and personal trainer James Smith (@jamessmithpt) spoke out against Prime Hydration in a YouTube video, calling Paul’s drink “a most profitable scam”.
“If you want to sell drinks, fine. But as soon as you call it a ‘hydration drink’ – I have to professionally disagree,” Smith wrote in his YouTube video.
‘Not hydration’ drinks
One of Smith’s main concerns about Ultimate Hydration is the claim that it is a “hydration” drink. Although the marketing targets athletes who are working out and need to “rehydrate” and “replenish” their electrolytes after strenuous activity, Smith claims the drink doesn’t either.
“They don’t even understand hydration,” she says of the brand’s leading faces.
Smith begins by describing how dehydration from physical activity works.
He explains that when you sweat, your body releases water as well as sodium (salt), which is an electrolyte. The body also releases other electrolytes such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium when you sweat, he adds, but in much smaller amounts than salt and water.
Since salt is the largest electrolyte lost, it’s the most important one that needs to be replenished, claims Smith.
However, because Prime Hydration contains only 5 milligrams of sodium per serving, as Smith points out in the video with a picture of the bottle’s nutrition label, it doesn’t replenish the most vital electrolyte someone who sweats a lot needs.
He also compared Prime Hydration to Powerade, another leading sports drink, which offers significantly higher levels of sodium and potassium, two things Smith claims “exceeds” for true rehydration.
Yes, Prime is so cool for kids that they are now refilling their empty bottles with Gatorade 😳 pic.twitter.com/8KVwtGof1o
— Darren Rovel (@darrenrovel) August 16, 2023
One of Prime’s other selling points is that it contains a much lower amount of sugar than other drinks. For example, on one TikTok, Paul claims that Prime has 2 grams of sugar, while Gatorade has 17 times more.
But Smith claims that, once again, “science” proves Prime isn’t superior because glucose delivers electrolytes to the bloodstream more quickly.
“In terms of quick rehydration, which is your preference if you’re in a sports environment, glucose is going to be a good thing,” Smith says in his video.
Those who claim to be athletes chimed in with Smith’s YouTube videos supporting his claims that glucose can aid performance.
“When I was a soccer player, my friends would start drinking all these sports drinks when they became popular – in fact they were kinda expensive and tasted like crap. I continue to make my own isotonic drink: 3 parts Non-carbonated Mineral Water, 1 Part Apple Juice. On game day I will add a little honey,” said @No1BRC on Smith’s YouTube video.
Along with the ingredients, Smith also criticized the price of Prime Hydration when he had to pay $20 to buy two drinks for his video.
Smith did admit that different activities will lead to different degrees of dehydration. For example, someone who plays rugby—a very high-energy sport—in the summer will be more dehydrated than someone who plays pickleball in the shade.
He also noted that “bodybuilding exercises” such as lifting weights would not lead to an increased need for rehydration of electrolytes, but overall, he rated Prime low compared to other sports drinks, with Powerade earning high marks to replace salt- and sugar-free Gatorade. approach those who watch calories.
“So what’s the use of Prime?” Smith concludes in his video. “Not many.”
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