Whether you’ve heard about Prime from Logan Paul or are hearing about Logan Paul because of Prime, the two are undeniably linked. It is clear that Paul loves Prime Hydration, but it’s unclear whether it is safe for you to love it as much.
Prime Hydration is a good alternative if you want to avoid sugary electrolyte beverages. It contains BCAAs, antioxidants, and plenty of electrolytes. Still, the burden of movement and working out remains on you.
But that’s not where it ends. You should know whether Prime is the best electrolyte beverage you can get or if there’s something else that would be easier on your wallet, better for your health, and tastier for your pallet.
This article explores every aspect of Prime Hydration so you can conclude which flavor to get.
Prime Hydration: A Brief Overview
Prime hydration is collaboratively presented and jointly backed by YouTube personalities KSI and Logan Paul. It is a hydration drink meant to have the kind of mass appeal that aligns with both KSI’s and Pauls’s audience size. The larger an audience, the broader a product’s appeal must be for it to be the right product-market fit.
Where energy drinks might not be suitable for the younger fans of Logan Paul and KSI, juice would be too childish for adult fans. Hydration drink is quite a well-balanced product that can be consumed for its taste and effectiveness.
But given Logan Paul’s history, it is no wonder that one of his flagship products is the subject of controversy and debate. To unpack whether Prime Hydration is good for you, you must know what’s in it.
Prime Hydration Ingredients: What’s Inside?
Prime Hydration is like other hydration solutions to the extent that it has electrolytes. But everything else about this drink is unlike more electrolyte drinks.
Prime Hydration has a diverse range of ingredients, among which the following stand out:
Coconut Water
Coconut water makes up 10% of Prime Hydration’s contents. It is naturally high in Potassium, which helps water retention.
Coconut water is generally considered nature’s Gatorade, so it is a good start for the oral rehydration drink.
Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)
These essential amino acids help rebuild muscles. They are necessary building blocks of the body and are taken in the form of various supplements by professional athletes, gym-goers, and fitness-conscious people.
Highly Recommended Read:
Lately, BCAAs seem to be on every label as a selling point, but are they essential for the body? You’re in luck because we wrote an excellent resource demystifying BCAAs. When you’re done reading this article, check out our article on What Are BCAAs, & Are They Worth the Hype? (8-minute read).
Antioxidants
Known to reduce the carcinogenic effect of overoxidation, antioxidants have been hailed as life-extending miracle supplements. Their effects are often exaggerated, but they are good for the heart.
Electrolytes
These are what makes Prime Hydration an oral rehydration beverage. There are enough electrolytes in the drink to put Prime in competition with major players in the electrolyte market.
Ace-K (Sugar-free Sweetener)
Acesulfame potassium, also called Ace K (K for Potassium), is a sugar-free sweetener that doesn’t get destabilized by heat. It is controversial for being circumstantially linked to cancer.
Prime Hydration Pros (The Good)
It is clear from the ingredient list that Prime Hydration was formulated to be beneficial and not just tasty. In fact, it is unclear whether taste was a factor at all because the ingredients are pretty vague about “natural flavors.” Still, the taste is one of the good things about Prime Hydration.
Here’s a list of Prime Hydration pros:
Variety of (Really Good) Flavors
If there’s a case to be made in favor of mass appeal, then Prime Hydration’s taste makes a great one.
It is truly delicious, and its flavor variety and taste beat most electrolyte beverages.
Plenty of Electrolytes
Prime Hydration features 825 milligrams of electrolytes, including naturally present and added electrolytes. These act as sponges that soak up water, resulting in better body water retention.
More Electrolytes Than Gatorade
Prime exceeds the “Gatorade window”. The Gatorade window is an informal metric used to measure whether a drink has too many electrolytes for non-athletic people.
Given that Gatorade is one of the first electrolyte beverages on the market and is backed by PepsiCo, it has spent enough time on the market to be consumed by thousands of ‘average joes.’
Its 350 mg electrolyte content is considered a safe electrolyte dose for the average Joe. If that many electrolytes were to cause issues, we would have heard it by now.
Prime Hydration has more than double the electrolytes in Gatorade.
No Sugar
Where Gatorade has sugar, Prime doesn’t have any. This is, for the most part, a good thing as it cuts unnecessary calories.
Moreover, it makes Prime Hydration a healthier beverage choice than most drinks in any category. You could replace Coke, Pepsi, or juice with it and be better off.
Effortless Supplementation
Finally, Prime Hydration contains essential amino acids and antioxidants. Both can be found in different products and supplements, but Prime Hydration makes it effortless to get them in one place.
Prime Hydration Cons (The Bad)
No honest review of any product is complete without discussing its negatives. And Prime Hydration, while mostly good, has some undeniable drawbacks.
Ultimately, your search for the right hydration drink shouldn’t be one where you aim to find a beverage without drawbacks. Prime has flaws, but you have to decide whether its positives outweigh its negatives.
It Costs More Money
Prime Hydration is backed by two public figures who have joint stakes and aim to profit from the business as is their right. This means the drink has to command a reasonable price.
Prime Hydration is more expensive than most brand-name electrolyte drink mix products, but it is still cheaper than a bottle of Gatorade.
Electrolyte Overdose
Prime Hydration has more electrolytes than Gatorade and can easily affect a non-athletic consumer’s blood pressure.
Drinking more than one bottle of Prime Hydration is not advisable because it contains close to the maximum electrolytes allowed for an average adult’s daily consumption. Replacing water with prime hydration is dangerous.
Vague Contents
Finally, the conscious consumer revolution has made us more interested in knowing exactly what we put in our bodies. And the words “natural flavors” or “artificial flavors” seem to turn many consumers off because they hide the actual contents of a product.
Ace-K: The Unknown
Unfortunately, a significant portion of the Prime Hydration formula is unknown because of the presence of “natural flavors” in the ingredient list.
What these natural flavors are is unknown, undeclared, and mostly unregulated. This leaves room for positive and negative possibilities.
In the best-case scenario, Prime Hydration doesn’t disclose all its contents to avoid being copied.
In the worst of the possibilities, Prime actively hides the ingredients that it knows are harmful. The likelihood of the latter is low because of the legal liabilities of such malicious masking. But as long as there is vagueness in the formula, this cannot be ruled out entirely.
The second great unknown is the validity of the claims regarding Prime Hydration’s sweetener. Ace-K is linked to cancer even though there is not enough evidence to consider the claim a scientific fact. Still, the consequence is so severe that even the tiniest possibility that Ace-K might cause cancer can be scary.
But even if you believe Ace-K causes cancer if consumed in a certain quantity, you would need hundreds of bottles of Prime Hydration in a day to get as much Ace-K in your body.
Of the two unknown, the lack of clarity around Prime’s Natural Flavors is more concerning than the potential carcinogenic effects of Ace-K, which have been debunked time and time again,
Is Prime Hydration Drink Healthy?: General Consensus Among Reddit users
After spending an hour searching Reddit for good information from a health perspective, I didn’t find tangible health information. Most of the Reddit users spoke about their personal experiences with Prime Hydration. A portion of the users thought it was sweet, another portion preferred Gatorade, and a large segment enjoyed the drink.
Prime Hydration: Flavors and Variations
Prime Hydration comes in 6 flavors, most of which are fruity. Ice Pop being the standout, is usually more thoroughly sought-after and often more expensive. Based on lineup flavors, it’s apparent which demographic prime hydration is targeting.
The Prime Hydration flavors are:
- Lemon Lime – This tastes like lemonade with a slight texture.
- Orange – Mostly citric, the flavor profile of this Prime Hydration drink is reminiscent of a more concentrated Gatorade.
- Tropical – This beverage tastes like a slightly diluted cocktail of fruit juice with more pronounced citrus flavors.
- Grape – The flavor profile of this Prime Hydration drink is more sugary and less sour. It tastes like ripe grape pulp.
- Blue Raspberry – Blue Raspberry flavor tastes more like blackcurrant. It smells like raspberries, though, and has a red berry aftertaste.
- Ice Pop – Ice Pop tastes like liquid ice cream and is so unbelievably delicious that one questions how such a tasty drink can actually be healthy.
Prime Hydration vs. Other Popular Hydration Drinks
There are a lot of hydration drinks on the market these days. So, how do you know which one is right for you? Do you go for the popular choice or one specifically designed for athletes?
In this section, we’ll compare Prime Hydration to some of the other popular hydration drinks out there (to help you decide which one is right for you).
Prime Hydration vs. Propel Water
Prime Hydration has more electrolytes than Propel Water, while Propel water has fewer calories and carries little risk of contributing to an electrolyte overdose.
Propel Water is better for everyday use, whereas Prime Hydration is for periods of prolonged athletic ability.
| Prime Hydration | Propel Water | |
| Calories | 20 | 10 |
| Total Electrolyte Weight | 825 mg | 200 mg |
| Average Price | $1.99/bottle | $0.53/bottle |
| Best Aspect | Has antioxidants, and BCAAs | Has Vitamin C |
| Worst Aspect | Can cause an electrolyte overdose | Doesn’t have more flavors |
Prime Hydration vs. BioSteel Hydration
BioSteel Hydration is one of the most fitness-conscious electrolytes mixes on the market.
It has several benefits, but the key point of contrast between BioSteel and Prime is the drinks’ respective sweeteners. Where Prime Hydration uses Ace-K, BioSteel Hydration is sweetened with Stevia.
As far as government regulatory bodies are concerned, Ace-K isn’t unhealthy enough to ban. No country has banned it, and studies to prove its carcinogenic effects in humans continue to fail. However, the possibility that it contributes to cancer cannot be entirely ruled out.
In contrast, Stevia has a squeaky-clean reputation. It is the least processed modern sweetener and is practically calorie-free.
If Prime’s sweetener controversy makes it a dealbreaker for you, then BioSteel is a decent alternative. It also features just the right electrolyte content for an active lifestyle.
Prime contains 4X the electrolytes of BioSteel and every other electrolyte beverage. That isn’t necessarily a good thing.
| Prime Hydration | BioSteel Hydration | |
| Calories | 20 | 5 |
| Total Electrolyte Weight | 825 mg | +/- 200 mg |
| Average Price | $1.99/bottle | $1.25/serving |
| Best Aspect | Has antioxidants and BCAAs | It is sweetened with Stevia, which is safer than Ace-K. Has amino acids. |
| Worst Aspect | Can cause an electrolyte overdose | It is not as widely available as a ready-to-drink product. |
Prime Hydration vs. Gatorade
Prime Hydration and Gatorade often get compared because Prime was initially simplified as “Logan Paul’s Gatorade.” However, the electrolyte content of Prime Hydration is closer to Gatorade Endurance, which is meant for prolonged athletic activity.
Overdosing on electrolytes when you don’t need them is not a good idea because an excess of electrolytes can affect your blood pressure.
| Prime Hydration | Gatorade | |
| Calories | 20 | 80 |
| Total Electrolyte Weight | 825 mg | 350 mg |
| Average Price | $1.99/bottle | $1.5 – $2.15 |
| Best Aspect | Has antioxidants and BCAAs | Is easily available |
| Worst Aspect | Can cause an electrolyte overdose | Contains sugar |
As you can see, Prime Hydration has more electrolytes and fewer calories, making it the better beverage for endurance athletes, while Gatorade remains a more balanced beverage for the average active person.
Remember, consuming Prime Hydration without drinking enough water or engaging in aerobic activity can lead to drowsiness, nausea, bloating, and muscle cramps, all of which are signs of an electrolyte overdose.
FAQ
Prime has zero added caffeine, an electrolyte-packed beverage that supplements hydration and delivers BCAAs and antioxidants to the body. It doesn’t have sugar, so it cannot replace coffee.
Prime Hydration is not an energy drink. Instead, it is a hydration drink that helps athletes replenish after prolonged physical activity. While it shouldn’t be used as a pre-workout supplement, it can be used to beat lethargy caused by dehydration.
Prime Hydration has plenty of electrolytes, and having more electrolytes than one needs can produce specific side effects. These effects include bloating, muscle cramps, and irregular blood pressure. To avoid such side effects, you must drink plenty of water after consuming Prime.
