Are Unwell Hydration Drinks Healthy? A Dietitian’s Review

Have you seen the new Unwell Hydration Electrolyte Drinks at Target? Or maybe you’ve seen them promoted on social media. You may be wondering: are Unwell drinks actually good for you? 

As a registered dietitian, I’m always curious about new products on the market. In this blog post, I’m going to break down what’s in these drinks, the health claims they make, and give you my unbiased review on Unwell Hydration electrolyte drinks.  

What are Unwell Hydration Drinks? 

Unwell Hydration are electrolyte drinks. They were created by Alex Cooper, who is an American podcaster and co-creator of the popular podcast Call Her Daddy. 

These electrolyte drinks are currently available in three flavors: strawberry, orange hibiscus, and mango citrus. They’re exclusively sold at Target, Sprouts, and Wegmans currently. At my local Target, one bottle of Unwell Hydration retails for $2.49.  

Unwell Hydration boasts that it hydrates, helps you focus, avoids all the BS and actually tastes good. Additionally, it claims Unwell Hydration can do this because it contains 700mg+ electrolytes, 75mg natural green coffee extract, a custom B vitamin blend, and flavors + colors from natural sources. 

Sounds good, right? Let’s take a closer look at what’s inside Unwell Hydration electrolyte drinks.

What’s in Unwell Hydration? 

Unwell Hydration electrolyte drinks come in 3 different flavors, however, all of the flavors contain essentially the same ingredients and nutrition facts.

In each 500ml bottle of Unwell Hydration, you’ll get: 

• 25 calories
• 5 grams of total carbohydrate
• 4 grams of total sugar (these 4 grams of sugar are added sugars)
• 490 milligrams of sodium (21% of an adult’s daily value)
• 190 milligrams of potassium (4% of an adult’s daily value)
• 60 milligrams of magnesium (15% of an adult’s daily value)
• 0.25 milligrams of vitamin B1 or thiamin (20% of an adult’s daily value)
• 3.6 milligrams of vitamin B3 or niacin (20% of an adult’s daily value)
• 0.32 milligrams of vitamin B6 (20% of an adult’s daily value)

Let’s take a closer look at what’s inside these Unwell electrolyte drinks.

Electrolytes

Unwell Hydration boasts that it contains over 700mg of electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, and magnesium. When you add up the 490mg sodium, 190mg potassium, and 60mg magnesium, you do get 740mg of different electrolytes. 

Electrolytes are minerals in your body that help balance fluids inside and outside of your cells. Because of this function, we commonly talk about electrolytes in regards to hydration. Sodium, magnesium, and potassium are the three electrolytes found in Unwell Hydration drinks. Other common electrolytes include chloride, calcium, and phosphate. 

Electrolytes like sodium, along with glucose (aka sugar), help your body absorb water in your digestive tract and move it into your body’s cells more effectively. This sodium & glucose duo work together, which is why you typically see higher amounts of sugar in sports drinks and other hydration drinks. Potassium and magnesium assist in balancing and maintaining fluids in the body. 

Green Coffee Extract

Unwell Hydration boasts that it can help you focus and provides you with 75mg of green coffee extract. 

Green coffee is unroasted coffee beans. It does contain caffeine, although typically in lower doses than traditional coffee. This ingredient is likely partially responsible for the natural energy boost since caffeine can stimulate the central nervous system. Caffeine can increase focus and make us feel more awake and energized.

It’s not very clear how much caffeine is actually in one serving of Unwell Hydration. According to the website’s FAQs section, it states: “Unwell Hydration is gently caffeinated with 75mg of natural green coffee extract, which is less than a cup of coffee.” 

Since one cup of coffee has 95mg of caffeine on average, this seems to indicate that there’s 75mg of caffeine in one serving. However, 75mg of green coffee extract doesn’t equally translate to 75mg of caffeine. Green coffee extract is typically 3% caffeine – so Unwell Hydration may only contain around 2mg of caffeine…which is a negligible amount of caffeine and most comparable to decaf coffee. 

I did reach out to the company to try to clarify the amount of caffeine in each Unwell drink. I received a generic response back that simply regurgitated the info that was found on their website, including that Unwell contained 75mg of green coffee extract (less than a cup of coffee). 

Custom B Vitamin Blend

Inside each serving of Unwell Hydration, you’ll also get a custom blend of B vitamins. B vitamins are known for their ability to boost energy levels and to improve focus and mental clarity. 

B vitamins are involved in a lot of different functions in our bodies but they don’t necessarily boost energy levels or improve focus directly. They help to extract and convert carbs, protein, and fat from our food into usable energy. 

B vitamins are water-soluble vitamins and more isn’t necessarily better. If you’re deficient in any of these vitamins, a dietary supplement or drink like this could help. However, if you get adequate amounts of these vitamins through your diet or other dietary supplements, your body will just excrete the extra B vitamins out that it doesn’t need (aka it’s flushed out in your urine).

Flavors + Colors from Natural Sources

Unwell Hydration boasts that it does not use any artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, or sucralose. Natural flavors are used to flavor these drinks. According to FDA guidelines, the company is not required to disclose which natural flavors they use in their drinks. Vegetable juice concentrate and beta carotene are used to naturally color these drinks. 

To sweeten these drinks, Unwell uses traditional cane sugar and stevia leaf extract. Each drink contains 4 grams of added sugar, which is equivalent to one teaspoon of sugar. This is significantly less than traditional sports drinks (like Gatorade), which is great if you’re being mindful of your carbohydrate or calorie intake. 

But remember, if you really do need rapid hydration, sodium works together with glucose (aka sugar) to help your body absorb and use fluids effectively. That’s why many sports drinks have higher amounts of added sugar in them. 

Are Unwell Hydration Drinks Good For You?

Unwell Hydration drinks essentially contain some electrolytes, caffeine, and B vitamins. For most healthy adults, there’s probably little risk to drinking Unwell Hydrations electrolyte drinks in moderation. 

A question that begs to be asked though: do you need Unwell Hydration drinks? For the average healthy adult who eats a balanced diet and drinks fluids, probably not. 

Are Unwell Hydration Drinks Bad For You?

For the average healthy adult, I don’t think these drinks are bad for you. Do I think they’re necessary? Probably not for most people. 

Electrolyte Content of Unwell Hydration

These types of hydration beverages contain a very high amount of sodium, which isn’t a mineral that the typical American diet lacks. 

In fact, most Americans consume 3400mg of sodium per day on average. This is almost 50% more sodium per day than the recommended 2300mg of sodium limit set forth by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Regularly consuming a drink that has almost 500mg of sodium in it can cause you to quickly exceed the recommended amount of sodium. Too much sodium has been associated with high blood pressure and heart disease. It may also worsen certain health conditions, such as kidney disease or congestive heart failure.  

The other two electrolytes in Unwell drinks are magnesium and potassium. These are easy nutrients to make up for in your diet if you’d prefer to take that route. Almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, black beans, avocado, spinach, and dark chocolate are all good sources of magnesium. While avocado, sweet potato, oranges, bananas, spinach, and beans are all good sources of potassium.

Caffeine Content of Unwell Hydration

Additionally, if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you may want to exercise caution with this drink since it’s not really clear how much caffeine is actually in here – is it 75mg of green coffee extract? Or is it 75mg of caffeine? Because the two are not the same. 

I did reach out to the company to clarify the amount of caffeine in these drinks. I was really disappointed to receive what seemed like an automated response that regurgitates the info on their website. The company responded: “Each bottle contains a good source of two electrolytes and three B-complex vitamins to kick start your hydration, paired with a gentle dose of green coffee extract; 75mg of natural green coffee extract, (less than a cup of coffee) for focus when you need it most.”

Who Should Drink Electrolyte Drinks? 

Drinking electrolytes can be ideal for certain people or circumstances, such as those who are experiencing excessive sweating or an illness that includes the loss of bodily fluids such as vomiting or diarrhea. Athletes who engage in intense physical activity or exercise can also benefit since sweat can cause sodium losses.

Additionally, following certain diet plans may warrant someone needing more electrolytes. Low carb diets, for example, lower insulin levels which cause increased sodium losses.

If you follow a relatively balanced diet and you’ve had an occasional chaotic day where you’ve slacked on your water intake, an electrolyte drink may be a good option for you. Unwell Hydration drinks can help to hydrate you faster than plain water. However, if you find yourself in this situation regularly, you may need to work on a new plan to stay hydrated more regularly.  

How Does Unwell Hydration Compare to Other Electrolyte Drinks? 

When it comes to electrolyte drinks, the nutritional content of them varies greatly. Check out the chart below to see how Unwell compares to some other popular brands such as LMNT, Liquid IV, Buoy Hydration, Just Ingredients, Instant Hydration and Gatorade.

Most of these options, with the exception of Liquid IV and Gatorade, have less than 10 grams of carbs and sugar per serving. They have varying amounts of sodium, magnesium, and potassium. 

How Much Does Unwell Hydration Cost?

Unwell Hydration is sold in 500ml single serving bottles at Target, Wegmans, and Sprouts. At my local Target, the cost is $2.49 per bottle. 

The Bottom Line

Unwell Hydration electrolyte drinks are a new product created by American podcaster Alex Cooper. These drinks are available in 3 different flavors. 

The drink claims to rapidly hydrate you and boost your focus. The main ingredients are a combination of electrolytes, B vitamins, and green coffee extract, which can support these health claims. 

For the average healthy adult, Unwell Hydration drinks provide little risk when consumed in moderation or occasionally. Are they a healthy drink to be consuming multiple times per day? Again, for the average healthy adult, probably not. These drinks are high in sodium, a mineral that the average American regularly consumes in excess of the recommended limit.

As for the other nutrients in Unwell Hydration, these can easily be met by consuming a balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. 

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