Why, Exactly, Does Prime Use Coconut Water In Its Drinks?

Influencer food and drink brands are nothing new at this point. From MrBeast's Feastables to that oddly crunchy 1UP Candy by FaZe Rug to Be Happy Popcorn by the D'Amelio family, social media personalities seem to represent a significant portion of the food and drink space. (Even sports stars are in on the action – the Kelce brothers' cereal is definitely worth trying.) One of the most hyped examples from recent years, Prime, an energy and sports drink brand founded by Logan Paul and KSI, made more than $250 million after its 2022 release. However, after various controversies (and a lawsuit) surrounding the amount of caffeine in Prime energy drinks that were being marketed at children and teens, sales fell dramatically.

While the energy drinks garnered most of the criticism, Prime also features a hydration line, which is caffeine-free and is marketed as a sports drink to promote (you guessed it) hydration. These Prime drinks contain filtered water and a cocktail of vitamins, antioxidants, and electrolytes like potassium, magnesium, and sodium, which help balance hydration levels. On top of this, the drinks also contain coconut water.

While this addition does work as a flavoring agent, Prime Hydration features coconut water to provide a supposed electrolyte boost. Coconut water is high in minerals, making it naturally more hydrating than water-rich fruits like watermelon. In other words, it seems like the perfect ingredient to add to a hydrating sports drink.

Prime is far from the first sports and energy drinks brand to cash in on the purported hydrating and electrolyte-boosting effects of coconut water, but does adding coconut water to Prime make it an effective drink? A 500-milliliter bottle of Prime contains around 50 milliliters of coconut water. In turn, this contains 120 micrograms of potassium and 51 micrograms of sodium, both of which aid hydration. However, given that the safe range of sodium you can consume in a day is, according to the Food and Drug Administration, around 2,300 micrograms, and that sodium is more important for hydration than potassium, the coconut water in Prime offers a fairly negligible amount.

With this knowledge to hand, including coconut water in Prime seems like a trend-based decision rather than a health-based one. This seems doubly true when you consider that the drinks also contain large quantities of supplementary electrolytes, B vitamins, and amino acids from other sources. Compared to these, the small amount of coconut water is unlikely to contribute much beyond a subtle sweet flavor and a slight calorie boost. It is, however, a great ingredient to use for marketing purposes; many people perceive coconut water as being a hydrating and healthy ingredient.

So, does this mean Prime Hydration is a healthy way to top up your electrolytes after working up a sweat? While chugging a sports drink like Prime after a run will certainly hydrate you, it's not always necessary. In fact, you may end up getting more than the recommended amount of certain minerals and vitamins. For example, a 500-milliliter bottle of Prime Hydration Blue Raspberry contains more than double the recommended daily intake of vitamin B6.