Best Sports Drinks For Hydration Tested & Compared

The speed at which the body absorbs the electrolytes and nutrients contained in a drink plays a decisive role in the quality of the product. We selected the ease (or difficulty) of the body to digest the supplements as an important criterion during our investigation because it can determine the effectiveness of the product.

We also verified that the products do not provoke any digestive side effects (based on existing customer reviews). Consuming a product that is complex to the digest will put you off the activity you’re practicing, and can even involve a variety of side effects. In order to list the best drinks, we looked for products composed by easy-digestion compounds as well as those products that are quickly absorbed by the body. The absorption speed is also an important factor, seeing as some athletes rely on these drinks for instant energy and hydration during a workout session.

Many athletes use specialty drinks while exercising, not only after finishing. For those athletes, we took into consideration the convenience of a product for consumption. Basically, it comes down to the facility of a consumer to access their product in a simple and quick way. For this, we looked for products which can be carried anywhere and anytime such as pouches, bottles, envelops, etc.

For powdered products, we made sure to look for those drinks that can be quickly served and mixed without much struggle. Those products that require strict instructions in order to serve properly are inconvenient, such as powders that require the mandatory use of a blender or a special shaking glass, as well as powders that can only be mixed with milk.

In this parameter, we gave the upper hand to those products that can be mixed with water and other easily accessible liquids instead of specific drinks, as well as the facility of the powder to dissolve without the use of a blender or a shaking cup.

For powdered products, we took into consideration the dissolving properties as a secondary parameter during our research. While some audiences might be new to this term, some other audiences will know what we’re talking about. The dissolving properties of powdered supplements come down to the facility (or difficulty) of the powder to dissolve in water, milk, or any other liquid of the consumer’s choice.

One would normally think that no matter how bad the product is, it will dissolve if you put enough effort into it. Well, it won’t.

For those consumers who take powdered supplements as an on-the-go solution have no access to a blender, and the dissolving properties are often proportional to the quality of the product. A high-quality powder should easily dissolve in water or milk; while a low-quality powder product will be hard to dissolve and will usually gather up in lumps that won’t go away. This not only makes the drink difficult to dissolve and consume but like we previously said, it also determines the quality of the product.

During our research for the best drinks, we made sure to select those products which feature a larger list of supplements, as well as other important compounds that should be part of every drink. These supplements play a major role in hydration drinks. Not only do they provide proper hydration, but they also compensate for the loss of other salts and compounds that are expelled from the body through sweat. We also looked for those hydration drinks that restore the greater amount of electrolytes and vitamins.

The electrolyte restoration is very important for athletes, and active people. Loss of electrolytes or electrolyte imbalances are often caused as a response from the body after strenuous athletic activity. Within the targeted supplements, we made sure to look for those drinks that are rich enough in electrolytes, so you are able to reach the goals that you are trying to achieve. What some people may not know is that everyone who has an active lifestyle will benefit from replenishing the nutrients you lose throughout the day. Most drinks don’t contain all the necessary nutrients like these do, with some of the most common being sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, hydrogen phosphate, and hydrogen carbonate.

As a runner and human being, your body is important and so is what you put in it. The bottom line is that what you put in is what you'll get out, and hydration drinks are no exception. If you're putting drinks with low-quality, impure ingredients into your body you're not going to perform at your best, period. Because this is so important we looked at the ingredient lists for each product and rated them according to the purity of their ingredients.

Some hydration drinks out there on the market today are little more than water, salt, and tons of sugar. We stayed away from those while making our list. Instead, we chose only products that are able to give you the hydration you need without an unnecessary amount of sugar or harsh chemicals.

In order to find the best quality at the best price, we looked through different price ranges and reviewed each product to make sure the price meets the quality. While a higher price tag certainly doesn’t assure you higher quality, we looked for those products that cover enough features for the marked price. In order for an expensive product to be listed, it must meet high standards of quality. This way we make sure that the price is proportional to quality.

We also took into consideration the number of servings and the net content each product offers, and the relation between the price and the amount of product. For powdered products, we looked for products that offered the greater amount of product at the best price.