Fitness influencer calls Logan Paul's Prime Hydration a 'profitable scam': 'I have to professionally disagree'

Prime Hydration drinks are so popular that they’re security-protected in some areas as fans continue to clear them off the shelves.

The brand — co-owned by YouTuber and professional wrestler Logan Paul and former rival KSI — has become incredibly successful, serving as the official drink sponsor of the United Fighting Commission (UFC) and the 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 the drinks Paul’s “most profitable scam yet.”

“If you want to sell a drink, fine. But the second you call it a ‘hydration drink’ – I have to professionally disagree,” Smith wrote on his YouTube video.

‘Not a hydration’ drink

One of Smith’s primary concerns about Prime 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 vigorous activity, Smith claims that the drink doesn’t do either.

“They don’t even understand hydration,” he said of the brand’s leading faces.

Smith started by breaking down how dehydration from physical activity works.

He explained that when you sweat, your body releases water as well as sodium (salt), which is an electrolyte. The body also releases other electrolytes like potassium, calcium and magnesium when sweating, he added, but in significantly smaller amounts than salt and water.

Because salt is the biggest electrolyte lost, it’s the most important one that needs replenishing, Smith claimed.

However, because Prime Hydration contains only 5 milligrams of sodium per serving, as Smith pointed out in the video with a picture of the bottle’s nutritional label, it’s not replenishing the most vital electrolyte that someone who sweated a lot would need.

He also compared Prime Hydration to Powerade, another leading sports drink, which offers significantly higher sodium and lower potassium levels, two things Smith claimed are “superior” for actual rehydration.

Another one of Prime’s selling points is that it contains much lower amounts of sugar than other drinks. For instance, in one TikTok, Paul claimed that Prime contains 2 grams of sugar, while Gatorade contains 17 times more sugar.

But Smith claimed that, yet again, the “science” proves that Prime is not superior because glucose delivers electrolytes to the bloodstream faster.

“When it comes to rapid rehydration, which would be your preference if you’re in a sporting environment, glucose would be a good thing,” Smith said in his video.

Those claiming to be athletes chimed in on Smith’s YouTube video supporting his claims that glucose can be helpful for performance.

“When I was a footballplayer my mates would start drinking all these sportsdrinks when they became popular- even those were rather expensive and taste like crap. I just kept making my own isotonic drink: 3 parts uncarbonated mineral Water, 1 Part Applejuice. On matchdays I‘d add a little honey,” noted @No1BRC on Smith’s YouTube video.

Along with the ingredients, Smith also criticized the price of Prime Hydration when it cost him $20 to purchase two drinks for his video.

Smith did concede that different activities will lead to varying levels of dehydration. For instance, someone playing rugby — a very high-energy sport — in the summer heat will become more dehydrated than someone playing pickleball in the shade.

He also noted that “bodybuilding exercises” like lifting weights will not induce the increased need for rehydration from electrolytes, but overall, he rated Prime low in comparison to other sports drinks, with Powerade getting his high marks for replacing salt and sugar-free Gatorade coming in close for those watching calories.

“So what is Prime good for?” Smith concluded in his video. “Not a lot.”

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