Last reviewed: October 2026. Figures are from current U.S. labels for the standard container of each: Gatorade and Gatorade Zero 20 oz, Powerade 28 oz (shown per 20 oz), Prime 16.9 oz, BodyArmor 16 oz, Liquid I.V. one stick in 16 oz.
A sports drink exists to do one thing: put back what sweat takes out, which is mostly water and sodium. Everything else on the bottle — potassium, “electrolytes,” vitamins, coconut water, BCAAs, the word “hydration” in 40-point type — is either a supporting player or a distraction from whether the bottle actually does that one thing. Half the drinks in this comparison don’t. This page puts six of them on one table, explains the single number that tells you which ones work, ranks them by what you might be avoiding, and gives a straight answer on which to buy depending on whether you’re sweating, sick, or sitting down.
Quick answer: which sports drink is best?
It depends on whether you’re actually sweating. For real rehydration after an hour-plus of hard exercise or illness, Liquid I.V. (500 mg sodium) is the only one of the six built like a rehydration solution, with Powerade (about 400 mg per 20 oz) a solid second and Gatorade and Gatorade Zero (270 mg) a workable third. Prime (10 mg sodium) and BodyArmor (25 mg) fail that test entirely — they’re potassium drinks with sports-drink labels. For a cleaner flavored drink on an ordinary day, BodyArmor Zero Sugar has the least to object to. For sugar, Gatorade (34 g) and Powerade (35 g per 20 oz) are the worst; for dyes, Gatorade and Powerade are the only two that still have them. Water covers most workouts under an hour, and nothing on this list beats it for that.
Jump to: The table · The one number · By sugar and sweetener · The extras · Pick by what you’re avoiding · Pick by situation · Verdict · FAQ
Six sports drinks, one table
| Per serving | Gatorade 20 oz | Gatorade Zero 20 oz | Powerade per 20 oz | Prime 16.9 oz | BodyArmor 16 oz | Liquid I.V. 1 stick / 16 oz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium | 270 mg | 270 mg | 400 mg | 10 mg | 25 mg | 500 mg |
| Potassium | 75 mg | 75 mg | 135 mg | 700 mg | 680 mg | 370 mg |
| Sodium : potassium | 3.6 : 1 | 3.6 : 1 | 3 : 1 | 1 : 70 | 1 : 27 | 1.4 : 1 |
| Calories | 140 | 10 | 135 | 15 | 120 | 45 |
| Sugar | 34 g | 0 g | 35 g | 0 g | 25 g | 11 g |
| Sweetener | Sugar + dextrose | Sucralose + Ace-K | HFCS | Sucralose + Ace-K | Cane sugar | Cane sugar + dextrose + stevia |
| Synthetic dye | Yes (phasing out) | Yes (phasing out) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Preservative | None | None | Calcium disodium EDTA | None | None | None |
| Caffeine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (Prime Energy: 200 mg) | 0 | 0 |
| Works for sweat? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes, best |
| Owner | PepsiCo | PepsiCo | Coca-Cola | Prime Hydration LLC | Coca-Cola | Unilever |
Powerade’s standard bottle is 28 oz; the figures above are scaled to 20 oz from its 12 oz label (240 mg sodium, 80 mg potassium, 21 g sugar per 12 oz) for a fair comparison with Gatorade. Prime is the current formula (no coconut water or BCAAs). Gatorade’s dye removal is in progress through 2026–2027; check the bottle.
The one number: sodium
Sweat is salt water. Per liter, you lose roughly 500 to 1,500 mg of sodium depending on how salty a sweater you are, and only about 150 mg of potassium. Sodium is also what tells the body to hold onto the water you drink — a plain-water refill after heavy sweat goes through you faster than a salted one. That’s why the original Gatorade was built on salt in 1965, why the WHO’s oral rehydration solution is built on salt, and why sodium is the first thing to read on a sports drink.
Read that row on the table and the six drinks sort themselves. Liquid I.V. at 500 mg is a rehydration solution. Powerade at about 400 mg and Gatorade and Gatorade Zero at 270 mg are real sports drinks — roughly a third to half of what a liter of sweat loses, which is reasonable for a 20 oz bottle. Powerade’s label leans on this: it prints its 240 mg per 12 oz against the “leading sports drink’s” 160. BodyArmor at 25 mg and Prime at 10 mg are not. Both get their “electrolyte” numbers from potassium, which sweat barely loses, and both have less sodium than a slice of bread. They’re flavored coconut-water drinks, and whatever else is good about them, they don’t do the job the category is named for. BodyArmor’s own Flash I.V. line, with 500 mg of sodium, is the brand acknowledging it.
By sugar and sweetener
Sugar in a sports drink is either fuel or empty calories depending on what you’re doing. During exercise over an hour, 30–60 g of carbohydrate per hour is the sports-nutrition guidance, and a sugared sports drink is a reasonable way to get it. At a desk, the same sugar is a soda’s worth.
- Gatorade and Powerade — 34–35 g per 20 oz. Soda-level. Useful during an endurance session; a 140-calorie sugar drink otherwise. Powerade uses corn syrup, Gatorade uses sugar and dextrose; nutritionally identical.
- BodyArmor — 25 g per 16 oz. A third less per ounce, cane sugar, and still a sugar drink.
- Liquid I.V. — 11 g. The sugar is functional: glucose drives the sodium-and-water absorption the product is built on. Three teaspoons, with a reason.
- Prime — 2 g, plus sucralose and Ace-K. Near-zero sugar by using two artificial sweeteners.
- Gatorade Zero — 0 g, sucralose and Ace-K. The electrolytes of Gatorade with the sugar replaced.
Avoiding sugar: Gatorade Zero or Prime, both with artificial sweeteners, or BodyArmor Zero Sugar (stevia) and Liquid I.V. Sugar-Free (allulose and stevia), which avoid both. Avoiding artificial sweeteners: Gatorade, Powerade, BodyArmor, and Liquid I.V. have none. Our sucralose and Ace-K breakdowns cover what the research says.
The extras, honestly graded
| Ingredient | In | What it does at this dose |
|---|---|---|
| Potassium (680–700 mg) | Prime, BodyArmor | A banana and a half. Fine, but not what sweat loses. The number that makes these look like electrolyte drinks. |
| Coconut water | BodyArmor (Prime’s older formula) | The potassium source and the “natural” claim. Worse than a salt solution for rehydration, by trial evidence. |
| Magnesium | Prime, BodyArmor | Small amounts; magnesium oxide (BodyArmor) is poorly absorbed. Lost in sweat only modestly. |
| B vitamins | Powerade, Prime, BodyArmor, Liquid I.V. | No hydration or energy effect unless deficient. Panel filler. |
| Vitamins A, C, E | BodyArmor, Prime (A, E) | “Antioxidants” on the label; no performance effect from a bottle. |
| BCAAs (250 mg) | Prime (older formula only) | About 1% of an effective dose. Marketing. |
| Zinc | BodyArmor | Not meaningfully lost in sweat. Panel filler. |
| Glycerol ester of rosin, SAIB, gum arabic | Gatorade, Gatorade Zero, Powerade | Weighting agents and emulsifiers that keep flavor oils mixed. Unusual names, low concern. |
| Synthetic dyes | Gatorade, Gatorade Zero, Powerade | Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1 by flavor. EU child-behavior warning; FDA phase-out; PepsiCo removing by 2027. |
Pick by what you’re avoiding
- Avoiding sugar: Gatorade Zero (0 g, artificial sweeteners), Prime (2 g, artificial sweeteners), BodyArmor Zero Sugar (0 g, stevia), or Liquid I.V. Sugar-Free (0 g, allulose and stevia).
- Avoiding artificial sweeteners: Gatorade, Powerade, BodyArmor, Liquid I.V. — none have them. Prime and Gatorade Zero do.
- Avoiding dyes: Prime, BodyArmor, Liquid I.V. Gatorade and Powerade still have them (Gatorade’s core flavors are switching through 2026). See synthetic food dyes.
- Avoiding sodium (restricted diet): Prime and BodyArmor — the low sodium is a feature here, and the only context in which it is.
- Avoiding a drink that doesn’t work: Liquid I.V., Gatorade, Gatorade Zero, Powerade. Not Prime, not BodyArmor Original/Lyte/Zero.
- Avoiding preservatives: everything except Powerade (EDTA, a chelator rather than a true preservative).
- Avoiding caffeine: all six are caffeine-free. Prime Energy, a separate product in a similar bottle, has 200 mg — the single most common mix-up in this category.
Pick by situation
- Workout under an hour: water. None of these drinks improves on it, and the ACSM guidance agrees.
- Hard exercise over an hour, especially in heat: Gatorade if you want fuel with your sodium, Gatorade Zero or Liquid I.V. Sugar-Free if you don’t, Liquid I.V. original if you’re sweating heavily and want the most sodium per serving.
- Sick (vomiting, diarrhea): Liquid I.V. — it’s an oral rehydration solution. Pedialyte is the same thing formulated for kids.
- Hangover: Liquid I.V. for the dehydration; nothing fixes the rest.
- Kids at practice: water, per the AAP. If a flavored drink is happening anyway, BodyArmor Zero (no sugar, no dyes, no artificial sweeteners) is the least objectionable; Gatorade Zero if they’re genuinely sweating hard and need the sodium.
- Keto, first weeks: Gatorade Zero or Liquid I.V. Sugar-Free — sodium loss is common early on and these replace it without carbs.
- A flavored drink at your desk: BodyArmor Zero Sugar or plain sparkling water. Not Gatorade, not Liquid I.V. — you’re adding sugar or sodium you didn’t lose.
Which sports drink should you buy?
FittBeat verdict
Read the sodium line first. Half of these drinks fail it. Liquid I.V. is the one built like a rehydration solution and the right pick for heavy sweat or illness; Gatorade and Gatorade Zero are the workable mainstream options, with the sugar and dye costs that come with them. Prime and BodyArmor have the cleanest-looking labels and the least sodium on the shelf — fine as flavored drinks, useless for what they’re sold as. For most people and most workouts, the honest answer is water, and the second honest answer is that a sports drink is a tool for a specific situation, not a beverage.
Frequently asked questions
Which sports drink has the most electrolytes?
Depends which electrolyte. Prime and BodyArmor have the most potassium (680–700 mg); Liquid I.V. has the most sodium (500 mg). Sodium is what sweat loses, so Liquid I.V. has the most of the electrolyte that matters.
Which sports drink is healthiest?
For a clean label on an ordinary day, BodyArmor Zero Sugar (no sugar, no dyes, no artificial sweeteners). For actually rehydrating after sweat, Liquid I.V. or Gatorade Zero. No sports drink is healthier than water for a workout under an hour.
Is Prime a good sports drink?
No. It has 10 mg of sodium, the lowest of any major hydration drink, and gets its electrolyte count from potassium, which sweat barely loses. It’s a low-sugar flavored drink with artificial sweeteners, not a rehydration drink.
Is BodyArmor better than Gatorade?
Cleaner label (no dyes, no artificial sweeteners, less sugar per ounce) but 25 mg of sodium to Gatorade’s 270. For sweat, Gatorade works and BodyArmor doesn’t. For a casual drink, BodyArmor is the cleaner choice.
Is Liquid I.V. better than Gatorade?
For rehydration, yes: nearly double the sodium, a third of the sugar, no dyes. For fueling a long workout, Gatorade’s higher sugar is useful.
Which sports drinks have no artificial sweeteners?
Gatorade, Powerade, BodyArmor (Original uses cane sugar; Zero uses stevia), and Liquid I.V. Prime and Gatorade Zero use sucralose and Ace-K.
Which sports drinks have no dyes?
Prime, BodyArmor, and Liquid I.V. Gatorade and Powerade use synthetic dyes; Gatorade is removing them from core flavors through 2026–2027.
Do kids need sports drinks?
Not for ordinary activity, per the American Academy of Pediatrics — water is the recommendation. For a long tournament in heat, a sodium-containing drink (Gatorade Zero, Liquid I.V.) makes sense; Prime and BodyArmor don’t help with sweat either way.
Sources
- Product labels for Gatorade Thirst Quencher 20 oz, Gatorade Zero 20 oz, Powerade 28 oz, Prime Hydration 16.9 oz, BodyArmor 16 oz, and Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier 16 g stick, photographed October 2026. Per-ingredient sources are on each product’s own page.
- Sawka MN, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand: exercise and fluid replacement. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007. doi:10.1249/mss.0b013e318031c8e7
- Baker LB. Sweating rate and sweat sodium concentration in athletes: a review of methodology and intra/interindividual variability. Sports Medicine, 2017. doi:10.1007/s40279-017-0691-5
- Maughan RJ, et al. A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.114769
- World Health Organization / UNICEF. Oral rehydration salts: production of the new ORS. WHO, 2006. who.int
- Schneider MB, Benjamin HJ, AAP Committee on Nutrition. Sports drinks and energy drinks for children and adolescents: are they appropriate? Pediatrics, 2011. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-0965
- Kalman DS, et al. Comparison of coconut water and a carbohydrate-electrolyte sport drink on measures of hydration and physical performance. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2012. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-9-1
- HHS and FDA. HHS, FDA to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes in nation’s food supply. April 22, 2025. fda.gov
This article is for informational purposes and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian about your individual nutrition needs.
