Prime Hydration Drink
I received many messages from you guys regarding my recent story on PRIME hydration drink and as expected, all the responses were negative. I must admit that to calm down my son’s curiosity, I bought one bottle and had all my children try a sip. Funny enough and to my happy surprise they absolutely hated the taste (and so did I). It tasted no more than a bunch of chemicals put together in a bottle. The taste was completely artificial and not pleasant at all. We poured all the bottle’s content in the sink and kept the bottle as a souvenir. LOL
Anyway, to get to the point, below are some of the reasons I vote against this drink, especially when it comes to my kids drinking it:
1. First of all, let me tell you that children do not need any kind of hydration drinks if they are healthy and drink enough water. If for some reason you want to provide them with extra hydration then choose organic coconut water that is a good source of several nutrients, with lots of antioxidant properties and is obviously natural or cucumber juice.
2. Dipotassium Phosphate is one of the main additives found in Prime hydration drink. It is a man-made chemical substance used as emulsifier, flavour enhancer and a preservative added to prolong the product’s shelf life. It is found in highly processed foods, had no health benefit whatsoever and can be harmful to your health. Side effects associated with prolonged use of it may include headaches, constipation, arterial stiffening, confusion, nausea, dizziness and digestive disturbances such as stomach discomfort, constipation and diarrhea. Over-consumption may lead to kidney problems as well. The bottom line is, if your product contains Dipotassium Phosphate in its ingredients’ list, then it should be a warning sign that the food is heavily processed and may be harmful to your health.
3. Natural Flavours is another ingredient found in Prime drinks. The term “natural flavours” is an attractive term used by manufacturers to make their consumers believe that the product is “natural”. However, when it comes to food industry, unfortunately the term “natural” doesn’t mean that the product is ALL natural. It only means that the original flavouring source of the product comes from a plant or animal material, yet the process of making the flavour may include solvents or other chemical agents, making the ‘natural flavour’ extremely far removed from its initial source. Unfortunately, the only difference between natural and artificial flavours is their source – chemically, they’re probably the same thing.
4. Sucralose (or Splenda) is used to replace the sugar and make the product more attractive as it contains no calories. Sucralose is an artificial sweetener derived from sugar that it contains chlorine (wait what?). During the manufacturing process, three hydrogen-oxygen groups from white table sugar are replaced with chlorine atoms on every sucrose molecule( chlorine is added so the body doesn't recognize sucrose as sugar, and so the molecules aren't broken down). Consuming sucralose may change the composition of the gut microbiome which potentially may lead to chronic inflammation, inhibiting intestinal development and aggrevating HFD (high fat diet) induced hepatic steatosis (or non alcoholic fatty liver NAFL) in adulthood. Although it might not have a direct negative effect, which means you won’t feel it right after you ingest it, some of the long term side effects include : alteration of glucose and insulin levels, increase risk of digestive problems, alteration of gut health and damage of the GI tract, increase risk of developing certain cancers and weight gain risk.
5. Finally, Prime hydration drink contains one of the most dangerous artificial sweeteners called ACE- K; (Acesulfame Potassium E-950) a chemically produced sweetener with zero calories. Consumption of Ace- K also alters beneficial bacteria in the guts and change the composition of gut microbiome leading to chronic inflammation in the body (think about the combination of sucrose and Ace-K). It contains the methylene chloride, a known carcinogen (and we wonder why cancer is constantly increasing these days) and according to studies consumption of methylene chloride is linked to cancer, hormone disruptions, thyroid damage and changes in brain function. Side effects form long term exposure to methylene chloride include headaches, depression, mental confusion, nausea, liver effects, kidney effects, visual disturbances and cancer.
So, would you allow your kids to drink this drink? What do you think?