Unwell Hydration Review 2025 – A Marathon Runner’s Honest Review of the Electrolyte Drink
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We should all know by now that doubting Alex Cooper and anything she does will leave us in the wrong. But when the record-breaking podcast host announced that her next venture was an electrolyte drink dubbed Unwell Hydration, I had my doubts. After all, there are so many electrolyte mixes already on the market that have hoards of followers (either the hungover or the ultra-athlete type). I wondered how, exactly hers could break through to consumers. Would it even come close in terms of ingredients to these powerhouses?
I admitted my doubts to Cooper during our December call before Unwell Hydration’s launch, and she didn’t fault me for it. “When I really sat down and thought about how this made sense was if you’re unwell, being unwell somehow someway is related to a lack of hydration,” she explained. “Whether you’re overworked, you have been exercising, you went out too late and you drank a little too much or you went out too late and you’re stressed and exhausted, everyone can use extra hydration and I feel like every single thing I’ve ever done with my brand has been authentic and in a way that speaks to your everyday life.”
She said the idea stemmed about a year ago while she was on tour across the country. “I was so exhausted, I was so dehydrated and every single thing on the market has too much sugar or it’s completely marketed to men,” Cooper lamented. “It feels like there’s nowhere that women fit into the conversation — per usual — so I really wanted to make a drink by women for everybody and I’m really really proud of it.”
Unwell Hydration
Yep, should’ve known not to doubt her or her always on-the-nose marketing. But let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. We have very strict ingredient standards here at Shape — a drink with a lot of sugars, suspect ingredients, or unnecessary additives won’t ever make the cut here. So I checked the labels and consulted with our resident nutritionist (and editorial director) Eliza Savage before I even sipped one of these bad boys.
The TLDR of the ingredients list is that every flavor (strawberry, mango citrus, orange hibiscus) has more than 700 mg of electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium) and less than 4g of sugar — more than sufficient for a quality hydration drink. Many competitors amp up the sugar to conceal the salty flavor of these beverages, but Unwell opts for cane sugar and stevia leaf extract which are nutritionist-approved sweeteners.
Comparing Competitors
- Gatorade has 21g of sugar and around 210 mg of electrolyte
- Body Armour has 20g of sugar and around 580 mg of electrolytes
- Electrolyte mix Skratch has 19g of sugar and around 400 mg of electrolytes per serving
- Liquid IV has 11g of sugar and around 930 mg of electrolytes.
- Shape editor-favorite LMNT has 0g of sugar and around 1,260 mg of electrolytes.
So who’s this new drink for? Athletes? Hungover college students? Tired full-time workers?
“It’s not just for a specific occasion,” Cooper says of the bevvy. “I feel like when you think of hydration drinks, it’s either for the extreme athlete or a hangover cure. This you can drink at work, at your workout, before a night out, mixed with a cocktail, or in the morning to start the whole routine all over again.”
Alrighty, then. I went forth and tested Unwell in each of those scenarios. Here’s what happened.
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PHOTO: Image: Unwell Hydration
This was by far my favorite of the three flavors. It has a subtle (but not flavorless) taste to it that makes it an easy sip that I reached for even when I didn’t necessarily need electrolytes in my system. It tastes like Propel if Propel had a 401k and frequented early morning Pilates classes. To put it to the test, I grabbed it before a night out (dinner with the girls and many martinis) and then once again in the morning. I’m used to annoying headaches or stomach aches post-drinks since I’m a once-a-month kind of girl, but didn’t have any of those symptoms. Maybe it was the nice restaurant. Maybe it was this drink. Regardless, I was a happy girl.
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Another star ingredient in the Unwell lineup is a light dose of green coffee extract that equates to less than a cup of Joe. The brand says it’ll amp up focus. I have ADHD and work online all day, so you can imagine my need for something that keeps me honed in on my tasks. On a particularly drab afternoon, I grabbed Orange Hibiscus and chugged it down while scrolling on TikTok (for article research purposes, of course). I’m not sure if it was placebo or the refreshing drink but I felt ready for the last few hours of the workday. I got my stuff done and didn’t crave my afternoon sweet treat since this gave me just enough flavor to curb my cravings.
This was my second favorite flavor. It’s easy enough to stomach in early mornings pre-workout, too. I downed this before a spin class, felt more awake after, and didn’t have any issues during the 45-minute session if you catch my drink.
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This is the flavor I recommend grabbing post workout. It tastes the saltiest (even though every flavor has essentially the same ingredients list) and helped me feel less ‘Walking Dead’ and more functioning human even after an especially long cardio session. I’m a marathon runner who experiences headaches if I don’t consume enough electrolytes following my hard workouts and this allowed me to feel A-OK for the whole day. I’m not a mango girl so if you like the fruit, you’ll probably jive with this a bit more than I did.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I was impressed with this hydrating lineup. It did everything an electrolyte should — helped my body and brain feel better, curbed my sweets cravings, woke me up, and tasted good. A lot of my favorite electrolyte mixes taste like I’m licking a rock of sea salt (I don’t know if that’s a thing but you catch my drift) and I deal with it because my body needs the ingredients. This one tasted like good-flavored water with only a dash of salt. Perfect for iron-deficient divas, hungover people barely surviving, and athletes wanting to recover or prep properly.
I’d recommend this to pretty much anyone except the people I don’t like. I’m petty and I don’t want them to be hydrated.
What’s next for Cooper and her company Unwell? Not sure. A line of booze to amp up the need for this hydrator? A women’s sports team (begging for this)? World domination (also begging for this)? No matter, I’ll know not to doubt it.
Summer Cartwright is a marathon runner, certified cycling instructor, and the senior commerce editor at Shape. She has raced in the New York City Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Columbus Marathon, Houston Half Marathon, Brooklyn Half Marathon, New York Mini 10k, and dozens of other events. She has expertise in running shoes, performance gear, and recovery equipment. She’s from Columbus, Ohio, and has three pets: two cats named Polly and Peaky and a dog named Rhubarb. She tested every flavor of Unwell Hydration and each drink or mix mentioned in this article.
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