BioSteel’s Hydration Mix: Our Review of the Zero-Sugar Electrolyte Supplement – SI Showcase

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Hydration is essential to your health — it helps your body regulate its temperature and maintain proper organ function. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends that the average woman consumes 11 cups of water per day, while the average man should aim for 16. However, to reach that benchmark, many people turn to drinks that are packed with sugar and artificial sweeteners, which can have negative effects on overall health. If you’ve been looking for another way to stay hydrated throughout the day, the BioSteel hydration mix is a great choice you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

This hydration mix has just five calories per serving and zero added sugars, and is packed with electrolytes for optimum hydration. Electrolytes are important because they help maintain our intracellular fluid balance and regulate chemical reactions in our body. This is why electrolytes are often added to drinks that are made specifically for athletes — they help them sweat out a lot of salt and other minerals to stay hydrated. Minerals such as calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphate, potassium, and sodium function as electrolytes in the body.


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Besides no added sugar, the hydration mix also features no artificial colors, flavors or other sweeteners. It comes in 13 different flavors including strawberry banana, mixed berry, peach mango, grape and ice pop, the latest addition to the roster. You’ll get vitamins, minerals and branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) — which have been proven to help with muscle mass retention in athletes — that’ll help you rehydrate and recover.

What’s in the BioSteel Hydration Mix?

The BioSteel hydration mix has everything most people need from a sports hydration mix at a comparable price point to the other products available on the market. (It costs $16.99 for 12 servings.) Simply mix one scoop of the powder with 8-16 ounces of water, depending on how strong you like your drink to taste. It isn’t meant to provide performance enhancing benefits, such as those that you might get from a pre-workout. Rather, the hydration mix is solely meant for keeping you hydrated during a practice or training session.

You’ll find vitamins B1, B2, B12 and B5 among others in each scoop along with minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium. B vitamins are important because they help create energy within our bodies by converting the carbs in our food into glucose. Additionally, vitamin B12 is necessary for the formation of red blood cells and DNA. The sweetness in the hydration mix comes from natural stevia leaves.

How Does BioSteel Stack Up Against the Competition?

When compared with similar products like Gatorade, Powerade and Body Armor, BioSteel hydration mix offers the fewest calories and carbs per serving by a large margin. It also has thousands more milligrams of the following nutrients and amino acids compared to Gatorade, Powerade and Body Armor per serving.

Per serving, Biosteel contains:

  • L-Leucine (1,202 mg)
  • L-Isoleucine (544 mg)
  • L-Valine (544 mg)
  • Glycine (460 mg)
  • L-Glutamine (973 mg)
  • Taurine (135 mg)
  • Choline (300 mcg)
  • Inositol (300 mcg)

Pete Nastasi

Gatorade Powerade Body Armor BioSteel Hydration Mix

Serving Size

20-oz. Bottle (8-pack = $5.78)

20-oz. Bottle (8-pack = $4.98)

16-oz. Bottle (12-pack = $14.88)

(1 Scoop per 8-16-oz. – $24.99 per 20 Servings)

Price per Serving ($)

$0.73

$0.62

$1.24

$1.50

Artificial Colors

Yes

Yes

None

None

Artificial Flavors

None

None

None

None

Artificial Sweeteners

Yes

Yes

None

None

Calories

140

140

120

5

Carbohydrates

36

35

28

1

Sugar

34

35

26

0

Sodium (mg)

270

250

40

140

Potassium (mg)

80

60

700

33

Calcium (mg)

0

0

0

18

Magnesium (mg)

0

0

70

5

Zinc (mg)

0

0

7.7

0.16

Is the BioSteel Hydration Mix Right for Me?

If you’re looking for a way to supplement your daily water intake and maintain a baseline level of hydration, BioSteel’s hydration mix is a great way to meet both of those goals. It’s also an excellent choice for athletes looking to stay hydrated and on top of their game during training or competition.

If you’re looking for a hydration mix that provides sugar or carbohydrates to fuel your exercise, you’re best off looking elsewhere. BioSteel has no added sugar and only 5 grams of carbs per serving. Additionally, if your stomach is sensitive to stevia, this product isn’t for you.

Flavors

You’ll have a range of flavor options to choose from; we tried watermelon, blue raspberry and pineapple passionfruit. They were all great and we loved that none of the flavors were excessively sweet. In addition to offering delicious, refreshing flavors, we’re big fans of how easily each flavor mixes with water. Additional hydration mix flavors include rainbow twist, lemon lime, peach mango, grape, mixed berry and white freeze.


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Cost

BioSteel’s hydration mix comes in various serving sizes that range from 12- to 100-servings per container. The price for 12-servings is $16.99 per pack, 20-servings is $24.99, 45-servings is $49.99 and the 100-serving container costs $74.99. BioSteel offers a discounted recurring subscription plan for some of their supplements such as their Sports Drink. If you choose this option, you’ll receive your deliveries on a schedule and can modify or cancel at any time.

What Else Does BioSteel Make?

In addition to the hydration mix, BioSteel makes other products to help you stay performance ready.

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Sports Drink:

Available in five different flavors, this zero sugar drink mix is also designed to support hydration, but it comes pre-mixed, rather than as a powder. It packs in heftier portions of electrolytes than the powdered mix (for one, the drink contains 230mg of potassium per serving, compared to 33mg in the mix). However, it doesn’t have any of the BCAAs or B vitamins that the mix contains. 


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Protein powder:

BioSteel’s whey protein isolate-dominant formula contains no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners. It comes in three different flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and fruity cereal) and offers 24g of protein per serving. 


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For vegetarians, the brand also offers plant-based protein powder, which uses a blend of protein sources, including brown rice, pea, and pumpkin seed. It provides 22g of protein per serving and is available in five flavors. 


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Biosteel also makes a recovery-focused protein powder called Recovery Protein Plus, which provides 38g of carbs and 24g protein per serving for optimum muscle rebuilding. 


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Pre-workout:

The vegan Sport Beets pre-workout comes in a fruit punch flavor and is soy, caffeine and sugar free. The BioSteel pre-workout uses ingredients like beet root powder and citrulline which are designed to aid cardiovascular health and blood flow to help you maximize each workout. 


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Plant Amino Power powder:

This powder is designed to provide muscles the building blocks they need for growth, thanks to a mixture of BCAAs leucine, isoleucine and valine. It’s sugar free, with no artificial sweeteners, and comes in two flavors (chocolate and vanilla). 


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Sport Greens powder:

The Sport Greens powder comes in two different flavors (pomegranate berry and pineapple coconut) and is gluten, soy and dairy free. Each serving of the Sport Greens mix is designed to help you meet the daily recommended dose for fruits and vegetables and offers 5g of carbs and 25 calories. 


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Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.