The Plug vs Coconut Water, Gatorade and Liquid IV

Here is the part most drink comparisons skip. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol suppresses vasopressin, the hormone that tells your kidneys to hold on to fluid. The result is more trips to the bathroom and mild dehydration by the end of the night.

That fluid carries electrolytes with it. MedlinePlus describes electrolytes as minerals with an electric charge, like sodium, potassium and calcium, that help your body balance fluids and keep muscles and nerves working. So the question isn't just what to drink, it's how much fluid and which minerals come along with it.

The simplest fix costs nothing: water. Alternating a glass of water with each drink and staying within the CDC's guidance (two drinks or less a day for men, one or less for women, if you drink at all) does more for your fluids than anything you can buy. Everything below is about what to reach for alongside that.

Per labeled serving. Serving sizes are different, so compare each drink the way you would actually drink it.

The Plug Drink figures are from its Supplement Facts label. Coconut water (unsweetened, ready to drink), Gatorade Thirst Quencher and Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier figures are from USDA FoodData Central entries (Gatorade, a 2021 label record; Liquid I.V.). Labels change, so check the bottle in your hand.

A few things jump out. The Plug Drink has 0 g of added sugar and 15 calories per bottle, and it's the only one with a botanical blend. Coconut water brings the most potassium. Liquid I.V. brings the most sodium by far, and Gatorade lands in the middle on sodium with the most sugar per serving.

One honest caveat: our bottle is small. Per ounce, the powders mixed into 16 ounces of water come out close to The Plug on sugar, because the same sugar is spread across more liquid. The per 100 ml rows show it: Liquid I.V. (2.3 g) and Pedialyte (2.5 g) come in slightly lower than The Plug (3.0 g), while coconut water (3.9 g) and Gatorade (5.8 g) come in higher. What The Plug offers is a small bottle with nothing added.

We scored four drinks out of 10 on five criteria worth 2 points each, using per 100 ml numbers so bottle size can't skew it: (a) no added sugar: Plug 2, coconut water 2, Gatorade 0, Liquid I.V. 0; (b) sugar per 100 ml at or under 3 g earns 2, under 4.5 g earns 1: Plug 2, Liquid I.V. 2, coconut water 1, Gatorade 0; (c) ready to drink with no mixing: Plug 2, coconut water 2, Gatorade 2, Liquid I.V. 0; (d) potassium per 100 ml of 100 mg or more earns 2, 50 to 99 mg earns 1: Plug 2 (150 mg), coconut water 2 (165 mg), Liquid I.V. 1 (78 mg), Gatorade 0 (13 mg); (e) sodium for heavy fluid loss, 100 mg or more per 100 ml earns 2, 40 to 99 mg earns 1: Liquid I.V. 2 (106 mg), Gatorade 1 (46 mg), Plug 0 (15 mg), coconut water 0 (26 mg).

Be clear about what this rubric rewards: low sugar, no mixing and potassium. A sodium-first rubric, the right one for heavy sweating or illness, would rank the rehydration drinks first, and Pedialyte (about 371 mg of sodium per 12 ounces, per USDA FoodData Central) belongs in that conversation too. Gatorade's 21 grams of sugar per 12 ounces is what pulls it down here; the CDC recommends keeping added sugars under 10 percent of daily calories.

The most useful comparison isn't brand against brand. It's a light herbal drink against a rehydration mix, because they're built for different jobs.

"The treatment for dehydration is to replace the fluids and electrolytes that you have lost."

MedlinePlus, Dehydration

That same MedlinePlus page adds that for mild cases you may just need to drink lots of water, and that sports drinks and oral rehydration solutions can help if you've lost electrolytes. A normal night out usually falls in the first group. A long hot day, a hard workout or a stomach bug falls in the second.

Coconut water vs Gatorade

Coconut water wins on potassium and sugar, and Gatorade wins on sodium. In a small 2012 trial of 12 exercise-trained men who were dehydrated on a treadmill, coconut water, a carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drink and plain bottled water all brought hydration back in a similar way, though the coconut water left more people feeling bloated. So neither is magic, and water held its own.

Liquid I.V. vs Pedialyte

These two sit in the same high-sodium tier: about 500 mg per Liquid I.V. stick and 371 mg per 12 ounces of Pedialyte. Liquid I.V. adds a few B vitamins and vitamin C and comes as a powder; Pedialyte's classic bottle is ready to drink and adds zinc. If you're dealing with vomiting or diarrhea, talk to a doctor or pharmacist about an oral rehydration solution rather than picking by taste.

What else is in each bottle

Numbers only tell half the story, so here is what the ingredient lists say beyond the minerals.

• The Plug Drink: The Plug Blend of 13 Korean botanicals (including kudzu root, Artemisia argyi, Hovenia dulcis fruit, schisandra and dandelion), apple extract, Scutellaria root extract, electrolytes and zinc, sweetened with steviol glycosides and D-sorbitol, with 0 g of added sugar.
• Gatorade Thirst Quencher: water, sugar, dextrose, citric acid, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate and natural flavor, plus color in some flavors, per its USDA listing.
• Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier: beet sugar, dextrose, citric acid, salt, potassium and sodium citrate, stevia, vitamin C and B vitamins (B3, B5, B6, B12), per its USDA listing.
• Pedialyte, unflavored: water, dextrose, potassium citrate, salt, sodium citrate, citric acid and zinc gluconate, per its USDA listing.
• Unsweetened coconut water: just the liquid from young coconuts, with its own naturally occurring sugar and potassium.

None of the three branded ingredient lists includes caffeine, and neither does The Plug Drink, which matters if you're winding down for sleep. The sugar in the sports drink and the powders is added sugar and dextrose, which is exactly what helps them pull sodium and water in during heavy fluid loss. The Plug takes the other route: a small bottle, 3 g of naturally occurring sugar, and our botanicals instead of added sugar.

Where The Plug fits

The Plug Drink is the low-sugar, herbal option for the end of an ordinary evening: 15 calories, 3 g of naturally occurring sugar, 150 mg of potassium, 30 mg of calcium and zinc, plus 10.83 g of The Plug Blend. Our own FAQ suggests having it at night. It isn't a medical rehydration solution, and we'd never tell you to use it as one.

You don't need a cabinet full of powders. A simple routine covers most nights:

1. Drink a glass of water before you head out, and one between drinks.
2. Eat a real meal first; food slows how quickly alcohol hits your system.
3. Keep to the CDC limits, or skip drinking altogether some nights.
4. Wind down with water or a low-sugar drink like The Plug instead of a sugary one.
5. If you sweated a lot, were out in the heat or are feeling sick, reach for a higher-sodium rehydration mix and check in with a clinician if symptoms stick around.

Here's to smarter nights, PlugFAM!