Whether you’re jogging or hitting the gym, it’s good to stay hydrated. I’m not knocking water here, but sometimes you just need a little something extra to push through that last mile or rep.
With a variety of athletic beverages available in the world, who’s to say which combination of electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals is the best?
Enter this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review, your newest source for determining the best of the best when it comes to sports drinks.
Table of Contents
About Liquid IV
Liquid IV has grand plans for themselves and the world at large. The drink crystal company roots their business in three guiding principles:
- By making the best drinks modern science can, they’re designed to optimize performance, health, and longevity
- Every sale Liquid IV makes gets partially redistributed into their charitable efforts to provide sustainable access to drinking water to less fortunate areas
- To act as environmentally conscious as possible by constantly improving their products, packaging, and shipping methods
To those ends, they’ve already donated over 16m servings of Liquid IV items to people in need across the globe.
Brandin Cohen founded the company in 2012 in California. Their products use Cellular Transport Technology to maximize their absorption rates in the human body.
That means that using a Liquid IV item is like injecting water and nutrients straight into your bloodstream. Maybe that’s why they’ve included the term “IV” in their name.
About Pedialyte
Pedialyte is a recovery beverage originally designed by Dr. Gary Cohen for Abbott Laboratories over 50 years ago.
While recovery beverage usually carries athletic connotations, and you can certainly use Pedialyte as a sports drink like you would Gatorade or Powerade, it was conceived to combat childhood dehydration.
This means that Pedialyte is lower in sugar and calories compared to other sports drinks, but it contains more electrolytes (i.e. sodium and potassium).
Oh, I see you’re raising your hand from the back of the classroom to ask a question. You’re asking, “how can a drink with less sugar still taste good enough for kids to enjoy drinking it?”
Pedialyte is sweetened with sucralose, a non-nutritive sweetener whose ADI is so high you’d have to attack liters upon liters of diet soda daily for the rest of your life to see any negative health effects.
Even though the product was originally designed for kids, many athletes use Pedialyte because of its higher electrolyte count and lower caloric density.
In this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review, I will compare, contrast, and cover each company’s products, their ease of availability, how to use them, when to use them, why you’d use them, and if you should even use them in the first place.
After learning all that I’m sure you’ll know exactly which one is right for you.
What To Consider
I’m going to pit the two companies head to head in this section of my review since there’s plenty of overlap to the untrained eye.
Thankfully, my eyes are as well-trained as a fourth-degree black belt, so I’ve picked out some notable differences between the two brands.
Both companies offer hydration-boosting drinks in both powdered drink mix forms or pre-bottled liquid states.
Liquid IV’s product line has items that target hydration, sleeping issues, low energy levels, and can boost immune function.
Pedialyte’s goods are equally as robust in function as their catalog features immune system supporters, USDA-certified organic products, freezer pops, and sport-centric drinks.
With that being said, you don’t have to be an athlete to use either Liquid IV or Pedialyte products, although they are best consumed when in a dehydrated state because they’re designed to rapidly replenish hydration levels.
Pedialyte products were originally marketed towards malnourished and dehydrated children but have received a renewed interest from athletes. Meanwhile, Liquid IV has always marketed their products towards folks pursuing a healthier, more holistic lifestyle.
Speaking of holistic, while researching for this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review, I found that the former company’s mission was much more holistic than the latter’s.
Okay, I’m not saying that Pedialyte was marketing towards kids who suffered from diabetes because they thought that was the most profitable target audience.
Their founding goal was respectable in and of itself because it can be difficult to ensure that children remain hydrated without resorting to feeding them soft drinks.
But, Liquid IV’s vision extends beyond their drinks. They want to give back to the world through their charitable donations and the development of more environmentally-conscious business practices.
Their website even says that their goal is to “Change the World.” You can’t dream bigger than that.
Both brands boast a bountiful bevy of benefits based on their own original brews, but I can succinctly summarize each entity’s reported rewards as increased nutrient absorption, replenished fluid levels, and higher practical use as electrolyte sources.
I would be remiss in this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review to not mention that it’s easier to snag your Liquid IV products online through distributors like GNC, Whole Foods, or the company’s website.
Alternatively, I didn’t even need to do research to locate Pedialyte products because I’ve picked them up in drug stores and grocery stores before. However, I must note that you’ll have to go through a third-party distributor if you wish to purchase their items online.
With that overview concluded, let’s hop into the next part of my review where I’ll compare each company’s products against each other.
Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier vs Pedialyte Electrolyte Water Liters Review:
Both the Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier and the Pedialyte Electrolyte Water Liters serve to quickly replenish hydration levels in dehydrated individuals.
The Pedialyte Electrolyte Water Liters couldn’t be more simple to use. Just pop the cap and drink up. It’s made up of water, electrolytes, and zinc. Nothing more, nothing less. The item’s ingredients list is as clear as the liquid.
Meanwhile, the Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier is a drink mix meant to be added to water. A single stick of the mix contains a bountiful mix of vitamins and electrolytes.
It also comes in a wide variety of flavors like lemon-lime, strawberry, watermelon, passion fruit, guava, and apple pie.
So, between the two, you’re looking at the convenience and lower calorie option of Pedialyte Electrolyte Water Liters versus the slightly (I’m talking 45 kcal per serving) higher calorie but tasteful Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier.
Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier with Immune Support vs Pedialyte with Immune Support Review:
The Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier with Immune Support combines Vitamin C and zinc with their patented electrolyte blend to boost immune system functioning. It’s available in a pack of 16, 28, or 42 sticks, each of which can flavor 16 oz of liquid.
It only comes in tangerine flavor, which is the flavor most people reading this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review would usually associate with vitamin C.
Their competitor’s similar product, the Pedialyte with Immune Support, delivers a full day’s serving of both Vitamin C and Vitamin B12 alongside zinc and Vitamin E.
If that wasn’t enough, it also packs a healthy dose of prebiotics into its drink crystal mix. The product is available in either fruit punch or mixed berry flavors.
It seems that the Pedialyte with Immune Support provides many of the same benefits as the Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier with Immune Support but with more micronutrients. The latter doesn’t supply the same levels of Vitamin C or Vitamin B12 as the former.
Liquid IV 360 Support Bundle vs PedialyteAdvancedCare® Plus Powder Packs Review:
The Liquid IV 360 Support Bundle includes all of the company’s available products in one convenient order.
This means one purchase nets you a ton of goodness:
- 14 servings of Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier with Immune Support
- 14 servings of Liquid IV Energy Multiplier
- 16 servings of Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier
- 10 packets of the Liquid IV Sleep Multiplier
The PedialyteAdvancedCare® Plus Powder Packs take a different approach by combining all possible health benefits into one product. These drink mixes can help digestion, rehydrate, replenish electrolyte levels, and taste great.
With all of that in mind, ordering the Liquid IV 360 Support Bundle will give you all the company’s products in separate packages, whereas the PedialyteAdvancedCare® Plus Powder Packs is a culmination of health boosters into one compact drink mix.
Liquid IV vs Pedialyte: Ingredients
As I mentioned earlier in this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review, Pedialyte has a higher sodium and potassium count compared to other sports drinks. An average serving of Pedialyte delivers 45 mEq/L of sodium along with less than half the sugar of other sports drinks.
These elevated electrolyte levels can help Pedialyte users absorb more nutrients and necessary nutrients. Pedialyte also contains ample amounts of zinc to keep your immune system in tip-top shape.
Furthermore, Pedialyte’s lower sugar content drops its caloric value, meaning it’s useful for athletes looking to lose weight if they compete in weight-class-based sports. The brand sweetens its products with sucralose instead.
With Pedialyte’s ingredients covered, let’s inspect what an average serving of Liquid IV holds.
The company boasts that their products are free of GMOs, gluten, dairy, and soy. So, we know what’s not in them, but what’s underneath the label?
Liquid IV has a high electrolyte content from its combination of sodium, sugar, and potassium that quickly dissolves into any liquid. Each serving contains dextrose (a simple sugar) and pure cane sugar, both of which are easily digestible by the human body.
Their products also contain sodium citrate to balance out the sweet flavors and mined salt which increases the body’s ability to absorb nutrients.
I’ll conclude this section of my Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review by saying that both companies feature a similar ingredient list, but that Pedialyte drinks – on average – have fewer calories.
Remember, calories aren’t the only thing that determines whether a product is healthy or not. They’re simply one piece of the nutrient puzzle.
Liquid IV vs Pedialyte: Price & Value
As Pedialyte doesn’t directly sell their own products, in this section of my Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review, I’ll be comparing the brand’s prices across various retailers versus the prices listed on Liquid IV’s website.
A 16-stick pack of Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier costs $25, coming out to just under $2 a stick, whereas 33 fl oz of Pedialyte Electrolyte Water Liters is $20 on Amazon.
You’re supposed to add one Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier stick to 16 oz of water, so you’ll be getting more liquid as a whole with Liquid IV’s product than you would Pedialyte’s.
This differs when we compare the Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier with Immune Support and the Pedialyte with Immune Support. 14 sticks of the former cost $25 while 6 sticks of Pedialyte with Immune Support cost $11 through Walmart.
Finally, the Liquid IV 360 Support Bundle will run you $85 while the PedialyteAdvancedCare® Plus Powder Packs costs $72.
The former includes 14 to 16 servings of each included product with the latter only delivers 6 17g packets, so the Liquid IV 360 Support Bundle seems to deliver more bang for its buck.
Liquid IV vs Pedialyte: What Do Customers Think?
Liquid IV holds a total score of 4.8/5 stars based on over 30,000 customer reviews left on their website.
The Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier Stick Pack Electrolyte Drink Mix earned a 4.3/5 stars score from more than 70 pieces of customer feedback on Amazon, while the Liquid IV Energy Multiplier Lemon Ginger Energy Drink Mix holds a similarly high 4.6/5 stars average score from over 440 Amazon reviews.
Overall, customers loved these aspects of Liquid IV:
- How it helped them drink more water
- How great the products tasted
- How rejuvenating the items felt to drink
I also pulled some Pedialyte Amazon scores as well. The Pedialyte AdvancedCare Plus Electrolyte Powder was rated an average 4.7/5 stars by more than 2,000 customers.
Their Pedialyte Advancedcare Plus Electrolyte Drink product earned the same 4.7/5 stars score on Amazon from more than 5,900 customer reviews.
For this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review, I found that many people turned to Pedialyte when they needed to rapidly combat dehydration and that, more often than not, Pedialyte items were the easiest ways for them to replenish themselves.
Customers also loved these aspects of Pedialyte’s products:
- Ability to help them recover after workouts
- Flavorful options
- Delicious taste
As a whole, both brands satisfied customers’ tastebuds and hydration needs, but Pedialyte seemed to earn their place as both a casual electrolyte source and a remedy during times of duress.
Liquid IV vs Pedialyte: Promotions & Discounts
For reasons I’ll cover in greater detail in the next section of this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review, Pedialyte themselves have no promotions available, nor do they have any discounts, insider trades, or secret menus. That’s a bummer!
Liquid IV, on the other hand, offers a subscription service. You’ll receive a monthly supply of any Liquid IV product for a reduced price. You can quit, skip, or modify your subscription at any time too.
‘Tis the season for Black Friday sales and Liquid IV aren’t missing out on that boat. They’re currently running a promotion where you can save 30% on your purchase if you act while the sale is still afoot.
There isn’t much of a comparison to make here as Liquid IV’s subscription service is always available and seems customer-friendly, while Pedialyte is as quiet as a mouse about potential savings.
Liquid IV vs Pedialyte: Shipping & Returns
Liquid IV’s shipping rates are as follows:
- Free shipping for orders with a 3 to 6 day business day delivery window
- $15 shipping fee on expedited orders which should arrive within 2 to 3 business days
Note that, at the time of this article’s writing, Liquid IV only ships to the United States.
While the reported shipping times I found for this Liquid IV vs Pedialyte review impressed me, I was even more awed by their return policy.
You can return any Liquid IV products to the company up to 60 days after their delivery for a refund. That’s plenty of time for you to make up your mind as to whether the brand’s goods are right for you.
Let’s see what Pedialyte has to offer for their shipping.
Okay, I’ve returned from seeing what they offer for shipping times. Turns out it’s not much! Pedialyte doesn’t directly ship their own products, but you can find them through conventional online distributors like Amazon and Walmart.
This also means you won’t be able to return Pedialyte items to the company since you’ll be purchasing them through a third party rather than directly with the brand.
So while Liquid IV earns points for their gracious shipping times and return policy, in addition to their transparency, Pedialyte is the more readily available product in commercial stores and online retailers in more countries.
Who Will You Shop With?
As Pedialyte was designed as an emergency product to rapidly help dehydrated children, it holds a solid position as being reliable in a pinch.
While you can casually sip a Pedialyte at your son-in-law’s hockey game, and I won’t judge, the brand is equally as useful when you’re suffering from extreme dehydration.
Conversely, Liquid IV seems like a more measured brand that can be integrated into your everyday life. Since their products are all drink crystals they’re easy to stow en masse in your gym bag so that you can quickly replenish your electrolytes post-workout.
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