Hint Water is a fruit-infused, flavored water brand that’s available at a wide range of popular retail stores in the US, as well as online. The brand is marketed as a healthy flavored water option, with claims such as “no diet sweeteners” and “preservative free” on the brand’s website.
But what’s actually used to flavor Hint Water? Does the brand use any unhealthy ingredients? What was our experience trying Hint Water? And is the brand better or worse than popular flavored water brands like Liquid Death?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Hint Water to give our take on whether the brand is healthy or not.
We’ll also share our honest experience purchasing and testing Hint Water, and compare the healthiness of Hint Water to other popular bottled water brands like Liquid Death.
Key takeaways:
- Natural flavors may be unhealthy
- Bottled in plastic is a health negative
- We do not consider Hint Water to be healthy overall
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in the Watermelon flavor of Hint Water are shown below:
The good thing is that this is a simple formulation free of sweeteners and other highly questionable additives like synthetic preservatives.
Natural flavors is an ingredient description that we consider to be questionable from a health perspective, for reasons summarized in a 2017 medical review:
"In reality, ‘natural flavors’ are a far cry from what consumers might expect, as they can contain both artificial and synthetic chemicals (often used as processing aids).”
Without knowing the specific chemical compounds used for the flavoring, it’s challenging to make a safety assessment.
It’s also notable that Hint Water is packaged in plastic bottles.
As we documented in our Karma Water reviews article, water bottled in plastic was shown in at least one medical review to have higher levels of potentially endocrine-disrupting microplastics than tap water.
Overall, we consider Hint Water to be a decently healthy option, but we don’t currently recommend this brand due to its packaging and the addition of natural flavors.
But how does Hint Water stack up from a health perspective to other popular bottled water brands? We’ll share our thoughts in the next section of this article.
We Tested Hint Water Ourselves
As the author of this article, I wanted to try Hint Water myself to share my thoughts on its taste and the overall product experience.
I purchased the Blackberry version at Stop and Shop and drank it with the a healthy post-dinner snack.
The smell is very pleasant and aromatic, and I found that this drink has a better smell than any of the flavored waters I've tried to date in an Illuminate Health review.
I'm curious if the smell is from essential oil(s).
The taste was similar to blackberry, and it was subtle with no lingering aftertaste. I don't really enjoy flavored water, but this one tastes much better than the average flavored water brand I've tried.
I don't purchase water bottles from single-use plastic for health and cost reasons, but I do think this is a high-quality product from a sensory perspective.
Overall, I'd rate this product a 6/10.
Hint Water vs. Popular Waters
Liquid Death, Smartwater and Crystal Light are three of the most popular water brands in the US. Here’s our take on how Hint Water compares to each in regard to healthiness:
Liquid Death
Liquid Death offers unflavored versions of their water, and their products are packaged in aluminum cans which we consider to be a much better choice than plastic.
A 2020 medical review reported that bisphenol A (BPA), which is often used in the production of soft plastics, can have estrogenic effects in the body.
Winner: Liquid Death
Smartwater
Like Hint Water, Smartwater is packaged in plastic bottles. However, as we documented in our article on is Smartwater good for you, there are no flavoring additives in Smartwater Original.
Winner: Smartwater
Crystal Light
Crystal Light is the most similar to Hint Water of the three brands listed above, because it’s flavored.
Some flavors of Crystal Light contain artificial dye (which is clinically shown to be toxic to human cells in certain circumstances), citric acid, artificial sweeteners and a number of other unhealthy additives.
Crystal Light is sold as a powder, but its ingredients vastly outweigh our concerns over single-use plastic.
Winner: Hint Water
Can Water Cause Weight Loss?
A YouTube video from the popular “BuzzFeedVideo” channel has real people trying a 30-day water challenge to investigate whether it causes weight loss and improves skin quality:
Our Clean Flavored Water Pick
Pique Daily Radiance is our top water flavor enhancing packet.
This product comes in convenient stick packs that can be mixed into water, and is naturally flavored with nutritious, whole food ingredients like organic elderberry juice concentrate (which is clinically shown to support the immune system) and organic lemon juice concentrate.
Most importantly, Pique's flavor enhancer is entirely free of citric acid, preservatives, artificial sweeteners and flavoring additives.
There are no ingredients in this formulation that we consider to be unhealthy.
Hint Water Pros and Cons
Pros:
- No added sugar
- No artificial sweeteners
- No preservatives
- Healthier than some competitors
- Affordable
Cons:
- Contains natural flavors
- Packaged in plastic
- Regular tap water may be healthier
- Brand website charges for shipping
