MiO is a flavor enhancer that’s added to water to improve the taste. The brand proudly advertises that their products have "bold taste" while containing zero sugar and zero calories.
But what’s actually in MiO? Are there any unhealthy added ingredients? How do the ingredients in MiO Energy compare to the ingredients in MiO Original? And is MiO bad for you overall?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and we review every ingredient in MiO Original and MiO Energy to give our take on whether the popular flavor enhancers are bad for you. We'll highlight some questionable additive ingredients and share what we consider to be the healthiest flavor enhancer on the market currently.
MiO Original Ingredient Review
Apart from water, we recommend avoiding nearly every ingredient in MiO Original.
Citric acid is a flavor enhancer that’s been documented in a series of medical case reports to cause whole-body inflammation in a small subset of consumers.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener that was found in a 2018 clinical trial to cause negative changes to insulin sensitivity in healthy young adults, even at only 15% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) level. Healthy insulin function is necessary for prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Natural flavor is a broad term that could mean any number of chemical compounds. As we referenced in our article examining is Body Armor good for you, there exists medical research suggesting that some natural flavoring compounds are unhealthy.
Sodium benzoate is a preservative that was found in an animal study to negatively impact memory and coordination. MiO Original also contains two other preservatives: potassium sorbate and sucrose acetate isobutyrate.
Yellow 5 is an artificial food dye that was found in a meta-study published in the International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health to be contaminated with carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals).
Overall we consider MiO Original to be bad for you, because it contains seven additive ingredients we recommend avoiding.
Nutritionist Maty Harrington has similar conclusions in her TikTok recommendation to avoid MiO:
@nutritiouslyeasy #mixeddrinks #skinnydrink #mio #healthydrinks #healthycollege #harmfulingredients #red40 #artificialsweeteners ♬ Lofi - Domknowz
MiO Energy Ingredient Review
MiO Energy has a similar formulation to MiO Original. It contains ingredients we already reviewed in the previous section and consider unhealthy: citric acid, natural flavor, sucralose, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, and potassium sorbate.
This drink mix contains two separate artificial food dyes: Red 40 and Blue 1. Red 40 was found to be contaminated with carcinogens and Blue 1 was found to cause hypersensitivity reactions according to the medical review on food dyes we cited in the previous section.
Acesulfame potassium is an artificial sweetener that’s been found to cause negative changes to brain and gut function in animal studies as we documented in our recent Prime hydration drink review.
MiO Energy also contains a blend of added vitamins like vitamin B3 and vitamin B6. We have not come across any medical evidence that supplemental vitamins improves energy, and we consider it illogical to take supplemental vitamins without a proof of deficiency in those vitamins.
Overall we consider MiO Energy to be unhealthy because it contains ten additive ingredients we recommend avoiding.
Can MiO Make a Healthier Soda?
A TikTok user named Kaitlyn Anderson shared a viral recipe for a "healthy Dr. Pepper" that includes MiO for the flavor:
@k8lynanderson Dr. Pepper 🤝 Health #healthydrpepper #topochicodrpepper #healthydrinkrecipe #healthydrinkideas ♬ original sound - Brooksie
Our Healthy Flavor Enhancer Recommendation
We consider True to be the healthiest flavor enhancer on the market. This brand sells powder packets made from real fruit that can be mixed into water. True does contain citric acid but it has no artificial sweeteners, artificial dye or any other questionable ingredients.
The only ingredients in True Lime are citric acid, lime oil and lime juice.
There is a True Sampler Pack on Amazon that contains all four flavors: True Lime, True Orange, True Grapefruit and True Lemon.
Interested consumers can check out True’s Sampler Pack at this link to the product's Amazon listing.
