7 October 2025

Gen Z’s hydration fetish

As “loaded water” goes viral the new hottest drink is also the oldest

The mid-2000s had tiny, handbag-sized Chihuahuas. We have massive water bottles.

These days, the zeitgeist is all about having a comically large, garishly colourful tumbler in hand. “Hydration inflation” has become a serious business: in the US, the value of sales of portable drinkware reached $4bn in the year ending in May 2025. #WaterTok has 2.5 billion views on TikTok. Celebs from Olivia Rodrigo to Lionel Messi have a Stanley cup range. But now, Gen Z’s hydration fetish is going one step further. Plain old H₂O just won’t cut it anymore. It’s all about “loaded water”.

If you associate flavoured water with just a few sad slices of cucumber and a soggy sprig of mint, think again. To the untrained eye, it looks like youngsters are just whacking a weekly food shop into an ice-filled jam jar. But to a seasoned TikToker, it’s an exact science. Feeds are full of influencers laying out their “loaded water recipes” and honestly, it would be simpler to make a Sunday roast. You start with 40 ounces of water and ice (why 40 ounces? Because that’s our daily hydration goal, of course!) Then you add fresh fruit, perhaps a “probiotic soda” (don’t ask), coconut water and some flavoured electrolyte powder.

The trend is rooted in wellness. Hydration, we are told, is the secret to good health and glowing skin. Influencers tout the benefits of fruits infusing the water with vitamin C. They don’t tend to ask, would it not be healthier to just eat the strawberries, rather than whacking them in our water bottle? That’s a £2 punnet we’re wasting! And the electrolytes, they say, enhance hydration, although there is debate around the actual benefit of such supplements if you haven’t just done a workout.

A big part of the appeal is that the drink looks pretty on social media. When Aperol spritz took over British summertime, it wasn’t because people liked the taste (liquified potpourri, in my humble opinion – don’t tell the Italians). It was because the bright orange was perfect for sun-kissed, “drinks with the girlies” Instagram snaps. “Loaded water”, with its colourful powders and carefully carved fruit is the same: it’s an accessory as much as a drink.

The more sinister side to this trend (there always is one) is that it’s being pushed as a weight-loss technique. Slim women all over TikTok are waxing lyrical about how these complicated concoctions, with a calorie count of around 25, can help subdue food cravings. Will we need to tell a generation of young girls that “loaded water” isn’t a lunch substitute? I hope not.

But ultimately, as trends go, this one is pretty benign. It won’t stop the allegations of being “generation boring”, but if the craziest thing the kids are doing is hydrating themselves, it could be a lot worse. Parents may no longer need to guard their liquor cabinets, but try making a decent G&T when all your lemons are in your daughter’s Stanley cup.