Carbonated drinks such as Poppi and Olipop have added prebiotic ingredients intended to nourish your gut bacteria.
Getty Images for Eugene Gorogursky/Poppi
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Getty Images for Eugene Gorogursky/Poppi
Carbonated drinks such as Poppi and Olipop have added prebiotic ingredients intended to nourish your gut bacteria.
Getty Images for Eugene Gorogursky/Poppi
You may have seen them piled up in grocery stores or advertised on your social media feeds. Carbonated prebiotic sodas with names like Olipop, Poppi and Vive Organic promise to boost fiber intake and health by feeding trillions of microbes. lives in the intestine.
Scientists say these drinks aren’t magic bullets for your gut (more on that in a few days), but the marketers are right: Gut bacteria are good for your health. It plays an important role, and it’s a smart move to provide fiber that gut bacteria like.
In fact, nutrition researchers cannot get enough of this nutrient.
“There are many studies that show that eating more fiber makes you healthier,” he says. Hannah Holcheran associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois and a self-professed “fiber nerd.”
She says fiber doesn’t just help keep you on track. Helps control blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol and inflammation. 1 review Out of 185 studies and dozens of clinical trials, a fiber-rich diet was found to be associated with a reduced risk of major health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Getting these benefits may not be as easy as sipping on a cold drink, but they can be affordable and can come with just a few dietary tweaks.
Relationship between fiber, microbes and health
A large part of what fiber does for us is by nourishing the diverse community of microbes in our digestive tract.
“Fundamentally, there is no part of our biology, whether healthy or sick, that is immune to gut microbes,” he says. Justin SonnenbergProfessor of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University.
These microbes produce chemical messengers that enter our bloodstream and affect our overall health, he says.
“Heart disease, autoimmune disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anything that has to do with the immune system,” he says. “It’s all influenced by gut bacteria.” They can even affect our mental health.
Eating a plant-based fiber-rich diet can keep gut microbes happy, plentiful and diverse, he said, and this is important because different microbes work differently to stay healthy. It is said that
But when you don’t eat enough fiber, “you actually starve your gut bacteria,” says Sonnenberg. It can lead to a loss of diversity in our microbiome and is linked to health problems such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Adding berries, nuts and seeds to your breakfast is an easy way to increase your fiber content. A diet with a variety of fiber combinations supports a range of healthy gut microbes, which in turn helps improve overall health.
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Matthew Meade/ASSOCIATED PRESS
fiber enthusiast
A low-fiber diet can also cause other health problems. One of the things that happens when microbes are starving is that “they’re looking for other things to eat, and one of the other things they eat is actually the lining of the gut,” Sonnenberg said. say it can cause inflammation.
He and other gut microbiome researchers say they are fiber enthusiasts. Once, when he and his fellow researchers gathered in the conference center, the diner managers were amazed at how quickly the group devoured the salad bar. “The reason is that everyone who studies the gut microbiome is obsessed with eating fiber and plant fiber,” he says.
But they are definitely in the minority. “The majority of Americans don’t get enough fiber,” Dr. Holscher says. His research focuses on the interplay between diet, gut microbiota and health.
According to the US government dietary guidelines, You should be getting 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you consume daily.only About 9% of women, about 3% of women 80% of US men meet fiber recommendations.
But what about those sodas?
Growing interest in gut health has led to a flood of processed foods with added fiber, such as the carbonated prebiotic drink trending on TikTok.
One ingredient commonly used to increase the fiber content of these foods is inulin, a type of fiber extracted from chicory roots. (It’s in the Olipop drink.) Inulin is a prebiotic, meaning it feeds the good bacteria in your gut.
Holscher says that if you enjoy these prebiotic drinks and they help you reach your daily fiber goals, you can definitely include them as part of a healthy diet. She points out that fibers like inulin added to food must have proven health benefits. per FDA guidance.
When it comes to adding fiber to your diet, Sonnenberg says, “The gut instinct on the ground is that it’s probably better than nothing.”
But it’s not clear whether prebiotic fiber added to processed foods and beverages has the same health benefits that eating a variety of whole foods naturally rich in fiber provides, he said. To tell.
First, refined fibers added to foods have a much simpler structure than fibers found naturally in plant foods, says Sonnenberg. This means it is fermented faster by microorganisms that live near where the small and large intestines meet. This means that refined fiber may not reach microbes living deeper in the colon, and they also need to be nourished.
Oats, like many whole grains and legumes, are rich in fiber. It’s cheap and easy to prepare.
Matthew Mead/Associated Press
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Matthew Mead/Associated Press
Oats, like many whole grains and legumes, are rich in fiber. It’s cheap and easy to prepare.
Matthew Mead/Associated Press
When it comes to inulin, too much can be bad for you. Sonnenburg co-authored A small study published last year It is a hot topic. He found that low doses of inulin supplements could increase the presence of beneficial gut bacteria, but high doses sharply increased inflammation in healthy adults.
Sonnenburg and Holscher agree that focusing on eating a variety of plant-based foods is your best bet if you want to boost your fiber intake and gut health.
A simple way to increase your fiber intake
Holscher points out that plant-based foods contain different types of fiber, which lead to different health benefits. For example, beta-glucans found in foods such as oats, wheat and barley have been associated with lower cholesterol levels. On the other hand, cellulose, a fiber found in foods such as celery, helps keep you on track.
And different gut microbes need different types of fiber, she points out.
“This is so complicated that one of the easiest ways I always recommend people is to eat a rainbow and have a lot of different foods in their diet so that all the different building blocks and fibers are present. to do it,” says Holscher.
That means eating lots of different fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts. Think oats, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, chia seeds, pears, berries, apples, and onions. These foods are not only good sources of fiber, but also contain other health-promoting vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.
Adding more fiber to your daily routine doesn’t have to be difficult. Some surprisingly snackable foods, such as avocados, are high in fiber. Add slices to sandwiches or serve wak with tacos.
If you want to maximize the effect of optical fiber, check out this chart Here is a list of food types by amount of fiber per serving. For example, he might be surprised to learn that a cup of artichokes contains 9.6 grams of fiber. (If you really want to know more, explore more foods in this article. USDA database.)
It’s easy to increase the fiber content of your breakfast. One tablespoon of chia seeds contains 4.5 grams of fiber. I sprinkle some on my yogurt every morning. Raspberries and blackberries are also very high in fiber, with one cup of each serving about 8 grams. Buying frozen berries keeps the price down and can be used in smoothies. )
Also, consider swapping out some of the salad ingredients. For example, iceberg lettuce has very little fiber, while seasoned cabbage and kale have more. Or, try cooking 1 cup of kale (4 grams of fiber) and adding it to your lentil soup for a fiber-rich meal.
To enjoy more fiber-rich foods, Holscher recommends experimenting with different recipes and cooking methods. She personally hates raw broccoli, but loves it when her husband cooks it in the air fryer with olive oil and spices. “If it was cooked like that, you would be eating a ridiculous amount of broccoli,” she says.
Editing and video production by Carmel Roth. Compilation of audio work by Jane Greenhalgh.
