You may have heard about the booming trend of prebiotic sodas, with brands like Poppi, Culture Pop, and Olipop lining the beverage aisle shelves of grocery stores everywhere. They claim to be a healthier alternative to traditional soda that also boosts gut health.
This sounds too good to be true – getting to enjoy a bubbly soda with added health benefits and no guilt?! Before guzzling down a can of “healthier” soda, I’m going to share exactly what prebiotics are and help you understand if these sodas are all that they claim to be, from the eyes of a Registered Dietitian.
Gut Health
Before we dive into prebiotics, let’s take a step back to discuss gut health. The “gut” refers to the gastrointestinal tract (aka GI tract) and this includes your stomach, intestines, and colon. When you eat food it travels from your mouth, down your esophagus, and into your stomach, where food starts to get digested. It then travels through the intestines where nutrients get absorbed to nourish your body and then the waste travels through the colon to be eliminated.
Your gut contains around 100 trillion bacteria, that’s right, more than all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy! You may hear “bacteria” and assume it’s a bad thing, but this bacteria is actually good and even imperative to your body’s immune system, hormone regulation, digestion, and metabolism. This collection of bacteria is referred to as the “gut microbiome”.
Gut health = the well-being or “health” of the gut microbiome. Basically, if you have a lot of diverse, healthy bacteria in your gut, your gut microbiome should be in pretty good shape.
What are Prebiotics
Probiotics are live active bacteria and can be found in fermented foods and probiotic supplements that support the gut microbiome. Prebiotics are fibers that provide “food” to support the bacteria in the gut to function effectively. Prebiotic fibers are typically found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and are specifically plentiful in chicory root, dandelion greens, garlic, onion, asparagus, apples, and oats.
Traditional Sodas vs Prebiotic Sodas
These trendy prebiotic sodas contain a fiber called inulin, which feeds beneficial gut bacteria and supports digestive health, and may even support weight loss as well as blood sugar regulation.
Lower in Calories
These prebiotic sodas are also low in calories compared to their traditional alternative, with most providing around 20-35 calories, compared to 150 calories per 12oz can of regular soda.
Less Sugar
A typical 12oz can of soda also packs on a whopping 39g of ADDED sugar, whereas most prebiotic sodas contain only 2-3g of added sugar, and some are sweetened with sugar substitutes.
More Nutritional Value Plus Added Fiber
Traditional sodas such as coke or ginger ale provide no nutritional value, they’re essentially empty calories with an excessive amount of added sugar, which can be detrimental to your health and even put you at risk for developing diabetes or cancer.
Prebiotic sodas provide anywhere from 2 to 9g of fiber, which can help keep you full and benefit digestive health.
The small amount of inulin provided in these prebiotic sodas may not be enough to take your gut health to the next level, however, they are a healthier alternative to traditional sodas and can be an enjoyable bubbly treat providing some beneficial fiber without the added sugars that typical soda contains.
The Benefits of Whole Food Fiber vs. Prebiotic Sodas
It’s important to note that obtaining fiber from whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is a better source than from a beverage because your body has to work to break down the fibers coming from whole foods as opposed to consuming them in liquid form where the fiber is partially digested.
Prebiotic Food Sources
If you really want to boost your gut health, consider including probiotic foods to your diet such as, yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut, along with prebiotics found in apples, bananas, oats, avocados, and garlic.