Is chicory root fiber safe?

What is chicory root fiber?

Hey everyone,

Following on from my last two posts:

I thought I would dive deeper into whether chicory root fiber was safe, as well as explain some of the different types of prebiotics, and provide guidance around:

Whether they selectively fuel the good bacteria, or simultaneously promote the growth of the good and the bad bacteria in your gut.
How much of the specific type of prebiotic has been shown to be the tolerable daily intake without causing digestive or gastric distress.

To learn more about:

How much of the specific prebiotic is actually needed to be consumed in order to gain the health benefit from the prebiotic.
Which foods to include in your diet in order to obtain the variety of prebiotics.

Make sure you sign up to the blog to ensure you are one of the first to be notified on the release of my latest e-book – Uplift Food- Prebiotic Manual.

I decided to also highlight what chicory root fiber is, and whether chicory root fiber is safe, given that it is often found inside lower sugar, higher fiber formulated products, and people often seem confused whether they can include this ingredient or not in a gut health diet.

Ref: http://www.teknoscienze.com/Contents/Riviste/Sfogliatore/PREBIOTICS-PROBIOTICS_2016/files/assets/basic-html/page8.html

…so lets dive in now!

Types of prebiotic fibers

There are a number of different prebiotic fibres, which predominantly differ based on polymer length.

They all still share the same description of being non-digestible carbohydrates that are able to stimulate the growth of bacteria in the colon, and lead to positive health benefits to us, the host.

Prebiotic fibers can come in the form of oligosaccharides, resistant starches, and disaccharides.

There are other types of probiotics such as polyphenolic compounds, but for today, we will focus on prebiotic fibers.

Ref: http://scielo.sld.cu/img/revistas/rsa/v33n3/f0401311.gif

For the purpose of this post, we are going to focus in on the the most commonly researched and discussed, the oligosaccharides.

Some of which include:

Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS)
Inulin
Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS)
Isomolto-oligosaccharides (IMO)
Xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS)

Of these, FOS and inulin (which simply differ by polymer lengths) have often been the key focus of many research studies in the area of prebiotics.

Prebiotic fiber chart

Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and Inulin:

Both FOS and inulin are polymers of fructans, which due to the malabsorption in the small intestine, can cause some gas or bloating in those who are sensitive to this (typically individuals that suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)). I have written a post around how those that have IBS can gradually incorporate prebiotics into their diet here.
The key by-products from FOS fermentation are acetate and lactate, whereas for inulin, it is the highly desirably short chain fatty acid, butyrate.
Inulin that is naturally extracted from chicory root is often written on food or beverage product ingredient lists as chicory root fiber.

To learn about how much FOS you actually need to consume in order to reap the benefits, make sure you check out my e-book – Uplift Food- Prebiotic Manual which will give you all the answers you have been looking for on the gut health prebiotic connection.

oligo-fructose / FOS prebiotic fibre can be found inside some protein bars

How much Inulin do you need to consume to consume for health benefits?

The dose of inulin required to significantly increase Bifidobacterium counts in the human gut has been shown in various studies to range from 5g, up to 15g or higher.
As with all prebiotics the duration of intake also affects the dose-response, with longer-term intake leading to a lower daily dose requirement, and more well tolerated results.
Combining prebiotic inulin with other types of prebiotics such as resistant starch, and insoluble fibers, may lead to greater benefits than the sum of the individual benefits of the seperate ingredients.
You will see the words chicory root fiber on many formulated health products, in place of the word inulin, due to this being the source of the prebiotic inulin.

For more information on the different sources of inulin, and how their are known variances in tolerance levels based on the origin of the fiber, make sure you check out my e-book – Uplift Food – Prebiotic Manual.

The Uplift Food Daily Uplifter in both Australia and the USA provide some naturally occurring Jerusalem artichoke inulin soluble prebiotic fiber in order to support gut health, and help strengthen your gut integrity.

Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS):

GOS fuels both the good, and the bad bacteria in the colon, which may explain some of the negative side effects that are associated with its consumption.
GOS has however been shown to significantly enhance bifidobacteria production in some IBS sufferers at low levels of 3.5 g/day and 7 g/day.

GOS and resistant starch table.
Ref:https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=58099&content=PDF

GOS can also be found in foods such as green peas, chickpeas and kidney beans;
With a half cup serving of these foods providing approximately 6-7g of prebiotic fiber, of which 3-4g are from GOS.

Isomolto-oligosacchaide (IMO):

Often found inside formulated high protein / low sugar bars, IMO is partially digested, leading to a higher tolerability in humans than some of the other prebiotics.
IMO increases the proportion of both beneficial bacteria, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, in human studies.
Significant reductions in serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels and increased HDL-cholesterol levels following daily consumption of 30 g of an IMO mixture compared to pre-treatment values have been seen in a human study.

IMO prebiotic – VitaFiber commercial prebiotic available to consumers (in organic tapioca, non GMO tapioca, and non GMO corn varieties). To learn more about tolerance levels to IMO and how you can include products that contain this prebiotic without experiencing the negative side effects, make sure you check out my e-book- Uplift Food- Prebiotic Manual.

Xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS):

Very small intakes of XOS, as low as 1 or 1.5g / day, have been shown to bring about positive bifidogenic effects.
Some studies with XOS have also shown beneficial impacts upon lipid profiles and blood glucose at similar doses.
XOS is one of the most selective prebiotics, being able to fuel only the good bifidobacteria, and not supply the bad bacteria with energy.

XOS formation in the food industry.
Ref: http://www.lignofood.eu/lignofood.html

XOS prebiotic can be found in the required active dose within the Uplift Food Daily Uplifter USA product available here.

As you can see, prebiotics come in different forms (and this list was not exhaustive), and at varying levels of the different types it is projected that we will be able to tolerate their intake without gastric distress, and obtain the benefits they can provide.

Each of us will have slight variations in tolerance, and for this reason, testing out different sources, at varying volumes, will be the best option to take when it comes to finding a prebiotic source that works for you.

As tolerance builds up, aiming to obtain around 20g in total per day, would be recommended, depending on the type of prebiotic you are predominantly incorporating into your diet.

In my next post I will share information on current vs past consumption levels of prebiotics, and delve deeper into the amounts you can find inside different foods!

If these topics are of interest, dont forget to sign up for the blog so that you get an update as soon as they the next post is live!

Until next time,

TD x