The Prebiotic Soda Trend

The ​“Pre­bi­ot­ic Soda” has seen a recent surge of pop­u­lar­i­ty and growth in the bev­er­age indus­try over the past cou­ple of years, shift­ing the soda mar­ket toward health­i­er alter­na­tives in fizzy drinks. Some of the most beloved brands have come into pop­u­lar­i­ty for their low-calo­rie count and sur­pris­ing­ly sat­is­fy­ing fla­vors. These brands boast gut-healthy prop­er­ties due to the pre­bi­otics they con­tain. Mar­ket­ed as a ​“bev­er­age with ben­e­fits,” they are being hailed as a health­i­er option, but are they a good sub­sti­tute for get­ting your dai­ly pre­bi­ot­ic fix? 

What are prebiotics? 

Pre­bi­otics — not to be con­fused with pro­bi­otics, which are live microor­gan­isms, often bac­te­ria, that are ben­e­fi­cial for your gut health – are a type of fiber that serve as food for ben­e­fi­cial gut bac­te­ria. These ​“gut micro­bio­ta” play a cru­cial role in var­i­ous aspects of our over­all health. Whether it’s the reg­u­la­tion of our immune sys­tem or metab­o­lism, they play a crit­i­cal role in main­tain­ing a healthy micro­bio­me. The human micro­bio­me is a com­plex com­mu­ni­ty of microor­gan­isms that live in our diges­tive tracts and affect every­thing from our diges­tion to our mood and immune response. Con­sum­ing pre­bi­otics helps to nour­ish these ben­e­fi­cial bac­te­ria, pro­mot­ing a bal­anced and healthy gut environment. 

Is a pre­bi­ot­ic soda good for you? 

When we exam­ine the con­tents of these pre­bi­ot­ic sodas, it’s evi­dent how they dif­fer­en­ti­ate them­selves from tra­di­tion­al sodas. Ingre­di­ents such as sparkling water, apple cider vine­gar, fruit juices, and organ­ic cane sug­ar set them apart from sodas loaded with sug­ar and high fruc­tose corn syrup. These drinks, coin­ing the slo­gan ​“bet­ter for you,” live up to their claim of being a much health­i­er alter­na­tive to main­stream colas and ener­gy drinks. 

How­ev­er, when look­ing at the pre­bi­ot­ic con­tent in these sodas, the small amount of pre­bi­ot­ic fiber is not like­ly to make a mean­ing­ful impact on your gut health. While these bev­er­ages may pro­vide a min­i­mal ben­e­fi­cial boost, they might not offer enough pre­bi­ot­ic fiber to sig­nif­i­cant­ly impact gut health on their own. 

How many pre­bi­otics do you need? 

Health experts sug­gest a dai­ly intake of about 25 to 38 grams of fiber for adults, a por­tion of which should come from pre­bi­otics. While pre­bi­ot­ic sodas can sup­port this intake, rely­ing sole­ly on soda may not meet the nec­es­sary lev­els for opti­mal gut health. Instead, we rec­om­mend incor­po­rat­ing a vari­ety of pre­bi­ot­ic-rich foods into your diet – like gar­lic, onions, bananas, and whole grains, to ensure ade­quate fiber consumption. 

Are pre­bi­ot­ic sodas bet­ter than tra­di­tion­al sodas? 

Along with their pre­bi­ot­ic con­tent, pre­bi­ot­ic sodas are also appeal­ing due to their low­er sug­ar con­tent com­pared to tra­di­tion­al sodas. The use of nat­ur­al sweet­en­ers and fruit juices not only reduces calo­rie intake but also pro­vides a more com­plex fla­vor pro­file that you may find refresh­ing. As health­care providers, we love the shift towards low­er-sug­ar drinks, but we also rec­om­mend explor­ing bev­er­ages that are hydrat­ing, deli­cious and don’t include added ingre­di­ents. If you’re look­ing for addi­tion­al soda alter­na­tives, we rec­om­mend adding sliced fruit to your water, try­ing a vari­ety of herbal teas or explor­ing sparkling waters. 

If you’re look­ing for addi­tion­al sup­port in mak­ing healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle, sched­ule an appoint­ment with your Duly pri­ma­ry care provider.

While pre­bi­ot­ic sodas present a health­i­er alter­na­tive to tra­di­tion­al sodas and con­tribute to gut health, they should be part of a bal­anced diet rich in var­i­ous sources of pre­bi­otics. Their pop­u­lar­i­ty under­scores a sig­nif­i­cant shift in con­sumer pref­er­ences towards health­i­er, func­tion­al bev­er­ages. As drink options con­tin­ue to evolve, you can expect to see even more inno­v­a­tive prod­ucts that pri­or­i­tize health with­out sac­ri­fic­ing flavor.