Inulin

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    Last Updated: November 2, 2023

    Inulin is a type of soluble fiber that can be taken as a supplement or found naturally in foods (e.g., Jerusalem artichokes, chicory, asparagus, garlic, onions, wheat, bananas). Inulin can have prebiotic effects on the gut microbiome, leading to increases in the abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium spp.. Inulin may have various benefits on gut and overall health, but clinical trials tend to report inconsistent results, which may be due to variability in baseline microbiomes, habitual diets, and health status.

    What is inulin?

    Inulin is a soluble dietary fiber and fructan carbohydrate that is made up of chains of fructose molecules; it is found naturally in various plants and serves as an energy storage form. It is resistant to human digestion and reaches the large intestine, where it acts as a food source for gut microbes and promotes the production of beneficial compounds and the growth of healthy bacteria.

    What are inulin’s main benefits?

    Inulin primarily benefits gut health by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria like Bifidobacterium and may also improve blood sugar regulation, reduce LDL cholesterol, enhance satiety, and improve bowel movement frequency. However, the effects vary between studies and are generally small in magnitude.

    What are inulin’s main drawbacks?

    Inulin is generally safe, but it can cause gastrointestinal side effects like bloating, gas, and diarrhea, especially at higher doses or with short-chain forms due to faster fermentation. Starting with a lower dose and gradually increasing intake may help improve tolerance, though individual responses can vary due to gut microbiome differences.

    How does inulin work?

    Inulin functions primarily as a fermentable fiber; it influences the gut microbiome and promotes the production of bioactive metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which may improve health. However, clinical trials have yielded mixed results on SCFA production, and establishing a direct association between gut microbiome changes and beneficial health outcomes in humans remains challenging.

    Examine Database: Inulin

    Frequently asked questions

    What is inulin?

    Inulin is a soluble dietary fiber and fructan carbohydrate that is made up of chains of fructose molecules; it is found naturally in various plants and serves as an energy storage form. It is resistant to human digestion and reaches the large intestine, where it acts as a food source for gut microbes and promotes the production of beneficial compounds and the growth of healthy bacteria.

    Inulin is a fructan carbohydrate (i.e., a chain of fructose molecules) and soluble dietary fiber found naturally in some plants as a form of energy storage. While inulin can be taken as a supplement, it can also be consumed as part of the diet with foods such as Jerusalem artichokes, chicory, asparagus, garlic, onions, wheat, and bananas.[1] Structurally, inulin is usually composed of a straight chain of fructose sugars that are connected by a type of bond (a β-(2,1)-glycosidic bond) that is resistant to human digestive enzymes.[2] Because of this, inulin travels to the large intestine largely undigested and acts as a food source for microbes of the gut microbiome — primarily via bacterial fermentation. This process leads to the production of compounds capable of influencing human health — such as short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs), while also stimulating the growth of potentially beneficial bacteria.[3]

    Inulin can be categorized based on the length of its fructose chain, which also influences its physiochemical properties (e.g., solubility, fermentation rate).[1] Long-chain inulin generally consists of 10 to 60 fructose units, while short-chain inulin has 2 to 10 fructose units and is referred to as a fructooligosaccharide (FOS) or oligofructose.[1] Together, short- and long-chain inulin are called “inulin-type fructans,” which will be used synonymously with “inulin” on this page.[4]

    What are inulin’s main benefits?

    Inulin primarily benefits gut health by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria like Bifidobacterium and may also improve blood sugar regulation, reduce LDL cholesterol, enhance satiety, and improve bowel movement frequency. However, the effects vary between studies and are generally small in magnitude.

    Inulin is best known for its prebiotic effects on the gut microbiome, stimulating the growth of bacteria generally thought to be beneficial for health. Most consistently, inulin has been found to increase the absolute abundance of Bifidobacterium species. It may also increase levels of Lactobacillus species and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and decrease levels of Clostridium species (some of which are potentially pathogenic), although these effects are less consistently found.[3][5]

    Regular supplementation with inulin may improve blood sugar regulation in people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes),[2][6] reduce LDL cholesterol,[7] increase satiety,[3] improve bowel movement frequency and consistency,[8][9] increase the absorption of calcium and magnesium,[3] and, in people with overweight or obesity, reduce C-reactive protein.[10] While these are the effects most consistently observed in clinical trials, there is still a substantial amount of variability between studies, and the effects tend to be small in magnitude.

    Does inulin affect mood?
    Quick answer:

    Inulin may influence mood through the gut-brain axis; some animal studies have shown antidepressant and antianxiety effects, but human trials have produced mixed results. Further research is necessary to clarify inulin's effect on mood because its effects may vary based on individual microbiome and health status.

    It has been suggested that the gut microbiome is capable of influencing mood via the gut-brain axis. While inulin has demonstrated antidepressant and antianxiety effects in mice models of these conditions,[13][14] human clinical trials have found conflicting results. A 2019 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials did not find an effect of prebiotics on anxiety or depression, although only four of the included trials used inulin and just one trial had a duration of at least 4 weeks.[15] Similar to other effects of inulin, some research suggests that inulin’s effect on mood depends on one’s baseline microbiome and health status.[16] Interestingly, a study in adults with mild-to-moderate anxiety and depression found that oligofructose supplementation increased the abundance of Bifidobacterium species, which was correlated with reduced scores (improved mood) on a variety of mood measurement tools; however, this study was funded and partially authored by a producer of oligofructose.[17] Ultimately, further research is needed to understand how inulin might impact mood.

    Check out our summary of a 2021 study examining inulin’s effect on mood in people with obesity.

    Does inulin affect body weight?
    Quick answer:

    Inulin may help reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness by affecting gut hormones like peptide YY and ghrelin. However, most studies indicate that inulin supplementation does not significantly affect body weight in children and adults.

    Inulin seems to reduce hunger and increase satiety, possibly related to its influence on gut hormones including increased peptide YY (PYY) and decreased ghrelin.[3][10] Despite this, most research in children and adults has not found that inulin supplementation influences weight status to any significant degree.[18][3]

    What are inulin’s main drawbacks?

    Inulin is generally safe, but it can cause gastrointestinal side effects like bloating, gas, and diarrhea, especially at higher doses or with short-chain forms due to faster fermentation. Starting with a lower dose and gradually increasing intake may help improve tolerance, though individual responses can vary due to gut microbiome differences.

    Inulin is generally considered safe, and the main side effects are gastrointestinal in nature due to the gas produced during bacterial fermentation. Possible side effects include flatulence, abdominal rumbling or cramping, bloating, and diarrhea.[3][11] These side effects may be worse at higher doses and with short-chain inulin (oligofructose, FOS) due to faster fermentation rates.[11] Starting at a lower dose and increasing slowly over time can help to improve tolerance.[3]

    One major limitation of inulin is how variable its effect can be between individuals. Many of the potential benefits of inulin are due to its interactions with the gut microbiome, but the microbes in the gut can vary greatly between different people, which could lead to inconsistent and unpredictable effects.[3] A study in mice found that after six months of consuming a high-fat diet (intending to mimic a Western diet) enriched with inulin, most mice developed liver damage and liver cancer, which seemed to be related to the production of secondary bile acids by certain gut bacteria. The authors suggested that the health effects (both positive and negative) of fermentable fibers may depend on the unique gut microbial environment. Importantly, the amount of inulin consumed daily in this study was not clear, and this negative effect has not been observed in human clinical trials.[12]

    How does inulin work?

    Inulin functions primarily as a fermentable fiber; it influences the gut microbiome and promotes the production of bioactive metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which may improve health. However, clinical trials have yielded mixed results on SCFA production, and establishing a direct association between gut microbiome changes and beneficial health outcomes in humans remains challenging.

    Most research suggests that inulin works primarily as a fermentable fiber which can undergo bacterial fermentation in the gut, leading to changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiome and the production of bioactive metabolites, like SCFAs.[3] SCFAs are capable of influencing the health of our body in a multitude of ways, including by promoting a healthy gut environment and helping to regulate appetite, inflammation, and metabolism.[4] While some clinical trials have reported increased levels of SCFAs in the blood or feces with inulin supplementation, most have actually failed to find an effect.[3] Additionally, while inulin can certainly modulate the gut microbiome, connecting these changes to beneficial health outcomes in humans has proved challenging. Ultimately, further research is needed to better understand how inulin works.

    Update History

    Examine Database References

    1. Blood glucose - Wang L, Yang H, Huang H, Zhang C, Zuo HX, Xu P, Niu YM, Wu SSInulin-type fructans supplementation improves glycemic control for the prediabetes and type 2 diabetes populations: results from a GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of 33 randomized controlled trials.J Transl Med.(2019-Dec-05)
    2. Blood glucose - Rao M, Gao C, Xu L, Jiang L, Zhu J, Chen G, Law BYK, Xu YEffect of Inulin-Type Carbohydrates on Insulin Resistance in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.J Diabetes Res.(2019)
    3. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - Liu F, Prabhakar M, Ju J, Long H, Zhou HWEffect of inulin-type fructans on blood lipid profile and glucose level: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Eur J Clin Nutr.(2017-Jan)
    4. C-Reactive Protein (CRP) - Dayanne da Silva Borges, Ricardo Fernandes, Arthur Thives Mello, Ethiene da Silva Fontoura, Adair Roberto Soares Dos Santos, Erasmo Benicio Santos de Moraes TrindadePrebiotics may reduce serum concentrations of C-reactive protein and ghrelin in overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysisNutr Rev.(2020 Mar 1)
    5. Constipation Signs and Symptoms - Collado Yurrita L, San Mauro Martín I, Ciudad-Cabañas MJ, Calle-Purón ME, Hernández Cabria MEffectiveness of inulin intake on indicators of chronic constipation; a meta-analysis of controlled randomized clinical trials.Nutr Hosp.(2014-Aug-01)
    6. Bifidobacterium Abundance - Dou Y, Yu X, Luo Y, Chen B, Ma D, Zhu JEffect of Fructooligosaccharides Supplementation on the Gut Microbiota in Human: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients.(2022-Aug-12)
    7. Migraine Frequency - Vajdi M, Khorvash F, Askari GA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial to test the effect of inulin supplementation on migraine headache characteristics, quality of life and mental health symptoms in women with migraine.Food Funct.(2024 Sep 30)