Hi all.
Prior to changing to a healthy attitude towards diet, I had started to take the supplement inulin as a pre biotic and also to help with my long term insomnia. This gave good benefits and I felt it was helping. I am also aware of its benefits at lowering blood sugar levels and being an excellent source of soluble fibre. Ive stopped taking this as I’m not sure if it is classed as a fructose/sugar ? What counter productive effects it may have on my regime.?
It is described as a fructo (something) the nutrition stats say it’s composition is fairly high per 100g carb however the fibre content is also very high. Does this therefore cancel out the majority of carbs? This would make it around 2.4g carbs per 100g inulin. I’d really like to up my fibre intake and continue with the benefits of taking this but if there’s a better option and it’s classed as a sugar I will choose the better option. Thank you in advance.

Oligofructose. Inulin fructans do not generate an insulin response and its fiber is not absorbed in the intestine so while it does have calories, they don’t get processed as such by our bodies. As you noted, it has been found in studies to lower blood sugar, not raise it, especially fasting BG.

I use inulin powder in several applications, but it’s pure, just the chickory root extract. Does the supplement you’re taking have a list of ingredients? Those 2.5g of carbs are confusing to me. I can’t help but suspect some kind of additive is involved. Inulin is all fiber, so the numbers for fiber and the numbers for carbs should be the same, or, if it’s the UK labeling system, the fiber should be separate and the carbs zero. This is the product I have in my pantry: https://www.lowcarbfoods.com/low-carb-staples/inulin-fiber Because we subtract fiber from carbs due to the way the US labeling system lists fiber as a subset of carbs, the net carbs are zero.

Long story short, inulin is fine, good even. Your supplement brand may be a little shady, though. When in doubt, strip back to the rawest version of the element you can get your hands on.

Thanks that’s really interesting, should it be taken as well a potato starch or instead?

I have found inulin very helpful. Have checked the brands I use (Bioglan and Golden Greens organic) and they both contain a small amount of net carbs with the rest being fibre. I wonder if in the UK there isn’t a brand that extracts all the sugars from the fibre. Neither brand has any additional ingredients added and as the fibre content is so high and the sugars so low it is an excellent addition to the BSD way of eating.