On March 17, PepsiCo announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the prebiotic soda brand Poppi.
Poppi and other prebiotic soda brands, like Olipop, have gained popularity in recent years with flavors like strawberry lemon, orange, grape, and cherry limeade. The companies claim that their sodas are healthy alternatives to regular soft drinks partly because they contain prebiotics, which serve as food for the bacteria in our gut (which are called probiotics). Both prebiotics and probiotics are important to maintaining a healthy gut microbiome and have been linked in research to better health outcomes, including improved digestion and a stronger immune system, says Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian and media nutrition liaison for the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Human Nutrition.
But do these health benefits hold up when prebiotics are delivered in the form of a soda?
“I think in moderation they can be a fair, good choice,” Zumpano says. “I definitely think they are better than traditional sodas…but really they should be consumed in moderation.”
In 2024, Poppi was sued over allegations that its prebiotic sodas don’t improve gut health as much as the brand’s marketing claims it does. Poppi denied the allegations; it stopped using the phrase “gut health” on its packaging in 2023 and recently agreed to a settlement of $8.9 million, pending court approval, according to the Associated Press.
Zumpano says there’s limited research proving that prebiotic sodas lead to positive gut microbiome changes, and Marion Nestle, emeritus professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, adds it’s not clear if the sodas contain enough prebiotics to significantly affect the gut. Both experts say that eating fibrous foods—such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans—are far superior sources of prebiotics than these drinks.
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“It’s always better, because fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans have lots of nutrients along with the fiber, and they’re just generally healthier,” Nestle says.
The main reason why health experts agree that soda is unhealthy is not because of a lack of prebiotics, but because of a high amount of added sugar. Prebiotic sodas also contain added sugar, but much less than regular soft drinks. (While a 12 oz. serving of Pepsi has 41 g of added sugar, for instance, the same amount of Poppi has 3 g.)
A prebiotic soda can therefore be a healthier alternative to a traditional soda, both Zumpano and Nestle say. But they also caution people against drinking too many of them, which could lead to gastrointestinal issues such as gas, bloating, and diarrhea. And prebiotic sodas should definitely not be someone’s primary source of dietary fiber.
“Love to have them be an occasional thing here or there, more like a treat with a benefit of some prebiotics,” Zumpano says, “but you should be mainly getting your prebiotics from food.”
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