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Inulin
A prebiotic fibre, taken mostly from chicory root. It is in one of our formulas, Digestion & microbiome, and it carries one authorised EU health claim, on bowel function. That claim needs 12 g a day and the formula carries 3 g, so we do not use it there.
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
One claim. It needs 12 g a day.
This is the exact wording on the EU register for inulin, and we do not paraphrase it. It comes with two conditions: at least 12 g a day, and it has to be native chicory inulin, an unfractionated mix extracted from chicory with an average degree of polymerisation of 9 or more.This is the exact wording on the EU register for inulin, and we do not paraphrase it. It needs at least 12 g a day of native chicory inulin.
At 3 g a day, Digestion & microbiome carries a quarter of what the claim needs, so the claim does not apply to it. In that formula, the authorised claim belongs to zinc. Our file also describes effects on gut bacteria, on calcium and magnesium absorption and on the immune response of the gut lining. None of those is an authorised claim, so you will not read them here as promises.
WHY NATIVE CHICORY
The claim names one kind of inulin.
Inulin is a long chain of fructose that you do not digest. It reaches the colon intact, where bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii ferment it into short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate and butyrate. It can come from chicory, Jerusalem artichoke or agave, but the authorised claim is written for native chicory inulin only, so that is the form on file.
The same kind of fibre, cut shorter: 2 – 8 units instead of 10 – 60. Our file counts them together with inulin rather than as something different.
Our file prefers a standardised inulin over crude extracts. Allergic reactions are rare and linked to the plant rather than to pure inulin, but a confirmed allergy to Asteraceae, the family that includes chicory and ragweed, calls for care with raw inulin.
Standardised for chain length, and the only kind the authorised claim covers. Its longer chain ferments further along the colon than FOS, which is generally linked to less wind at first.
Native chicory is our preferred form, but the regulatory status of our current batch is still marked as pending in our file, and no grade is recorded against the formula yet. Until it is, we do not say that the inulin you receive meets the definition in the claim.Native chicory is our preferred form, but the status of our current batch is still pending. Until it is confirmed, we do not say it meets the claim's definition.
WHERE IT APPEARS
One of the twenty-nine carries inulin.
It sits in Digestion & microbiome, next to GOS, three bacteria and zinc, taken 15 – 30 minutes before breakfast. At 3,000 mg it is below the 5 – 10 g a day our file records for bowel function, and our inulin file would rather have it with a meal, to ease fermentation. We would rather tell you both than leave them out.
THE CEILING
No upper limit has been set.
EFSA has not formally set a tolerable upper intake level for inulin, so there is no ceiling to draw here. What our file does record is where tolerance ends: up to 10 g a day is well tolerated, and above 15 – 20 g a day it can cause diarrhoea. At 3,000 mg you are well under that, but inulin is not the only fermentable fibre in the formula, so the amounts are added up rather than counted apart.EFSA has not set an upper intake level for inulin. Our file records it as well tolerated up to 10 g a day, and the fibres in the formula are added up.
Both are fermentable fibres, so our library adds them up: 5 g in Digestion & microbiome, against a total of 10 – 15 g a day that most people tolerate without symptoms. FOS, oligofructose and lactulose count towards the same total.
Wind, bloating and a rumbling gut depend on the dose. Our file advises starting at 2 – 3 g a day and building up over 14 – 28 days, and dropping to 2 – 3 g a day if you get recurrent bloating after meals. The questionnaire does not ask about this yet, and this formula carries a fixed 3 g, so if it bloats you, stop and tell us. The formula itself is reviewed at 8 weeks.
Confirmed small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), where it makes symptoms worse. A low-FODMAP diet, as inulin is a fructan, the F in FODMAP. Hereditary fructose intolerance. It does not fit a keto diet either. With IBS, especially the diarrhoea-predominant or mixed type, only with care, at a low dose and watching how you respond; if you are sensitive to FODMAPs, you may react from 3 – 5 g. Care with raw inulin if you have a confirmed allergy to Asteraceae, such as chicory or ragweed. The formula that carries it is not for SIBO or severe immunosuppression. In pregnancy and breastfeeding, our file considers inulin safe at standard doses, up to 5 g a day.
WHAT IT REACTS WITH
Documented pairs, not hunches.
Inulin is one of the 140 ingredients in our library, so it has 139 possible partners. We have documented 15 of them. Nine are classed as synergies, and eight of those can share a dose: calcium, magnesium, vitamin D3, the inactivated probiotic mix, blueberry, turmeric, ginkgo and green tea. The ninth, psyllium, comes with conditions. The other six need either space or a count.
Charcoal and white clay bind what they meet. White clay also lowers the bacteria that ferment inulin; charcoal partly adsorbs it. Glucomannan falls under the same engine rule: all three get a window of their own, at least 2 hours (ideally 3) from any other ingredient, inulin included. Glucomannan's fibre still counts towards the 10 – 15 g total, and above 15 g the pair is blocked.
FOS and oligofructose are shorter pieces of the same fibre, so their amounts are added to inulin's, within 10 – 15 g a day in total. Psyllium is classed as a synergy, but only with fermentable fibre kept at 12 g a day or less, and the engine keeps it at least 2 hours from minerals and fat-soluble vitamins; that pair is still marked for review in our file. With the Digezyme enzyme mix, fermentable fibre stays below 8 g.
Broad-spectrum oral antibiotics reduce the bacteria that ferment inulin, so our file keeps the two 1 – 2 hours apart. Osmotic laxatives need no spacing, but they add to its laxative effect and to wind. Our file says no other medication needs to be spaced from inulin. Neither is an entry in our medication table yet, and our pharmacokinetic file found nothing on liver enzymes. That is an open question, not a clean result.
443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%, and 15 of them involve inulin. The rest are not "safe", they are simply unchecked, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%, and 15 of them involve inulin. The rest are not safe, they are simply unchecked.
SOURCES
Everything on this page, with its reference.
Reviewed by VION nutrition team · last reviewed 16 September 2026
140 INGREDIENTS · 64 IN USE TODAY
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What it is, what we are allowed to say about it, which formulas carry it, what it reacts with and where each of those statements comes from. No proprietary blends, no hidden amounts.