Acacia Senegal fiber
On popular request, we have added acacia fibers as new ingredient. This fiber is often used as part of microbiome treatments, typically because it is considered to stimulate butyrate-producing bacteria. Acacia fiber (also known as gum Arabic) is sold as food supplement in typical daily doses of 5-10g/d and, for practical purposes, the nominal daily dose in the MyOwnBlend is set to 5g/d as well. Interestingly, however, most scientific studies have used daily doses of 25g/d or higher. This means that for the typically used daily dose, the strength of evidence for most indications is relatively low.
That said, some of the indications for which scientific studies suggest that acacia fiber can be effective are constipation (e.g. 1,2) and bloating (3). One study shows a trend towards a benefit for IBS, although it did not reach statistical significance (1). Moreover, several studies have shown an effect of acacia fiber for metabolic dysfunction (i.e. insulin resistance) (e.g. 4,5), and there is some evidence for ulcerative colitis (5) and periodontitis (6). In addition, there is some clinical evidence that high-dose acacia fibers can increase butyrate production (7). You can find more indications and information about this new ingredient behind the i-button on our platform.
Limit prebiotics in Advice Aid
Some patients may respond quite strongly to prebiotics. When this is expected, the amounts can be lowered and alternatives can be added manually when making the prescription. Doctors have requested us to include this in the Advice Aid too. We have now implemented this for all non-probiotics, including prebiotics such as PHGG or 2’fucosyllactose, as well as other non-probiotic ingredients such as glutamine.
In step 2 of the Advice Aid (medical background), you can find the new question “Limit non-probiotics”. if you score 1, 2, or 3, the maximum daily dose of non-probiotics in the proposed MyOwnBlend is limited to 5g/d, 3g/d, or 1g/d respectively. If you select the maximum score of 4, non-probiotics will be excluded completely and the proposed MyOwnBlend will contain only probiotic ingredients.
References
1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-024-03398-8
2. https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/emr-140096
3. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13010194
4. https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2022.134031
5. https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v7i3.325
6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sdentj.2017.10.006
7. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ki.5000028