Most low carb and keto dieters know their way around a nutrition label and can spot suspicious ingredients in their sleep.
Yet, there are some ingredients on nutrition labels that appear fine at first glance– maybe they’re sourced from a familiar vegetable– but sound just a little off.
For us, one of these ingredients was tapioca fiber. We see it over and over again on low carb and keto-friendly product labels.
Fiber isn’t included in net carb counts, so on paper, tapioca fiber looks great. Still, with it being used in so many products, we wanted to dig deeper. We are glad we did.
In this article, we report on what we’ve discovered about tapioca fiber from available scientific research. We also provide evidence on whether or not tapioca fiber (and soluble corn fiber) are appropriate for diabetics, epileptics and those on a ketogenic diet. [Spoiler: One of them is not so good]
What is tapioca fiber?
So what exactly is tapioca fiber? It’s harder to explain than you would think.
For starters, tapioca fiber isn’t an ingredient that you can find at the grocery store (it’s not the same as the widely-available tapioca flour).
Search the internet for “tapioca fiber” and there’s no Wikipedia page. In fact, there aren’t many relevant results at all. Seriously, try it yourself.
So, we turned to Alibaba, a global trade website and one of the ten most valuable companies in the world. If you’re going to find a supplier for anything, it’s on Alibaba.
Querying Alibaba for “tapioca fiber,” we started seeing random references to “IMO” sprinkled throughout the results. Interesting.
Does the term isomaltooligosaccharide ring a bell?
IMO: Isomaltooligosaccharide
Quest Nutrition, makers of the popular protein bars, came under fire around 2013 for potentially misrepresenting IMO as dietary fiber on their bars’ nutrition labels.
Quest vehemently defended itself in a blog post. Yet, interestingly, just months later, they reformulated their recipe, removing IMO as an ingredient.
Why would a simple ingredient like dietary fiber be so important that people would seek litigation against Quest?
“Fiber”
Dietary fiber has a host of healthful benefits, but for adherents of low carb and ketogenic diets, the most important aspect is whether or not fiber impacts blood sugar levels. That’s because a spike in blood glucose will result in an increase in insulin levels and insulin inhibits ketone production1.
Net Carbs
To determine net effective carbs in the U.S., you normally take the total carbohydrate count and subtract out the amount of dietary fiber. This assumes that dietary fiber isn’t digested and doesn’t affect blood glucose.
But, if IMOs actually do affect blood glucose, then they shouldn’t be subtracted from the total amount of carbs. That means the net carb counts for products containing IMO are likely incorrect.
Does tapioca fiber = IMO?
That’s where it gets tricky. Tapioca fiber, as previously mentioned, is like a ghost on the internet. But, after some digging, we found a couple nutritional labels from well-known keto and paleo brands linking IMO and tapioca fiber.
Exhibit 1: Primal Kitchen
For our first example, let’s take a look at Primal Kitchen, a huge ($200 million) player in the Paleo foods market.
We’ll focus on the nutrition label for their Macadamia Sea Salt Grass-Fed Collagen Bars.
On Primal Kitchen’s website, the first ingredient listed for the Macadamia Sea Salt bar is isomaltooligosaccharides (from Tapioca). However, on Thrive Market, the first ingredient on the actual packaging is Prebiotic Tapioca Fiber.
Primal Kitchen Website (Macadamia Sea Salt Grass-Fed Collagen Bars) | [Source: primalkitchen.com]
Primal Kitchen Product Packaging (Macadamia Sea Salt Grass-Fed Collagen Bars) [Source: thrivemarket.com]
That’s huge. Primal Kitchen considers prebiotic tapioca fiber the same as isomalto-oligosaccharides from tapioca.
Also note that Primal Kitchen lists 1g of fiber per bar, even though “tapioca fiber” is the main ingredient of the 49g bar. Read another way, Primal Kitchen does not consider prebiotic tapioca fiber as a dietary fiber!
Exhibit 2: Popular Low Carb Cookie Mix
Our second example comes from a popular low carb baking mix. On this ingredient list, you can clearly see that Soluble Tapioca Fiber is annotated with “IMO from non-GMO Tapioca starch.”
That’s as clear as it gets: IMO and Soluble Tapioca Fiber are linked on a single label.
Why should we place so much stock in what manufacturers are printing on their labels?
First, for Primal Kitchen, it simply behooves a brand of that size to closely monitor and comply with FDA labeling guidelines to avoid potential penalties. They have a lot to lose from mis-labeling.
Secondly, recall that tapioca fiber isn’t something that’s easy to find. If someone is buying tapioca fiber in bulk, it’s likely coming from China.
An example source is this large supplier from China, which can export 10,000 tons a month of “Organic Fiber Tapioca Syrup and powder.” However, the supplier lists their product under the known chemical registry number (CAS) for isomaltose, an IMO. Note, there is no CAS number for “tapioca fiber.”
Therefore, it’s very likely that food producers and manufacturers are purchasing what’s classified as IMO and consciously labeling it as tapioca fiber.
The Cost Factor
So, why are food manufacturers using tapioca fiber instead of soluble corn fiber? They could claim avoidance of GMO corn as a reason to use tapioca fiber. However it is very easy to find non-GMO soluble corn fiber (like the one we tested with).
Instead, cost may be a possible motivation behind utilizing tapioca fiber/IMO instead of soluble corn fiber. The soluble corn fiber we found was nearly double the cost per gram of popular IMO BioNeutra VitaFiber powder. In bulk quantities, that could potentially result in substantial cost savings.
The FDA
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) did not provide a definition of Dietary Fiber in food labeling guidelines until May 2016.
After releasing their initial definition of dietary fiber, the FDA called for manufacturers to submit scientific evidence via what’s known as a citizen petition. If manufacturers believed their “isolated” fiber should be included in the FDA’s list of dietary fibers, they needed to provide compelling scientific evidence to the FDA. Isomalto-oligosaccharide was indeed included in one of one of the petitions.
The FDA reviewed each petition and published a final guidance on dietary fiber in June 2018.
IMO did not make the cut in the FDA’s final guidelines on dietary fiber (June 2018).
Tapioca fiber (an alias for IMO) was also not on the list.
Between the food label clues and FDA review, the evidence points to IMO not being a true dietary fiber and tapioca fiber simply being a another name for IMO.
So, why should you care?
Tapioca fiber is worse than sugar
We’ve seen a lot of references to IMO floating around the internet that state the glycemic index of IMO is around 30. That’s not the GI of 0 that you’d expect from dietary fiber, but overall it’s not that bad. It’s about half the GI of table sugar, and on par with the GI of maltitol.
However, while looking through the literature, we noticed most studies focused primarily on IMO being a fiber and not on its glycemic impact.
Searching specifically for the effects of IMO on blood glucose, we found recent studies that compared IMO products from various producers and measured the effects of ingesting those IMOs on blood glucose levels2.
Across the board, even with the variances in producers and their methods of extraction, they found that IMOs generate an increase in blood glucose levels similar to glucose and dextrose.
Why is that important?
Glucose and dextrose both have a glycemic index of 100, which is higher than table sugar (65).
Not only do IMOs like tapioca fiber generate a glycemic response, they can generate a response that’s more substantial than the equivalent amount in sugar!
And take note: A GI around 100 is a huge difference from the GI values of around 30 that are floating around the internet.
What’s even more interesting is that these studies were not funded by competitors of IMOs looking to smear IMOs. In fact, we found that IMO producers generally funded the studies themselves.
Science Talk
IMOs are chained molecules of sugar that can vary in length, with longer lengths more difficult to break down 3.
One of the IMOs, isomaltose, is a disaccharide, meaning it has a length of only two glucose molecules held together by a bond. That bond can easily be broken down by enzymes in the body, releasing free glucose into the blood and spiking blood sugar levels.
The issue is that in most of the available commercial IMO products, isomaltose makes up nearly 60 percent of the supposed fiber content (think about the fiber content in protein bars). If you discount isomaltose as a fiber, most companies that advertise 90% pure IMOs actually have a product closer to only 30% actual fiber.
The same study also showed the molecular composition of IMO varies from brand to brand. There’s no strict definition from manufacturers regarding what constitutes an IMO. That means, a source of tapioca fiber could receive a Certificate of Analysis (COA) stating 90% fiber, even though the product only had 30%.
Why is there such a variance?
The starting ingredient for manufacturers is normally tapioca starch. However, companies develop what is called an enzyme cocktail, a proprietary set of food grade enzymes that are used to isolate the fiber from the starch. Simply put, manufacturers’ unique formulations will yield unique results. That makes it difficult for the consumer to know the exact purity of what they are ingesting!
What are some products I might know that use A LOT of tapioca fiber?
Tapioca fiber acts as a mild sweetener and thickener, which works great for products like chewy protein bars and baked goods, like cookies. Still, due to its versatile nature, it can sneak its way into many more categories of foods.
Let’s take a look at a real-world example from Smart Sweets, makers of the uber popular low sugar gummy snacks.
We chose Smart Sweets for our case study because tapioca fiber is the first item on the ingredients list of all their products. For their Fruit Gummy Bears, out of 50g in a serving, the label lists 28g of dietary fiber.
There’s some chicory root fiber as well, but because it’s listed after gelatin on the nutritional label we know that it’s equal to or less than 3g. That’s based on the fact that gelatin is a protein and there is only 3g of protein per bag.
In other words there is a lot of tapioca fiber per bag.
Considering the effect of tapioca fiber on blood glucose, you can treat those remaining 25g of fiber as 25 grams of sugar. Combined with the 3g of actual sugar, that means there are effectively 28g of sugar in a serving of Smart Sweets gummy bears.
Putting it to the test
With the above information fresh in our minds, we wanted to run a real-world test to confirm if this was all true (at least for us).
Again, with a whopping 28g of fiber listed per serving, most of which is tapioca fiber, Smart Sweets is perfect for our test.
Here’s what we tested:
- We fasted for 12 hours and then tested our blood glucose levels every 15 minutes after consuming a serving (50g) of Smart Sweets gummy bears.
- Since tapioca fiber is the main ingredient, we estimate that it accounts for 25g out of the 28g of fiber
- For comparison, in a separate test on another day, we consumed 28g of pure sugar dissolved in water. We also fasted for 12 hours and tested our blood glucose levels every 15 minutes during this test.
- Because the gummy bears contain 3g of actual sugar, we added that back into 25g to get 28g.
Here are our results:
As you can see in the graph, the measured blood glucose between the sugar water and Smart Sweets gummies was nearly identical. The data reflect significant increases in our blood glucose levels, basically doubling our starting values at peak.
Since Smart Sweets is comprised primarily of tapioca fiber, we attribute the glycemic response of the product to its tapioca fiber content.
Eating a serving of Smart Sweets gummy bears is essentially like taking a shot glass full of sugar.
And that’s not hyperbole– that’s essentially what our tests showed. Between those results and review of the scientific literature, the argument against tapioca fiber is compelling.
How can you avoid tapioca fiber and IMO?
The FDA’s final guidance on dietary fiber gives manufacturers up to January 1, 2020 to update their labels or reformulate their products.
Smaller manufacturers who sell under 10 million USD have an additional year to comply, until January 1, 2021. Yes, that’s around two and half years after the initial FDA guidance release.
That means that until the deadline is reached, companies may continue to label tapioca fiber as dietary fiber and still be in compliance. Until then, keep an eye out for large amounts of tapioca fiber and IMO on nutrition labels.
Are there any other names for tapioca fiber or IMOs on food labels?
Here are some ways we have seen tapioca fiber listed (watch out for these):
- Prebiotic Tapioca Fiber
- Soluble Tapioca Fiber
- Prebiotic Fiber from Tapioca Starch
- Prebiotic Soluble Fiber from Tapioca
- Non-GMO Tapioca Fiber
- Organic Tapioca Fiber
- Prebiotic Soluble Fiber from Cassava
The amount matters
To be fair, just because tapioca fiber shows up on a label, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s present in high quantities. If you see tapioca fiber or one of its alternate names on a label, look at the amount of fiber.
If the amount of fiber is relatively low and the tapioca fiber is farther down on the list of ingredients, the product as a whole may still fit into your low carb or keto diet. We simply treat the tapioca fiber as sugar and determine if we are comfortable with the amount (which sometimes we are!).
Example: A Keto Ice Cream
Check out this keto ice cream brand’s nutrition information.
Here, the there are only 2g of total dietary fiber per serving. Already, that shows the impact will be low. But also note that chicory root fiber is listed as an ingredient higher up on the list, meaning most of the fiber isn’t from tapioca fiber but rather from chicory root fiber. Even more, guar gum also contributes to the fiber content.
As you can see, there is approximately 1g of tapioca fiber per serving (if that). So in cases like this, we’d treat that 1g of tapioca fiber like sugar. This amount is reasonable considering even the most “keto” friendly foods (avocado, macadamia nuts) all contain some sugar.
So, now what? Are there FDA-approved dietary fibers out there?
The evidence is stacked against tapioca fiber. So what fibers are FDA approved?
Here’s a list of some common FDA-safe terms for dietary fiber that you may encounter. (Hint: Neither tapioca fiber nor IMO is on the list).
- Soluble corn fiber, resistant maltodextrin, resistant dextrin, resistant wheat dextrin, soluble wheat fiber, wheat dextrin
- Inulin, chicory root extract, chicory root, chicory root fiber, inulin from chicory, chicory vegetable fiber, fructooligosaccharide, oligofructose
- Psyllium husk, psyllium, psyllium seed husk, ispaghlua husk.
- Guar gum, locust bean gum, carob bean gum, carob seed gum
- Pectin, hydrolyzed pectin, fruit pectin, citrus pectin, modified pectin
- Cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose gel, cellulose powder
- Hypromellose
- Barley beta fiber, barley betaglucan
- High-amylose maize starch, high-amylose corn starch
Note, it’s not by accident that IMO aliases sound eerily similar to these approved fibers. That’s exactly why ingredients like tapioca fiber fly under the radar.
Soluble Corn Fiber: Recognized by the FDA
We’ll use soluble corn fiber as an example since it’s the ingredient Quest Nutrition swapped out for IMO. Plus, many popular low carb and keto-friendly products currently on the market use soluble corn fiber.
You can read the FDA’s entire science review on soluble corn fiber, but suffice it to say, the empirical evidence points to soluble corn fiber acting like a real dietary fiber within the body.
Testing Soluble Corn Fiber
While Quest did their due diligence and included links to research in favor of soluble corn fiber, we still had to put it through the wringer, just as we did with tapioca fiber.
We determined that Quest protein bars contain around 15g of soluble corn fiber per serving. So, we dissolved 15g of soluble corn fiber in water, drank the mix and tested our blood levels.
Here’s what we found:
The results show a very minor increase in blood glucose, a far cry from what we saw with the tapioca fiber gummies. We used 84% pure corn fiber, so we anticipated a small effect on blood glucose levels.
Overall, the data on soluble corn fiber matches the expected results from the literature, FDA science review and ruling. Unlike tapioca fiber, soluble corn fiber acts like a fiber.
Source Still Matters
The fibers we’ve discussed are all isolated using various processing methods. As a result, the purity and fiber content can vary. Promitor, a soluble corn fiber brand, produces SCF products that contain either 70% and 85% fiber content.
Since products aren’t going to disclose the purity content of their SCF, we have to assume that products will be using the 70% fiber SCF. As a result, we will reduce the fiber count on the label by 30%. Basically, for every 10g of SCF on a label, treat it only at 7g of fiber.
Key Takeaways
That was a lot to digest, so here are some key points:
- IMO causes blood glucose levels to rise.
- The glycemic index of IMO is higher than that of sugar and is close to 100.
- Tapioca Fiber is another name for IMO on nutrition labels.
- The FDA has provided its final guidance for dietary fiber. IMO and tapioca fiber are not on the list of accepted dietary fibers.
- You may not see dietary fiber label changes in the U.S. until 2021.
- The amount of tapioca fiber is important in determining the level of diabetic or ketogenic friendliness of a product. You should be able to tolerate low levels of tapioca fiber on a low carb or ketogenic diet.
Final Thoughts
This was a tough article to research and write. In the past we had favorably reviewed (and eaten!) products with substantial amounts of tapioca fiber. In light of our findings, we have gone through and updated any affected reviews.
If anything, this is a reminder that testing your blood glucose levels is the only way to be certain if a specific food will affect your blood glucose levels. In fact, anyone can easily replicate our tests. So make sure to test for yourself!
While we found a lot of evidence against tapioca fiber, new research comes out all the time. Manufacturers always come out with new ingredients and methods. We can only base our decisions off of the products and research that are out there today.
In today’s world, it is unrealistic to completely avoid prepared snacks and foods. We rely on convenient food options to make it easier to maintain a long-term ketogenic lifestyle. It’s just important to be aware of how the ingredients affect your metabolism and make a decision accordingly.
The Kid Factor
We have found many No Sugar Added candies that contain high levels of tapioca fiber (50% or more). These products generally market to parents trying to limit their children’s sugar intake. Naturally, these products’ messages typically center around being anti-sugar. Yet, based on our findings, the metabolic effects of tapioca fiber are strikingly similar to sugar. Meanwhile, brands like Smart Sweets continue to campaign against sugar.
We hope to spread this information to keep people informed and push manufacturers to make changes. As Quest has shown us in the past, pressure and evidence can lead to positive changes.
Based on our research (and our personal test results), we will be avoiding products containing HIGH amounts of tapioca fiber.
Do you consume any products with tapioca fiber and/or IMOs? What has been your experience with these products? Please let us know in the comments.
If you know anyone who would find this information useful, please help spread the word!
- Mahendran Y, Vangipurapu J, Cederberg H, et al. Association of ketone body levels with hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes in 9,398 Finnish men. Diabetes. 2013;62(10):3618-26.
- Gourineni, Vishnupriya et al. “Gastrointestinal Tolerance and Glycemic Response of Isomaltooligosaccharides in Healthy Adults” Nutrients vol. 10,3 301. 3 Mar. 2018, doi:10.3390/nu10030301
- A Survey of Commercially Available Isomaltooligosaccharide-Based Food Ingredients.Madsen LR 2nd, Stanley S, Swann P, Oswald JJ Food Sci. 2017 Feb; 82(2):401-408.
Oh man! As a huge candy fan, I was so happy when I found Smart Sweets. I found your article while searching for a home made gummy bear recipe because I wasn’t sure about the ingredients in that brand plus, they are really expensive! I did experience slight headache feeling after eating them but I attributed that to the sweetener. What a bummer that they are able to label this product that way. Thanks for doing all your testing. I will be more aware of that ingredient for sure.
Hey Angie!
Yeah, it was a serious bummer when we started researching this. But, we are glad we found out. And people definitely need to know. But definitely lesson learned. We are going to be testing anytime we come across large amounts of tapioca fiber in products from now on. Of course, we’re always looking for alternatives, so we’ll post if we find something better!
Cheers,
Thanh
Wow!!! Thank you!!!!! My husband was diagnosed as Type1 recently. It’s so hard to find anything fun for him, I was excited when I I saw the smart gummies in the store. Now we know why his blood sugar was all over the place yesterday!! 😒
Thank you so much for the helpful info!
Hi Heather,
Thank you! I’m glad you found this information useful and this is exactly why we researched this topic. There are definitely some sketchy products out there, but at the same time, there are also a lot of great options. Hopefully you can find some goodies on our site that work for your husband!
Cheers,
Thanh
Just a comment. May have been better to do your testing this way:
Fast check blood levels over time period….fasting baseline.
Fast eat a typical keto meal check blood level over a same period of time…..body response to keto.
Fast drink 15g sugar water check blood level over same period of time……sugar response
Fast eat 15 equivalent grams of gummy bears check blood levels over same peiod of time…..corn fiber response.
Fast eat 15 equivalent grams of IMO check blood levels over same period of time….IMO response.
Interesting initial comparison. Thats some massive blood sugar spiking. : D
Hey Hemlock,
Thanks for the suggestions. I agree, that would be a very comprehensive test and we’ll look to run something like that in the future (after I get over how much abuse my fingers took for these tests) =) We do have an almost full bag of unused soluble corn fiber that would be great for this!
Cheers,
Thanh
What do you think of julian bakery products? They all use it….but have different names….
Hey Thanh – LOVED (!!!!!!) this post having spent FOREVER (months, prob almost all major suppliers and variants) choosing a binder for my keto snack bars that are coming out soon. Alas on the label they will be called prebiotic soluble tapioca fiber – so could not agree more on the need to drive more clarity and education. This is a resistant dextrin (a resistant dextrin is resistant dextrin regardless of source (corn, tapioca, potato, etc). It has been confirmed as a fiber by the FDA and the AOAC test methods. Anyways always looking for other nerds to chat with on this, if you wanted to, and loved your article so wanted to say hi.
Hey Tekla!
Thank you for being so steadfast in your ingredients research and sourcing. You are awesome!
As far as dextrin goes, we have vetted it out on multiple occasions, so it passes the test in our book.
Good luck!
Thanh
What an AMAZING article!! It taught me a lot about the differences between the two. It has better armed me when reading the labels//ingredients! Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication!!!
Thank you! So glad you found the information useful!
I am recovering from spinal surgery and just started back on keto. I started with a 4 day egg fast and it put me back in ketosis. I check my blood daily at first to make sure I am still in. I am very careful with my macros & calories. My total carb intake yesterday was 16 net grams but I did have a pack of smart sweet gummies at about 6:30pm. I also do IF eat 10 fast 14. I check my ketone level this morning and it is 0. Before my surgery I was on keto but was loosing really slow. ( I only tested my blood regularly the first month) I then found smart sweets and my weight loss slowed. I just thought that was how my body was going to be with continued keto. That the weight loss just naturally slows down. I have spent hundreds of $ on smart sweets because they are so expensive. My husband eats them as well. I have never had more than 1 bag in a day but now I know why we were loosing was slow. Thank you so much for this article! Smart Sweets is really getting away with murder! How many people with real health conditions think these are ok because of the marketing? I am so disgusted and angry with them! I hope someone starts a law suit, I will gladly join in!
Hey there! So glad you figured this out! Sonja and I had a very similar experience. She was eating about a bag daily and I would eat them a couple pieces here and there every couple days. Everything else– physical activity and food– we were pretty much at the same level. However, I was generate a much higher ketone level and we could not figure out why. That’s when we started looking at exactly what we were eating and found that Smart Sweets was the big difference. That’s why we started researching this article and after Sonja stopped eating Smart Sweets, she got consistently higher ketone readings. It was incredible.
Anyway, hopefully we can spread the word. But, with the hundreds of manufacturers out there using “tapioca fiber” in various forms, it is tough to really no what is what. That’s why it’s great you are testing your blood levels. That’s the only way to be sure!
What is your opinion of Julian Bakery Products?
Hi Todd,
Julian Bakery has been hit or miss for us. Their crackers don’t use tapioca fiber, so that’s good. But, we’ve tested our blood sugar on their granola and protein bars with very mixed results. They label everything as soluble tapioca fiber, but claim that it’s actually dextrin. I’d be cautious with their bars until they get more clear with their labeling (plus we didn’t care for the taste, but that’s just us).
~Thanh
What about the ChocZero brand of products ?
Hi Lola,
We do eat their chocolate but stay away from their syrups.
ChocZero mainly uses soluble corn fiber in their chocolate. It’s used to balance out the sweetness of the monk fruit. We’ve tested out soluble corn fiber and it acts like a fiber, so their chocolates are fine. However, note that they use something called “liquid vegetable fiber” in their Honest Syrups, which is a blend of tapioca and corn fibers. The amount of fiber is significant at about 15g of fiber per 1 tbsp. We’ve seen large spikes in blood glucose with ChocZero syrups, so there is likely a lot of tapioca fiber in the “liquid vegetable fiber” mix.
Hope that helps. Let us know if you have any other questions.
~Thanh
Great article. I have been personally contacting these companies about these ingredients and all of them deny that there is blood sugar impact, which is incredibly frustrating. Smart Sweets, Quest, Choc Zero, etc ALL cause my blood sugar to reach 200 and stay there. Soluble corn fiber is a huge problem for me as well, so it’s worth looking into even more.
Hey Sarah,
That’s awesome! You’re spot on in that any time you come across these ingredients, you should test your blood glucose. We’ve had pretty good luck with soluble corn fiber, but the quality is very inconsistent, so again, definitely need to be wary.
Cheers,
Thanh
Good Read! I wish I had found this article BEFORE I ordered from Julian bakery. 🙁
Hi Donna– yeah, we’ve had mixed results with Julian. Some stuff, like their crackers don’t use the tapioca fiber. They also claim that they use dextrin in some of their products like the protein bars, even though they still label it as soluble tapioca fiber. We’re not sure why.
With that in mind, we think it’s best to test your blood or simply avoid them until they more clearly and consistently label their products.
This Texan thanks you for this article as I was researching what I thought was Keto friendly bars on the market. When I came across the Soluble Tapioca Fiber. The search led me here and thankfully I didn’t spend the 100 dollars on the product pack I was looking to purchase. I will keep making my own. Thank you!
Awesome! That’s great to hear 🙂
Hello, I was wondering if y’all have researched a company that’s making cereal it’s called “The Cereal School” it’s label says it has one carb?
Hey Wes,
We have actually! We have a full review at https://convenientketo.net/keto-cereal/
There is tapioca fiber, but it is only 1g. This is one of those examples where if it’s there in smaller quantities, it’s not something you really need to worry about. We treat Cereal School as 1 net carb per serving.
Hope that helps!
~Thanh
Thank you for your in depth research! I, too, discovered my weight loss slowed with SweetTreats, now I may know why. Plus, I noticed I started craving sweets/pastries again when I consumed them. I was researching tapioca fiber today as I was given a new baking sweetener from Lakanto to try out and the second ingredient listed was tapioca fiber. Bummer.
Hi Brenda,
Thanks for commenting. We know that feeling all too well, unfortunately. Glad you were able to figure it out!
~Thanh
Well this article was way more informative than I expected it to be. Thank you for the outstanding truth bombs!
Question; what are your thoughts on Dr. Mericola products? I’ve noticed on their ingredients list they use Dietary Fiber Syrup(Isomalto-Oligosaccharide{from Cassava Root}).
Are all IMO’s counterproductive to Ketosis? Does it make a difference if the source comes from tapioca or cassava etc?
Thanks, Vinny! We haven’t tried Dr. Mercola’s stuff, but what you listed as IMO syrup from cassava root will still be problematic for blood glucose/ketosis. Unfortunately, tapioca/cassava (the most common source) does not help.
Thanks so much for the article; I am always researching food ingredients. What is your opinion on Julian Bakery PaleoThin Organic Dark Chocolate? The ingredients indicate 6g of dietary fiber per 21g. Does this mean there is an abundance of organic soluble tapioca fiber? My spouse consumes organic dark chocolate, but there is always an abundance of sugar in the bars. I found these and thought they were a great alternative, now I’m not so sure.
Thanks for your time,
Brenda
Thank you for your time,
Brenda
Hi Brenda,
Julian lists the fiber source as Organic Soluble Prebiotic Fiber (Non-IMO).
Since they specifically state “Non-IMO” here, you should be okay, as they have been known to use “resistant dextrin” in their products.
Of course, they could just label it as resistant dextrin, but that would be too easy, right? 🙂
Cheers,
Thanh
Hi All! Thank u 4 ur site! Very informative! My question 2 u’all is this; lately , I’ve been using Quest Protein Bars 4 extra protein 4 a severe sports related injury. The label to any of the Quest Protein Bars has as their 3rd ingredient, SCF-soluble corn fiber BUT my body’s readings are reacting like its corn syrup NOT SCF! This would make so much more sense, as corn syrup or even sugar(possibly) are extremely CHEAPER than SCF to add to the mass production of products under the fiber/prebiotic/sweetener guise. Have u had any experience with this &/or any thoughts? I’ve turned 2 making my own protein bars after being able 2 quit my ‘mild’ addiction Quest bars. Great info on ur site! More power 2 u! I’m gonna subscribe!! Good luck 2 u both!!!
Hi Rufus,
Thanks for reaching out. We actually did test Quest Protein bars and we saw a blood glucose curve similar to SCF by itself. We tested just the basic Chocolate Brownie flavor and our BG levels never increased past around 20 mmol/L above our initial readings during our testing window. Other flavors, in theory, could impact your BG levels differently since they all have slightly different ingredients.
How significant of a spike were you seeing compared to corn syrup? Have you tried testing with corn syrup by itself (same amount as the grams of fiber in the bar) to compare?
Please let us know!
Thanks,
Thanh
Kirkland Signature Protein Bars! I thought I had hit the jackpot since they tasted even better than Quest (cookie dough flavors compared). Too good to be true, I knew I should have been more suspicious. Thank you for the incredibly informative and well-researched article! I’ll definitely be reading through your other articles to find other valuable keto info that I may have missed.
Thanks, James! Glad you found the info helpful.
hello thanh, you are a very talented researcher, investigator and journalist. thank you very much. just like you when i read tapioca fiber as a keto ingredient it sounded a little off. i started to research it myself when i found your article, and i am glad i did. i never would have been able to figure out the information. like you did. i wish you great success in whatever you do. scott.
Thanks, Scott!!
Hey!! I was wondering if you had any suggestions for protein bars that are safe of these IMOs? Thanks so much! Also what is your opinion on the new Julian Bakery brownies? Are they safe do you think? Thanks!! Your article was the most informative i’ve read in a while!
Hi Mary, we haven’t tried the Julian brownies but they specifically list the fiber as Organic Soluble Tapioca Dextrin Fiber (Prebiotic) with the word dextrin. We have had good luck with dextrin, so it in theory should be okay. It still is a lot of soluble fiber though so if you are not used to it, you might get some serious bloat. Also, we do have a list of protein bars at: https://convenientketo.net/keto-friendly-protein-bars/
So glad our paper was helpful. (A Survey of Commercially Available Isomaltooligosaccharide-Based Food Ingredients. Madsen LR 2nd, Stanley S, Swann P, Oswald J J Food Sci. 2017 Feb; 82(2):401-408.) One important fact that did not make it into the manuscript is that the IMO manufacturers improperly list their products as lower calorie than what they truly are. We believe they know better but are hiding behind a mis-print in one of the foundational texts that mistakenly states that isomaltose (a disaccharide like all others) is lower calorie. The mis-print is that the kcal value for “isomaltulose” (which is lower calorie) was mis-printed as “isomaltose”. This error has been propagated ever since. Some product manufacturers are simply relying on the info they get from the IMO makers. Most of them by now should know better. I am shocked by how many products still use IMO as an ingredient. Even worse, are the product manufacturers that attempt to hide their use of IMO by calling it something else. As for glycemic index, in our paper we reported even worse behavior of IMO compared to straight glucose – higher blood sugar peaks, lower lows and a much longer recovery to baseline.
Hey Jack!
Thanks so much for your input and glad you found us. We utilized your paper extensively in our research.
Regarding that additional info, it’s insane how little things like misprints can stick and propagate downstream. That’s why, at the end of the day, we advocate for testing for yourself and listening to your body.
Thanks again and please keep us apprised of any future research!
Cheers,
Thanh
Very interesting read – thanks! I just bought Koochikoo lollipops because of the low carb factor and I was so happy because I loved the taste – and they were not cheap. Now to find out that tapioca fiber is the same as sugar is disappointing to say the least. I will not buy them again.
Hi Dagmar,
Yes, we felt the same way about those lollipops. Funny enough, it was actually us buying those lollipops and seeing tapioca fiber in the ingredients that sparked our interest in looking into tapioca fiber. So, thanks to Koochikoo–but no, thanks!
Cheers,
Thanh
One quick point on the purity of SCF. If a formulation is using 10 g of a 70% fiber, they have to label it as 7 g of fiber and 3 g of other (usually digestible carbohydrates). This is actually why Promitor and others are able to get a higher price per fiber for higher purity fibers. it’s worth the premium for food manufacturers to avoid adding more net carbs on the label.
Thanks! Great to know that!
Based on what we’ve seen, the same thing can’t be said of IMO since the issue is the discrepancy about what is considered true fiber. So it could be claimed as 90% and labeled as such, but in actuality, 30% of it may actually act as fiber. I haven’t seen the same issue with SCF.
In order to be considered a fiber it has to reach the large intestine completely intact. Some clinical human studies revealed IMO is partially or mostly digested. At a Dietary Fiber Conference in Paris back in 2015, there was an ileostomy study ( no colon so all fiber / sugar is collected in the bag ) that showed no IMO made it into the bag, meaning all of it was digested similar to sugar. Other studies showed a max of 25% fiber in the IMO product.
What about Heka Good Foods keto bars? How should I be counting the net carbs on their bars? Soluble Tapioca Fiber is the 4th ingredient listed and there are 7g dietary fiber. The ingredients are: Almonds, Allulose, Whey Protein Isolate, Soluble Tapioca Fiber, Unsweetened Chocolate, Erythritol, Cocoa Butter, Natural Flavor, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt.
Hey V,
Thanks for providing that list of ingredients. Based on the ingredients, it’s safe to assume that their fiber count is primarily from the soluble tapioca fiber. In this case, to be safe, I would add 7g to the net carbs, meaning 8g net carbs total per bar.
Cheers,
Thanh
Hi there what is your opinion on perfect keto bars
Hi Michael– Those bars contain tapioca fiber as one of the main ingredients, so we would treat them as around 10g-11g net carbs per serving.
Hi Thani
I found these bars online keto bars.com
What’s your opinion on these …your website is awesome thanks for the info
Best regards
Michael
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Size Format: 10-Bar Box (Each Bar 47g)
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Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Flavour
Macronutrients Per Bar (47g)
Net Carbs – 3g
Protein – 6g
Fat – 20g
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Calories – 220kcal
Total Fat – 19g
Total Carbs – 8g
Sugar Alcohols / Polyols – 5g
Total Sugars – 1g
Protein – 6g
Hi Michael,
We actually have a video review of those! Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqE8A09a1iY&t=236s
Thanks!
Thanh
What’s your opinion of the recent article about soluble tapioca fiber posted on Dr Ryan Lowery’s website? https://ketogenic.com/soluble-tapioca-fiber/
Thanks!
Hi Sue,
Thanks for the link. We actually did come across this article recently as well. The main point we got out of it is that some companies/brands are mislabeling IMO as soluble tapioca fiber while some companies are using an ingredient that’s labeled the same, but that acts as a true fiber.
At the end of the day, brands are using these ingredients knowing full-well the background and history of the ingreident, yet they still choose to do it. If you’re going to use an ingredient which you know you’re going to have to justify to people later, why even use it? Why not try to figure out another way?
There’s actually potentially a much simpler solution for those brands, which is to label using a more clear-cut term. Instead of soluble tapioca fiber or prebiotic fiber, why not use terms like dextrin or resistant maltodextrin? Those are FDA-approved terms for synthetic fibers. The only thing we can think of is because it might scare consumers away. Organic Prebiotic Soluble Fiber from Cassava sounds a lot more attractive than resistant maltodextrin, right? There is a precedent though, which is Lily’s Chocolates, who labels their milk chocolate bars with dextrin as the fiber. If a brand that big can do it and be successful, others can as well.
Unless the FDA figures out a way to stop the mislabeling of tapioca fiber, it’s going to be a suspect ingredient. So for brands, it’s like playing with fire, even if you’re going out of your way to use truly resistant ingredients. The consumer shouldn’t have to guess whether or not the ingredient is what it says it is. It’s on the brand to make that easier by changing the ingredients, using clearer terms on labels. Or, they could just continue using “tapioca fiber” and deal with the bombardment of questions. 🙂
Cheers,
Thanh
Thanks for your research. This was really helpful in looking at labels. Quest seems to have changed their formulas and it’s so frustrating to find a bar that actually doesn’t raise blood glucose. Using your information, I can check labels now and have some idea of what to avoid.
Hi Joan,
Glad the info was helpful! Totally agree with you about the products changing all the time. Especially in this super-competitive keto space, companies tweak their formulas all the time, sometimes out of nowhere and unannounced. Or, brands that you trust might come out with a new product line that uses questionable ingredients. Definitely have to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible and be vigilant with checking ingredients or even testing your blood.
Thanks again!
Thanh
Thanks,
[…] https://convenientketo.net/tapioca-fiber-soluble-corn-fiber-imo/ […]
Regardless of what SCF does exactly to your blood glucose levels, it is a highly processed “food” not found in nature. And it can cause a lot of gastric distress (have personally experienced this). The best advice is to stay away from highly processed foods, which includes the corn industry!
Eliza,
Absolutely– if you’re looking to stay away from products made from corn, then you’re right, soluble “corn” fiber, as the name implies is derived from corn. If you’re looking to stay away from GMOs in general, you can find Soluble Corn Fiber from non-GMO sources. Just look for the non-GMO label on your products. If you’re looking to stay away from processed foods in general, check out our article that highlights the whole veggies with the highest amounts of soluble fiber: https://convenientketo.net/keto-guide/
Regarding your gastric distress, it isn’t likely caused by the soluble corn fiber specifically, but rather soluble fiber in general. The prebiotic nature of soluble fiber attracts water into the digestive tract, which causes discomfort if you’re not used to prebiotic fiber.
A Quest Protein bar has sometimes up to 17g or so of fiber. Here’s a fun experiment: try eating 17g of psyllium husk (“natural”– milled from the husk of psyllium seed) in one sitting and see if you are able to tolerate that any better (likely not).
Also, there are plenty of natural foods that will wreak havoc on your blood sugar and body (wheat aka gluten, maple syrup aka sugar, non-organic meat, etc.) You could go on forever.
And here’s truly the best advice: do what works best for you.
Cheers,
Thanh
Hello, thanks for the detailed article.
I found your article as i’m consuming Julian Bakery’s progranola which they state to be keto friendly, high in fiber and low in GI and I’ve found out hat on iherb they stated using the ingredients ‘organic tapioca fiber’. This is the name of the fiber that you listed as something to watch out. So I was devastated and went to Julian Baker’s website, and found out that they labeled it again as ‘ Organic Soluble Dextrin Fiber (Tapioca) (IMO Free)’. I was confused. How can it be IMO Free while it is tapioca fiber? So I asked Julian Bakery and got the answer,
‘We would like to reassure you that not all Tapioca Fiber is the same and most manufacturers use IMO(Isomalto-Oliggosacarride). Julian Bakery however use’s soluble tapioca dextrin fiber which has a glycemic index of 3 instead of IMO that has a GI of 35 and can be tested using the AOAC fiber testing method. We pride ourselves on using ingredients that promote optimal health and are in the process of switching our packaging to reflect this difference to avoid confusion with products that contain IMO. Our fiber is ideal for those looking to control blood sugar and not severely decrease ketone levels when on a keto diet.’
How should I interpret this?
Will Julian bakery’s tapioca fiber is really different from what you’ve explained, and IMO free?
Hi Kate,
Generally, if you see the word “dextrin” being used, it should act as real fiber in your body, unlike IMO. Both Dextrin (the digestion resistant stuff) and IMO can be refined from tapioca starch, depending on the extraction process used. It’s these exact discrepancies which give us reason to be mindful any time we see tapioca fiber on a label. We have noticed pretty good blood glucose levels with Julian’s granola products, but not their bars. This is a case where testing your blood glucose levels after fasting will be the only real way to know for sure.
Hope that helps!
Thanh
Such great research! Any thoughts on the Lily’s Chocolate brand and the Bhu Foods brand of products?
Hi Karen,
Bhu Foods uses prebiotic fiber from tapioca, which is still an ambiguous term, so we’d recommend testing your blood glucose levels. We do appreciate the plant-based protein options and organic ingredients.
Lily’s generally uses inulin dextrin in their bars, which definitely act as true fibers, so you should be good with their bars and chips.
~Thanh
Hi there, thanks for all your information. I wanted to ask you about Fiber Gourmet Pasta. Do you know if their labeling is accurate?
Hi Lisa,
It looks like Fiber Gourmet Pasta has accurate labeling of their fiber. That ~19g or so of fiber is from the modified wheat starch, which is a class called RS4 resistant starch. It is similar to polydextrin if you’ve seen that in fiber gummies. RS4 starches are digestion resistant, so you can subtract those when calculating net carbs. To further lower your insulin and glucose impacts, I’d recommend eating the pasta with fat like olive oil. Also, start your meal with a salad that contains vinegar (balsamic, apple cider vinegar) as the combination of vinegar, fiber and fat lowers the blood glucose impact of the pasta.
Cheers!
Thanh
Thank you for the awesome research! I have two questions. First, what about Perfect Keto bars (only available online)? They claim that their bars have 9 grams of fiber, citing soluble tapioca fiber as the second ingredient. On their website, they say that soluble tapioca fiber is from the cassava plant. Can this be correct? Would love for you to test these, as they are delicious! Second, what about acacia fiber? Is this an FDA approved fiber? Thanks again for your great information!
Hi Elgee!
Yes, soluble tapioca fiber is from cassava. Cassava is another name for tapioca or yucca. Any way you slice it, it’s still soluble tapioca fiber, which is a big red flag. I would recommend staying away from these Perfect Keto bars, or test your blood glucose to be sure.
Acacia fiber/gum are real fibers used generally as a thickening agent. They are actually used in a lot of vitamins, for example, as a digestive aid since they act as a soluble, prebiotic fiber. We haven’t had any issues with acacia.
Hope that helps!
~Thanh
Hey Thanh,
I appreciate the research on the fiber front particularly going taking it to the max to test blood glucose over time. Can’t argue with hard data. There is likely evidence out there that many tapioca fibers are IMO.
However, I do want to point out that a lot of work has went into creating resistant dextrin forms of tapioca fiber which falls under both FDA guidance and the list in your article. The challenge that has existed in labeling is that it really it needs to be taken one step further where the consumer understands if dextrin or IMO is present. Under the new labeling rules all tapioca fiber that is labeled to contribute to fiber nutritionally should be resistant dextrin.
It would be interesting to revisit this article to talk about what is expected from brands that label tapioca fiber in the future. That they must check through the supply chain and test product to assure that it meets the standard for fiber in the new FDA guidance.
Hey Eric,
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. That was definitely our concern, with the inconsistency in labeling. We have tested dextrin-based products and they appear to act as fibers in the body, which is great. I think with the new regulations, things are definitely still in a transition phase, so I think we’ll definitely revisit this as time has passed and dextrin is more mainstream. For now, again, it’s just too difficult to say what is what with any degree of certainty.
Best,
Thanh
Smart Sweets updated their candies – they now use corn fiber, allulose, and IMO – they actually label it as IMO now. They have the new ingredient lists up on their website.
Their Sour Blast Buddies now have 12 net carbs. I wonder if those 12 carbs are from the IMO? This is a very interesting article, as my job sells these candies, and I love them lol. Thank you!
Hey David,
Thanks for the heads up. I guess they needed to get it together for the relabeling requirements. Either way, change is good! We have held off on reviewing the new ones until they are more widely available. We have yet to see them in stores, but once they are, we’ll pick some up and test them out!
Cheers,
Thanh
[…] Tapioca Fiber or Soluble Corn Fiber: Which one is worse than sugar? […]
[…] Tapioca Fiber or Soluble Corn Fiber: Which one is worse than sugar? […]
Oh glad to find this! I’ve been going back and forth between brands of Chocolate chips. Lily’s has inulin fiber? Not sure on that one, but also soy lecithin. Lakanto has tapioca fiber, cellulose and acacia gums, but sunflower lecithin. ChocZero has soluble corn fiber and sunflower lecithin so these seem to be the best of class? And they taste great! What about the inulin? I made the mistake of buying a bunch of Good Fats bars because Thomas DeLauer, who I respect, recommended them. Didn’t check the ingredients. They have IMO. Now I feel like they are poison and barely have them. It’s so frustrating to have to decipher ingredients and research them. I’m getting more and more picky. Thank you for this article and for any response~Mary
Hi Mary!
With the current selection of chocolate chips, that’s definitely a conundrum. I think Lakanto is out due to tapioca fiber. Between Lily’s and ChocZero, I think it will depend on your uses. Inulin breaks down when exposed to high temperatures for longer periods of time. So, for baking, we’d recommend ChocZero. However, if you are simply melting down the chocolate in a double boiler, it should be a low enough temperature to not break down the inulin (oligosaccharides) so we’d recommend Lily’s (since we like the taste better anyway). As to why they use soy lecithin AND sunflower lecithin, we’re not sure.
As for the Good Fat bars, many people have alternate agendas online, or simply, sometimes they just use whatever information is available and that information can change over time. But, by researching the ingredients, you’re doing the best you can do, which is to stay on top of the latest info and make informed decisions. We like to double-check anything an “expert” recommends, because what we have seen is that unless they are researchers running a lab or studies, they are generally prone to taking studies out of context and making assumptions. Or, they re-post an article citing a study without any context and let people run wild with conclusions. At the other end of the spectrum, though, we also won’t completely disregard an “expert” just because they sell a product, because that would be unfortunate as well and a way to miss out on potentially useful information.
Thanks for the comment and hope that helps!
Cheers,
Thanh
Great review. I am not diabetic, but I wear a Dexcom G6 CGM to collect data like you are gathering, and I’ve been eating Lokanto’s chocolate bar and noticing a blood sugar spike. After reading the ingredients tonight I needed to research tapioca fiber.
Hey Erik,
That’s awesome! We were thinking about getting a CGM. That would make the testing process a lot less difficult. Thanks for commenting and contributing another data point for us to use.
Cheers,
Thanh
Hi Thanh,
Thank you for this. Actually I ran across your response on Bhu Foods. I was really excited to the see the keto cookie dough but Organic Soluble Fiber (from Tapioca) was the third ingredient and, Organic Prebiotic Fiber (From Tapioca) was the 6th ingredient. Needless to say I did not purchase because I am a diabetic and don’t want to take the risk of raising blood sugar and then not being able to finish it. I did write to them, a nice email informing them of my concerns on ingredients. But on that note, where can we start so companies make a change? I appreciate companies making things keto friendly or diabetic friendly but many people aren’t informed consumers unfortunately and if it weren’t for articles like these, which some times aren’t easy to find, we would never know. Is there anything we can do to make IMO’s clearly recognized as a non fiber ic friendly ingredient
hello! very interesting article but as i read, the FDA already modified a bit on the list of these ‘approved soluble fibres’. can you please make an updated version of your article? 🙂 thank you!
Thank you so much for this article. My RenewLife Clear Acacia fiber is being replaced by “Resistant Tapioca Fiber”. I was suspicious of this change. Your article confirmed my concerns. I will be looking for another product. I am disappointed that the company choose to do this. I can no longer trust them. How sad!! Thank you again for your research and testing.
Best Regards.
Hi Mary,
Sorry to hear that! Even though it says resistant in the name, it is really tough to be completely sure.
As far as acacia fiber goes, we can recommend Anthony’s Acacia Senegal Powder (link: https://amzn.to/2ZYLq0W). We use it every day in butter coffee with great results.
Hope that helps!
Thanh
I was Costco and they’re now selling a Zero Net Carb bread by Artesian Bakers – Sonoma County, CA. Have you heard of it and have any thoughts? I mean based on this article, I feel like I should smash and toss this away immediately! The first ingredients are Tapioca Starch, water, wheat gluten, chicory fiber, oat fiber and wheat protein isolate.
Hey JayCe,
I can’t find info on this bread anywhere. Do you have a link you can provide? First thought though is that tapioca starch isn’t tapioca fiber– in theory it can mean the resistant starch (a prebiotic broken down in your lower intestine), which is isolated from tapioca. It just really depends on how they label it and what they are using.
It’s crazy… I just went to the company website and they do not have it listed anywhere. I thought the bag was super plain and maybe on purpose? (in case they need to pull it immediately?)
Here are pic links from another person inquiring about this elusive product.
Photos for reference! https://i.imgur.com/k8fdBNN.jpg https://i.imgur.com/SA3i2r5.jpg
Hi. I follow a specific no-grain, no-sugar, no-dairy diet. I am a breast cancer survivor and follow this way of eating with other nutritional supplements as a natural treatment for breast cancer under the care of an integrative MD. Among other recommended products to use are a variety of mushrooms. I found what I thought would be a great addition to my smoothies, but now not so sure. The product is Ancient Nutrition, KETO Matcha. Has great mushrooms included, but it also has two ingredients I know nothing about, Tapioca fiber and pea seed protein. From what I read in the above article, the tapioca fiber really acts as sugar…something I need to avoid. Can you help me out? Recommendations for a similar mushroom type product, keeping in mind my dietary needs or OK to use this product daily with the ingredients tapioca fiber and pea seed protein? I appreciate any direction and response. Sincerely, Mary
Hi Mary,
I checked the Ancient Nutrition Keto Matcha and while it does have tapioca fiber, the total carbs per serving is 2g, so it’s a relatively small portion. Pea protein can be fine for some, but can be inflammatory for some as well. They don’t list the protein amount, so we can’t tell how much is in there. If you tolerate it well (no bloating, cramping, gas) then I think you’ll be okay.
We do like mushrooms as well and add chaga or reishi mix from Four Sigmatic Chaga Mix or Reishi Mix blended into our keto coffee (or keto matcha) [Our keto Matcha Recipe].
Hope that helps!
~Thanh
Okay, this is shocking that the Smart Sweets gave you the same blood glucose results as table sugar (I personally don’t feel a sugar rush from them but admittedly don’t remember what it feels like to be on table sugar) but they still give me uhMAZING poos. Regardless of how this fiber is classified, something in the gummies still behaves like fiber in the intestines (they seem to soften stools while not making them liquid and improving motility. SS gives me textbook poos, a rarity for me. No, unfortunately, I am not sponsored, will explain further why I still love Smart Sweets despite this shocking news), but without the cramping and bulking. I like the gummies for other reasons–not only am I allergic to cane sugar (and therefore have trouble finding gummies I can eat), and not only do I tend toward constipation, but I am definitely NOT keto nor diabetic. Very grateful for and enthused about carbs. But I understand I am not their target audience–how many cane sugar sensitive non-ketos willing to spend $3.50 on a single serving bag of gummies are out there?, seems a little niche I admit; a little afraid that they will go out of business considering this product has been exposed as non-ketogenic, but that’s whack how they are marketed as containing only 3g sugar per bag when a diabetic could literally die on what the bags actually contain. Guess I’ll have to learn to make my own IMO gummies.
Hi Sue,
Awesome comment! Totally get the poo thing, however, honestly you might be better off just buying the vitamin-style fiber gummies (like the huge packs at Costco). It’s much more cost effective and they will generally have real fiber like inulin. Plus, it’s built in portion controlled– if you eat 50g of vitamin fiber gummies (the serving size for Smart Sweets), you will definitely feel it (not in a good way!).
~Thanh
I finally googled tapioca fiber because I just couldn’t believe Smart Sweets had 28g of fiber and I came across your article. This is one of the best researched ingredient articles I’ve ever read. I’m a former engineer and now long-time holistic health practitioner so I appreciate your research and methodology. I loved your personal blood glucose test and reminder to us all to check our blood sugar when an ingredient is in doubt. Are there any similar gummy candies that you do recommend? I’m already a big fan of Lily’s chocolate. Thank you for all you shared!
Hi Senia,
We were so close to being able to recommend Kiss My Keto’s gummy bears since they only used inulin (chicory root fiber), but they inextricable changed their formulation recently (like maybe September 2020?) to include none other than… soluble tapioca fiber.
If you can find the old formulation, I’d pick those up, but it looks like we’ll have to keep looking!
Thanks for the comment!
~Thanh
I am curious about your “study”. How many subjects did you use, what was the demographic, etc. Did you measure the prebiotic effect of IMO? Are you going to measure GI tolerance of the various sugar substitutes? With regard to the FDA decision, we can debate the merits of this considering EVERY OTHER jurisdiction in the world considers IMO a Fiber, and they did say that IMO is a prebiotic, therefore can be labeled as a Soluble vegetable prebiotic. Further to this, not all IMO are the same. There are some that are in fact low sugar (5g/100g), therefore you cannot make a blanket statement that IMO is worse than sugar. Very inflamatory!
Ken,
Your statement: “Further to this, not all IMO are the same” is exactly the point– there’s such a wide variance in IMO source/quality that as a consumer, we personally can’t trust the ingredient. It CAN be okay in theory, but it’s a gamble and it’s up to the consumer if they feel it’s worth it. We’re not stopping anyone from eating IMO, but we (1) want people to know that it’s being mislabeled and (2) are warning that if you choose to do so, you might want to test your blood.
Great write up, thank you!!! Keep up the good work
Thanks, Erika!
Thank you! I was wondering why my blood sugar spiked with Choczero or Lakanto sugar free syrups. Now I know!
Will the brand
Sweet Like Syrup (maple keto)
cause spikes in blood sugar?
Ingredients:
Isomalto-oligosaccharide, natural flavor, sweetener (stevia extract), natural coloring.
I’d expect it based on IMO being the main ingredient.
this amazon review of a soluble corn fiber maple syrup keto product reached a different conclusion:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3T5YIH5HZBDGN?ASIN=B0844QCP3G
A few things I can think of here:
1) This product contains both molasses (sugar) and sorbitol, which has some glycemic impact.
2) Soluble Corn Fiber can come in different levels of quality (meaning how much of the product is actually fiber).
3) Some fibers when heated at high temperatures (such as to make syrup) will change conformation to become less resistant to digestion. This is why you’ll see so many reports that ChocZero’s syrups do the exact same thing.
4) What did the tester eat the syrup with? Everything reacts different based on if you are eating in isolation vs in a mixed meal.
But, thanks for bring this up– it’s why you always want to test for yourself!
If you’re looking for something that can’t change conformation, check out allulose syrup (like from Wholesome: https://amzn.to/3qaqCip). It’s already broken down into the simplest form already, so can’t get broken down further. And, in its simplest form, it has no glycemic impact.
what is the glycemic impact of
Allulose?
Hi Seth,
Allulose (aka d-psicose) has no impact on blood glucose on insulin. In fact, in higher doses, allulose actually lowers blood glucose levels in a mixed meal. So, it sort of acts like a soluble fiber like inulin to modulate blood glucose levels.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19155592/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20208358/
For over 8 years I have been having falsely labeled lowcarb-keto products laboratory tested, including many Julian Bakery products and now, Franz Bakery’s newest Zero Carb Keto Bread https://low-carb-scams.com/franz-keto-bread-scam/ This is the first time I have actually posted any raw lab reports but it is all there in black & white for anyone to see.
As a diabetic taking no medication, I tested the bread on two separate dates with my Glucose Monitor and it was a disaster.
This kind of false labeling for profit is now being perpetrated so many times over in the bakery business, let alone the keto-lowcarb products being made and distributed worldwide, that even I can’t keep up with it anymore.
All of the beginning questions you had regarding Julian Bakery products? I am the reason and I have written prodigiously about them https://low-carb-scams.com/julian-bakery-the-bernie-madoff-of-the-low-carb-scam-artists/
Love to know what you think.
Thank you,
Deborah Krueger
Thanh, I’m so thankful I came across your write up on IMO! I’m a big fan of Dr. Berg and the maple syrup recipe he and his wife share on one of their many videos is FiberYum brand. The label reads, “It’s a pre-biotic fiber sweetener / Sugar Free Syrup 5g soluble fiber per serving’ In smaller print, the label reads, ” IMO | ISOMALTO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES”. Add maple extract to this ‘sugar free’ syrup and you have maple syrup. I have an 1/8th remaining of a 10 lb. container of FiberYum that I will be throwing away. Funny thing, I recently learned that the company manufacturing FiberYum no longer exists and Amazon shows the product as discontinued. I would love to know what Dr. Berg has to say about your research on glucose levels in IMO. I’m so disappointed yet happy that I’ve stumbled on your page. Thank you again!
Since we’re on the topic of keto and blood sugars have you had a chance to look into Keto Chow? They say they use “pure sucralose”. Is that healthy? And what about glucose levels and insulin spikes?
A lot of bloating and pain.
Sick.
Unfortunately my Aloha protein bar contains 10 g of tapioca “fiber.”
This was very interesting! I was getting Julian Bakery products, but everything from there contains tapioca fiber. It’s far down the list, though, in their seed bread (of which I presently have three loaves). My problem is food allergies, not diabetes. I’m supposed to avoid sugar as a general health measure but presume I can have the Julian Bakery Seed Bread as long as I don’t overdo it.
Wonderful article! I really appreciate the research and metabolic analysis performed. I have a question for you: I was reading further into this isolated dietary fiber topic regarding tapioca derived compounds and found an article published by the company KetoGoods that makes a soluble vegetable fiber (dextrin), product derived from tapioca fiber. According to their publication, companies are required by the FDA to list any IMO composition as such and include the quantity as added sugar as of January 2021. https://ketogoods.net/blogs/news/why-tapioca-fiber
I can’t find any legislative announcement establishing this in the USA. Do you know anything about currently labeling and if products containing “tapioca fiber” today are glycemically “safe” to eat?
Great article. Is tapioca fiber and IMO the same as tapioca flour? If not, is tapioca flour keto-friendly>
Thanks.
I’m a type 1 diabetic and monitor my blood sugar often. Soluble corn fiber and tapioca fiber both cause my glucose to spike. These companies should not be able to list products as keto friendly if they contain these “false” fibers or put a warning that in some people they can cause an increase in glucose. Thank you for your research!
[…] Cassava fiber may be in keto-friendly products, but is it really a keto-friendly ingredient? information: https://convenientketo.net/tapioca-fiber- dissolve-corn-fiber-imo/ […]
I need you guys to find out why just this past January the company called “Extraordinary Bites” keto 1 net carb bread, changed their first ingredient from “resistant modified tapioca starch”, to now only “modified tapioca starch”. From what I have researched, starch is different from fiber. But maybe they are hoping people will be too naive to notice or question this ingredient. I contacted them via email and asked them why the word “resistant” was no longer on their bread like it was before this past January (which was when the deadline ended that they companies using tapioca fiber had to stop claiming tapioca fiber as a real fiber). They told me that the change has nothing to do with the new FDA law for the fiber, they said it was because they had a food shortage that forced them to change the ingredient. I asked them, to be sure, “does this mean you are not using resistant starch anymore, and that this is indeed regular starch?” And they responded yes, that’s true. They acted as though they had no idea that substituting resistant starch for regular starch, would make the bread no longer “only 1 net carb”, as it says on the front of the packaging for their breads. People who have diabetes or on diets to keep from getting diabetes are trusting this company to be healthy and safe. I want to expose them but I don’t know how I can report this, since they are not using the word “fiber”. They aren’t lying about their ingredient, only that they are putting on the nutrition label that there is only 1 net carb (9 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber). But how can that be when the very first ingredient is a non-resistant starch? It is in all walmart stores and has hundreds of 5 star reviews… people have no clue they are eating nothing but crap and carbs! Will the FDA even care?? How are they getting away with this?? And from what the FDA website says, all companies get for lying about their ingredients is a warning “to change it”. They don’t pay a fine, or get into any legal trouble. No wonder why companies don’t care about lying these days! There should be harsher punishment for this, such as losing their food license!
[…] Tapioca Fiber or Soluble Corn Fiber: Which one is worse than sugar? […]
You need to be careful because the issue here is a loophole in the labelling laws. Some tapioca fibre is IMO and some is not. The purest tapioca fibre is 90% fibre and less than 0.5% sugar. There is research on this. You can tell by looking at the labels (as you have done) and working out if the fibre content is high enough. If it is not is is IMO.
My doctor told me to take renew life completely clear organic prebiotic fiber. The ingredients describe it as organic resistant tapioca dextrin. Is this IMO also?
Hi there, based on the name you provided, this sounds like it is actually resistant.
Wow that’s a lot of info thanks!! Sorry if I missed it- but how about Organic soluble tapioca fiber such as in Pyure Organic Chocolate Hazelnut Spread? Or how about Resistant tapioca fiber ( like in Keto naturals 0 carb cracker chips) Is this the same as tapioca starch (as in Artisan Bakers keto bread?) Are these foods ok to eat? Thanks for all the info!!
I can’t thank you enough. I’m developing a keto product and was planning on using IMO….you saved me a headache!
[…] low-fat ice cream so it’s not actually keto. Whereas it’s low in carbs, it makes use of tapoica syrup as one of many many elements and that is identified to lift blood sugar. Soluble corn fiber may […]
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There are some interesting deadlines on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them heart to heart. There’s some validity but I’ll take hold opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like more! Added to FeedBurner as nicely
This is about the 3rd time I’ve come back to your article as a refresher! Thank you so much for providing this very significant information for us Keto peeps out there. I’ve been heavily researching GI for all types of sugar alcohols & sweetener alternatives. It’s so misleading how sugar free candy is labeled in a way that would have diabetics believe it’s safe for them to consume. I’m guilty too of eating tapioca fiber products without realizing in the beginning, so every time I happen upon a new Keto product, I always search the label for tapioca and IMO. There’s still so much of it out there! And the products are often labeled manipulatively. Continuing on my quest to find a decent keto brownie mix & learning how to make my own!