FOS Facts for Vitamins, Supplements, Health and Wellenss

Fructooligosaccharide (FOS) is a complex carbohydrate that occurs naturally in garlic and onions, oats and chicory. This sugar is helpful when it comes to keeping your gastro-intestinal (GI) tract working properly in terms of regulating the levels of bacteria in your digestive system. If you experience frequent indigestion, gas, bloating and other irregular symptoms, you may want to increase your levels of FOS; and if you're not a fan of the foods high in this sugar, you should consider dietary supplementation.

For those following a vegan diet, Pure Encapsulations has an FOS supplement that enhances digestion by raising probiotic levels in the GI tract. Since fructooligosaccharide isn't digestible, this supplement creates optimum levels of this probiotic in the body's system and increases the good bacteria. Metabolic Maintenance also offers a vegan alternative with their Probiotic IB capsules with 10 billion live cultures. Another product for vegans, which is also free of dairy, gluten and sodium, is DaVinci Labs' Mega Probiotic-ND™ capsules. This formulation has eight microorganism species with five billion per capsule and can be used daily by both adults and children. One more vegetarian alternative comes from Protocol For Life Balance and their Ortho Dophilus™ formulated capsules that are enteric-coated for easy digestion and contain eight strains of good bacteria 

Pure Encapsulations has a FOS powder that can be added to your favorite beverage and taken at mealtime or on-the-go. NOW also offers their NutraFlora FOS Powder with no animal byproducts that can be mixed with water or used in a green drink. Another powdered product, SymBiotics with FOS from the Allergy Research Group, contains nine good bacteria strains to promote intestinal health. The company also offers their FructoOligoSaccharide powder made from chicory root, which is a soluble fiber. Douglas Laboratories offers its own powdered variation of FOS, as well as one with the addition of L-Glutamine, an amino acid that helps digestion. Jarrow Formulas'  Jarro-Dophilus + FOS Powder has six strains of probiotics in a concentrated form of 12 billion organisms per serving. 

If you want a creative way to sneak FOS into your family's diet, consider Pharmax's Pure FOS Powder, which can be used in place of sugar. Or try Rx Vitamins' chewable alternative: their DGL Licorice supplement.  


For an excellent selection of high-quality FOS supplements, please see the FOS Section at CAMFormulas.com!