NDOs help maintain gut health—reinforcing gut barrier function, stimulating the immune function and preventing harmful bacteria from establishing a home on the gut wall. Many inulin applications center around its health benefits, notably its properties as a soluble, prebiotic fiber. Detour, a whey protein energy bar from Next Proteins (Carlsbad, Calif.), provides 3g of dietary fiber per 80g serving, plus 148mg of calcium (15% of the RDA). However, the health-conscious will note the 5g of saturated fat in each bar, though each does offer 60% of the RDA for protein.
Below a critical value, Westphalen found relatively little effect, but above a critical amount, inulin and xanthan were shown to have a synergistic effect.