Table 1.

Summary of findings from human prebiotic interventions on bone health.

Type of Trial	Prebiotic Used	Main Finding	Reference
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover	Inulin/oligofructose mix (Synergy1)	Improved calcium and magnesium absorption and bone turnover in postmenopausal women.	Holloway et al., 2007 [23]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover	scFOS	scFOS do not improve calcium absorption in postmenopausal women.	Tahiri et al., 2003 [24]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled	Chicory fructan	Calcium absorption improved by chicory fructan administration in postmenopausal women.	Kim et al., 2004 [25]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover	TOS	Calcium absorption improved by TOS administration in postmenopausal women.	van den Heuvel et al., 2000 [26]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover	Lactulose	Calcium absorption improved by lactulose administration in postmenopausal women.	van den Heuvel et al., 1999 [27]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover	Inulin, FOS, and GOS	Inulin, FOS, and GOS do not affect calcium or iron absorption in healthy adult men.	van den Heuvel et al., 1998 [28]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled	Inulin-type fructan	Calcium absorption and bone content/density improved by inulin-type fructan administration in teenagers.	Abrams et al., 2005 [29]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover	Oligofructose and inulin/oligofructose mixture	Calcium absorption improved by inulin/oligofructose, but not oligofructose, administration in adolescent girls.	Griffin et al., 2002 [30]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover	Oligofructose	Calcium absorption improved by oligofructose administration in adolescent boys.	van den Heuvel et al., 1999 [31]
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled	scFOS	Bone turnover was minimized by scFOS administration in postmenopausal women. No effect on bone mineral density.	Slevin et al., 2014 [32]