Benefiber vs. Metamucil: Battle of the Fiber Supplements

In the quest for better digestive health and overall well-being, fiber supplements have emerged as valuable allies. 

Among these, Benefiber and Metamucil stand as prominent contenders, each offering a unique blend of soluble fiber to support digestive health, regularity, and more. 

In this article, I will do a deep dive into these two dietary fiber supplement options, comparing the benefits, mechanisms, and ease of use of these two popular products.

Benefiber vs. Metamucil: Which Is Better?

There are a few popular fiber supplements floating around the Health Reporter office right now, and since I am no stranger to the benefits of hitting the recommended 25–30 grams of dietary fiber each day, I decided to test them out. 

The products I will be comparing today are Benefiber’s Original Prebiotic fiber supplement and Metamucil’s 4-in-1 Psyllium Fiber Powder.

After testing them based on their flavor and consistency and doing a deep dive online into the benefits of the active ingredients in each formula, I have landed on Benefiber as my personal favorite, and I’ll do a deep dive into the reasons below.

What is Benefiber?

Benefiber is a popular dietary supplement that is designed to support your digestive health and, subsequently, your overall well-being. 

It is packed with natural wheat dextrin, a soluble fiber that I can verify is completely flavorless and easy to mix into your favorite beverage.

Integrating Benefiber’s Original Prebiotic fiber supplement into your routine seems as though it would be more or less effortless despite needing to take it three times a day for optimal results. 

Its ease of use makes it easy to take advantage of benefits like lowering cholesterol, managing blood sugar levels, and enhancing digestion for less bloating and constipation.

What is Metamucil?

Metamucil is a natural colon cleanser that enhances digestive comfort and overall digestive wellness. 

Rich in fiber derived from psyllium husk, it helps relieve constipation by creating a gel-like substance that softens stool, thus relieving constipation and enhancing digestive health.

Unlike Benefiber, Metamucil is not flavorless, and because of the high dose of psyllium husk powder, it doesn’t dissolve in water and instead takes on more of a gel-like texture.

Personally, I wasn’t in love with the gel and found it difficult to get down. I am also sensitive to artificial sweeteners and flavors, and therefore, I found the sweet, orangey taste to be a little much for my palette. Though, if you have a sweet tooth, I’m sure you won’t mind.

How Do These Products Work?

Both Benefiber and Metamucil, like most colon cleansers and fiber supplements, rely on increasing your daily fiber intake in order to provide results and simply use a different set of ingredients to do so.

Benefiber delivers 3 grams of fiber per serving and is designed to be taken three times daily. It is formulated with wheat dextrin, a gluten substance extracted from wheat.

Metamucil, also designed to be taken three times daily or before meals, delivers 2.4 grams of fiber per serving and promises similar results.

While both Benefiber and Metamucil use different ingredients, the ingredients included in each formula have been shown to improve metabolic health by preventing the absorption of fat in the large intestine and slowing the breakdown of sugars to prevent blood sugar spikes.

Each fiber supplement also helps alleviate digestive discomfort and promote bowel regularity by aiding digestion in two ways. The gel-like consistency increases the water content of stool, helping to add bulk to it while simultaneously softening it, offering a laxative effect.

Ingredients

Before purchasing a new product, I always double-check the ingredients to make sure it doesn’t contain anything I’m not comfortable putting in my body.

Here’s a deeper dive into the ingredients included in each fiber supplement blend.

Benefiber ingredients

Something that I love about Benefiber is just how simple its ingredient list is, containing only wheat dextrin, which I will explain in greater detail below.

#1 Wheat dextrin

Wheat dextrin is a type of soluble fiber that is processed from wheat starch. It forms a gel-like substance in the digestive tract, adding bulk to stool, softening it, and promoting regular bowel movements.

Metamucil ingredients

Although this fiber supplement contains mostly natural ingredients, there are some unnatural additives that you should be aware of.

#1 Psyllium husk

Psyllium husk is a plant-based source of soluble fiber from the seeds of the Plantago ovata plant. 

When used as a dietary supplement, it works by absorbing water in the digestive tract, forming a gel-like substance that softens stool, aids bowel movements, and supports heart health.

#2 Sucrose

Sucrose is a natural sugar commonly found in plants. It’s made up of glucose and fructose molecules and is often used as table sugar in cooking and sweetening foods.

#3 Citric acid

Citric acid is a weak organic acid found in citrus fruits like lemons and oranges. It’s used to enhance flavors in foods and beverages, and because of its acid properties, it works well as a preservative.

#4 Aspartame and Yellow 6

These are the two Metamucil ingredients that I’m not in love with.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener used to sweeten foods and beverages while avoiding the unnecessary calories added by real sugar. It’s made from two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, and is often used in diet sodas and other sugar-free products.

Yellow 6, also known as Sunset Yellow FCF, is a synthetic food color commonly used to give food products a bright yellow or orange hue. 

Food dyes, although useful in creating a more attractive product, have been shown to cause hypersensitivity reactions and are considered by many dieticians as an unnecessary food additive.

Benefits

Since it’s estimated that many Americans reach only 30–40% of their recommended daily fiber intake, using fiber supplements to increase these percentages can offer various health benefits.

Both Benefiber and Metamucil offer similar benefits:

• Balanced blood sugar levels 
• Reduced “bad” LDL cholesterol levels
• Better digestive health 

However, weight loss is a different story – while the wheat dextrin in Benefiber has shown promising results in regard to helping overweight adults lose weight by altering the gut microbiota, the type of fiber in Metamucil isn’t proven to help with weight loss.

Side Effects

When taking any dietary fiber supplement, regardless of whether it contains wheat dextrin or psyllium husk powder, you can expect to experience mild stomach upset as your stomach adjusts to the increased fiber intake.

Metamucil has the added downside of containing some unnatural ingredients, which, although technically safe for human consumption, have been shown to cause side effects like digestive upset and headaches.

Taste

In the battle between Benefiber and Metamucil, I prefer Benefiber’s tasteless formula both for its versatility and simply because it’s easier to drink day after day. Here’s what the supplements taste like in more detail:

Benefiber: I was very surprised to find that Benefiber really doesn’t taste like anything and essentially dissolves completely in whatever you add it to. For that reason, you can pop it into beverages and even meals without a hitch.

Metamucil: The Metamucil formula is made to have a light, orangey taste and, because of the psyllium husk, results in a gel-like texture in water. 

Personally, I found the taste of Metamucil to be too sweet and slightly chemically, and though I didn’t struggle with drinking it during my short-lived experiment, I have a feeling I would feel differently after a few weeks of consistent use.

Pricing

Price-wise, there’s not a huge difference between these two soluble fiber supplements. Metamucil is technically pricier, but only by a few dollars.

• Benefiber: $12 to $15
• Metamucil: $15 to $20

Prices vary depending on the retailer, but you can find these products easily online or in person at your local pharmacy or Walmart and can expect to spend around $15.

Benefiber vs. Metamucil vs. Alternatives

How I Tested

To improve the accuracy and fairness of my testing process, I always use a systematic approach to rate each product based on the same set of criteria.

This approach is designed to help me answer questions like: “Does this product serve its intended purpose?” “Does it deliver on value?” and “Are the ingredients good for me?”

Here’s a breakdown of each product based on my set of criteria:

Quality

What you put in your body matters, and I am a firm believer that nature knows best. 

Although both Benefiber and Metamucil fiber supplements use naturally derived ingredients, Benefiber’s formula does not include what I deem to be unnecessary additives such as artificial flavors and sweeteners, making it the clear winner in this category.

Effectiveness

If you’re looking for a fiber supplement that’s guaranteed to work, you can’t go wrong with Benefiber and Metamucil. Both are considered industry leaders and have ample reviews affirming their efficacy.

Price

Benefiber and Metamucil are in the same price range when considering their simplest and most popular formulas. Benefiber, however, has the added benefit of being a few dollars cheaper.

In terms of ease of purchase, the full range of products for both companies can be easily purchased at Walmart, CVS, Target, and Amazon.

Brand reputation

Benefiber products are produced by a US company, GSK Consumer Health, and have to date reported many satisfied customers. That being said, they did have an isolated incident in which products were recalled due to alleged plastic contamination.

Metamucil is a company that has been around since 1934 and is more or less a household name, so its long-standing reputation doesn’t leave much room for guessing.

FAQs

Conclusion

After testing these two products (albeit not for long) and doing more in-depth research about their ingredients, I can say with certainty that Benefiber is the better option.

I found the Benefiber formula more pleasant to drink, appreciate that it offers better results in regard to weight loss, and am a sucker for an all-natural ingredient list.

At the end of the day, though, both of these supplements can be a great addition to your diet if you struggle to meet the daily fiber intake.