Synbiotic Coconut Water Beverage for Improving Bowel Regularity and Microbiome Composition

Abstract

Background: A palatable synbiotic drink may offer a low-burden dietary approach to bowel regularity.
Objective: To evaluate coconut water fermented with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and supplemented with inulin in comparison with pasteurized coconut water without live cultures or inulin using a randomized controlled microbiome trial.
Methods: The draft protocol included 80 experimental units or participants involving adults with functional constipation. The intervention was administered or tested for 8 weeks. The primary outcome was spontaneous complete bowel movements per week, with additional assessment of stool consistency, Bifidobacterium abundance, fecal short-chain fatty acids, gastrointestinal quality-of-life score. Standardized laboratory, clinical, or food-analysis procedures were applied, and between-condition effects were evaluated with two-sided tests at α=0.05.
Results: The synbiotic coconut water beverage increased spontaneous complete bowel movements from 2.1 ± 0.8 to 5.0 ± 1.4 per week, compared with an increase to 2.9 ± 1.1 in controls (p<0.001). Bifidobacterium abundance increased by 4.1 percentage points, fecal acetate and butyrate rose significantly, and gastrointestinal quality-of-life scores improved by 22.6%. Direction and magnitude of the dummy results were internally consistent between primary and secondary endpoints and tolerability or assay-quality standards were acceptable.
Conclusion: The example data indicates that coconut water fermented with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and inulin added may result in a significant change in spontaneous complete bowel movements per week with combined probiotic delivery and selective fermentation of inulin in a mineral-enriched beverage. These results are only meant as a thorough manuscript-development illustration and should be substituted with ethically produced, independently tested observations prior to being submitted to science.