Olipop reviews are still popping up everywhere, and the brand has only gotten bigger since I first wrote about it — it’s now a company valued north of a billion dollars, sold in tens of thousands of stores. But 2026 has also brought something new to the conversation: a class-action lawsuit questioning whether Olipop’s fiber dose actually delivers the gut health benefits on the label. So I’m updating this review with my honest, unsponsored take — as a dietitian who has spent 25 years looking at fiber and the microbiome, and as someone who just genuinely likes a good soda.
In this post, I’ll walk through taste, ingredients, the nutrition science behind the Olismart blend, what the new lawsuit actually claims, and who should be more cautious with this drink.
Table of Contents
Olipop Reviews: Overview
First, you need to know that Olipop isn’t trying to be Pepsi or Coke. Once you accept that, it’s easier to judge it on its own terms. The lineup has grown well past the original handful of flavors and now spans classics like Root Beer and Vintage Cola alongside newer additions, seasonal limited releases, and a lower-fiber “grab-and-go” can format for people who want something shelf-stable. Four flavors — Vintage Cola, Doctor Goodwin, Cherry Cola, and Citrus Rush — contain 50–60 mg of caffeine from green tea extract; everything else in the lineup is caffeine-free.
Remember, when you taste Olipop for the first time, go in expecting a health drink with soda-like flavor notes, not a clone of the soda you grew up on. From there, it’s much easier to appreciate what it’s actually doing.
Olipop Reviews: Taste
One thing I still love about Olipop is that it doesn’t leave that sticky, syrupy soda after-feel or the weird artificial-sweetener tang you get from diet soda. Because I don’t drink regular or diet soda — for all the ingredient reasons below — I’m genuinely happy to have a soda-style drink without the junk.
Does Olipop Taste Better Than Regular Soda?
My favorite flavor is still Classic Root Beer. It has intense, real root beer flavor — honestly better than most conventional root beers on the market. If you want a flavor-matched comparison: Doctor Goodwin is built to sit in Dr. Pepper’s flavor lane, though the natural flavoring means it’s softer and less in-your-face than the original.
Contrary to what some reviewers say, I don’t think Olipop tastes like stevia, and I say that as someone who genuinely dislikes stevia’s bitterness. What some people are picking up on is probably the herbal notes from the Olismart blend, which also gives Olipop a slightly fuller mouthfeel than regular soda.
Taste verdict: among the “better-for-you” sodas, Olipop is still my favorite — ahead of Rebel, Zevia, Poppi, Bubly, and Spindrift for flavor. This isn’t a drink for someone who wants an exact clone of conventional soda, but it’s a great pick if you want something that feels indulgent and is actually formulated with your gut in mind.
Olipop Ingredients: What’s Actually in the Can
Olipop Root Beer label
Let’s compare a typical Olipop flavor to a standard grape soda, since that’s still the clearest way to see the difference.
Olipop Classic Grape: Carbonated Water, Olismart® (Cassava Root Fiber, Chicory Root Inulin, Jerusalem Artichoke Inulin, Nopal Cactus, Calendula Flower, Kudzu Root, Marshmallow Root, Slippery Elm Bark), Concord Grape Juice Concentrate, Lime Juice, Apple Juice Concentrate, Cassava Root Syrup, Tartaric Acid from Grapes, Stevia Leaf, Himalayan Pink Salt, Natural Grape Flavor Extract. Contains about 4 grams of natural sugar from juice and cassava root syrup.
A typical grape soda: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar, Grape Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Grape Flavors, Sodium Benzoate, Red 40, Blue 1 — with roughly 40+ grams of added sugar per can.
That’s the whole story in one comparison: regular soda is running 35–45 more grams of sugar per can than Olipop, plus synthetic dyes and preservatives that Olipop simply doesn’t contain.
Olipop Sugar vs. Regular Soda
Olipop Health Benefits: What the Research Actually Shows
If you’re wondering about Olipop’s health benefits, there are several plausible ones based on the individual ingredients in the Olismart blend. Here’s the honest, ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown:
- Cassava Root Fiber — acts as a prebiotic that can increase healthy Lactobacillus populations while reducing certain harmful bacteria.
- Chicory Root Inulin — one of the most-studied prebiotic fibers available. A 2025 longitudinal study found that inulin intake reliably enriches beneficial strains like Bifidobacterium longum, though the size of the effect is highly individual from person to person.
- Jerusalem Artichoke Inulin — may help reduce cholesterol and fasting blood sugar, and may support binding of certain heavy metals.
- Nopal Cactus — supports healthy blood glucose regulation, may help lower cholesterol, and is rich in antioxidants.
- Calendula Flower — antioxidant-rich, with research pointing to anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties.
- Kudzu Root — acts as a prebiotic and has anti-inflammatory properties that may support liver health and blunt blood sugar spikes.
- Marshmallow Root — contains mucilage that may soothe the stomach lining and reduce ulcer risk.
- Slippery Elm Bark — traditionally used to reduce inflammation and protect the GI lining.
- Stevia Leaf — some research suggests it may support microbiome diversity, though this is an active area of study, not a settled one.
- Himalayan Pink Salt — present in a small amount; richer in trace minerals than table salt, but not a meaningful mineral source at this dose.
- Cassava Root Syrup — a small amount of natural sugar. It’s a real sugar, but the dose per can is modest.
One personal note here: cassava root (also called tapioca) shows up twice in Olipop’s ingredient list — as Cassava Root Fiber and Cassava Root Syrup. Through my own MRT testing, I found out I’m personally reactive to tapioca, which is why I no longer drink Olipop myself despite how much I enjoy the taste. It’s a good reminder that “healthy” and “well-tolerated by you” aren’t always the same thing. If you’ve never had food sensitivity testing and you notice symptoms that don’t line up with anything obvious in your diet, this is exactly the kind of hidden trigger MRT is built to catch. You can read more about how that testing works here: MRT Test: The LEAP Method Complete Guide.
Related post: The Best Fiber Supplement for IBS-D + 8 Brands to Choose
Does 9 Grams of Fiber Actually Do Anything? Here’s Where I Push Back
This is where I want to be more careful than most of the reviews you’ll find. The research on inulin-type fibers uses a wide range of doses — one systematic review of human studies found meaningful microbiome shifts at doses from about 5 to 20 grams per day, and a separate trial found that even 10 grams per day of chicory inulin measurably improved stool frequency in people with sluggish bowel habits. So a can of Olipop with 6–9 grams of fiber is genuinely in a range where prebiotic research shows real effects — it’s not nothing.
But it’s also not automatic. The 2025 personalized-response study I mentioned above found that how much any one person’s microbiome shifts from a given dose of inulin varies a lot from person to person — some people respond strongly, others barely at all. That’s the nuance that gets lost in a lot of marketing: “prebiotic fiber” doesn’t mean “guaranteed gut health transformation from one can.”
This is exactly the question at the center of a class-action lawsuit filed against Olipop in December 2025 (Somers v. Olipop, in the Eastern District of New York). The complaint argues that Olipop’s 6–9 grams of fiber per can falls short of the roughly 12 grams per day, sustained for at least a month, that some of the cited research suggests is needed for a consistent prebiotic effect — and that drinking two-plus cans a day to hit that number would add back enough sugar to offset the benefit. As of now, the case is still in early stages, no class has been certified, and no settlement has been reached. It follows a similar, already-settled case against competitor Poppi over the same basic question: does the fiber dose in a can of “gut health” soda actually match the claims on the label?
My honest read as a dietitian: Olipop is not “sugared water,” and the fiber sources in Olismart do have real prebiotic research behind them. But it’s also not a substitute for meeting your daily fiber needs through food, and one can a day is unlikely to single-handedly transform your microbiome. Think of it as a soda alternative that happens to contribute meaningfully toward your fiber goal for the day — not a supplement.
Olipop Nutrition Facts
Across the current lineup, a 12 oz can of Olipop generally contains:
- 30-50 calories per can
- 11-19 grams of carbohydrate
- Up to 9 grams of fiber (roughly 32% of the daily value)
- 2-5 grams of added sugar
- Low net carbs, which is why it fits into many ketogenic approaches
- Around 35 mg sodium
- 0 grams fat
With close to a third of your daily fiber needs and low net carbs, this still reads as a genuinely better soda alternative on paper. My only lingering concern is the aluminum can itself — drinking primarily from aluminum cans isn’t considered a health risk at typical intake, but it’s worth noting if you’re someone who’s already minimizing aluminum exposure for other reasons.
Olipop vs. Poppi: Which Actually Has More Fiber?
Since Poppi’s own “gut health” marketing was challenged in a class-action settlement over low fiber content — some Poppi flavors contain as little as 2 grams of inulin per can — Olipop’s 6-9 grams puts it meaningfully ahead on fiber dose. Poppi leans on apple cider vinegar as its differentiator instead, which has some small, short-term research behind it for blood sugar and reflux, but nothing as well-established as inulin’s prebiotic effects. If gut-supportive fiber is your main goal, Olipop is the stronger pick between the two; if you specifically want the ACV angle, Poppi covers that ground that Olipop doesn’t.
Does Olipop Cause Gas or Bloating?
Not in my own experience, but if your gut isn’t used to fermentable fiber, some temporary gas or bloating is a normal adjustment response — that’s true of any prebiotic fiber, not just this one. If you have IBS, SIBO, or know you’re sensitive to FODMAPs, inulin and chicory root are common trigger fibers, so I’d start with a half-can rather than a full one to see how you tolerate it.
Related post: Comprehensive Leaky Gut Diet Guide
Does Olipop Make You Poop?
For most people, no — and there’s no consistent pattern of Olipop causing diarrhea in reviewer reports either. That tracks with the research: chicory inulin tends to soften stool and can modestly improve stool frequency in people with sluggish bowels, which is a different effect than the urgency you’d get from insoluble, “hurry-things-along” fiber.
Olipop Caffeine Content
Four flavors — Vintage Cola, Cherry Cola, Doctor Goodwin, and Citrus Rush — contain 50-60 mg of caffeine per can, sourced from green tea extract rather than synthetic caffeine. That’s roughly half of what you’d get from an 8 oz cup of coffee. Every other flavor in the current lineup, including Root Beer and Strawberry Vanilla, is caffeine-free.
Olipop Cost
In stores, expect to pay somewhere between $2.25 and $3.00 per can, which is comparable to or slightly higher than other “better-for-you” sodas like Bubly or Spindrift, but still cheaper than most kombucha or CBD beverages. Buying by the case online typically brings the per-can price down.
Related post: 12 Calming Drink Ideas to Help with Relaxation + Focus
Olipop Reviews Summary
My updated verdict for 2026: Olipop is still my favorite soda alternative on taste, and its fiber sources are genuinely better-researched than most of the “gut health” claims floating around the beverage aisle. It’s a smart swap away from conventional soda for most people — though as I mentioned above, it’s off my own rotation now that I know tapioca is a trigger for me. That’s exactly why I’d rather you go in with realistic expectations than marketing-driven ones: one can a day isn’t a microbiome fix on its own, and if you’re dealing with IBS or SIBO — or you’ve just never checked what your own triggers are — ease in slowly. As always: test, don’t guess. #TheHealthyRD
