# Digestion & Fibre

Somebody buying psyllium husk in Britain is choosing between a bag of husk, a tub of milled powder, a jar of capsules and a box of tablets, often under two names, because the pharmacy shelf calls the same seed coat ispaghula. Nothing on the front of those packs makes them comparable, and the questions attached to the search are quantitative: how much a day, which format, which shop.

The NHS writes that "government guidelines say our dietary fibre intake should increase to 30g a day". A pack, meanwhile, is sold by the weight of its powder or the count of its capsules. Fibre and greens powder are ranked here per serving, probiotics per capsule, glutamine per kilo of powder.

Best and median price per ingredient, updated 18 October 2026

| Ingredient | Best price | Product | Median price | Shops | Products |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Fibre / psyllium](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/fiber) | £0.07 /serving | [Inulin](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/bulk-inulin-125758) (Bulk) | – | 10 | 31 |
| [Probiotics](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/probiotics) | £0.12 /capsule | [Myprotein Daily Probiotic Capsules](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/myvitamins-myprotein-daily-probiotic-capsules-125707) (Myvitamins) | – | 10 | 139 |
| [Psyllium husk](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/search?q=psyllium) | £9.59 total price | [Psyllium Husk Powder](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/bulk-psyllium-husk-powder-125451) (Bulk) | – | 5 | 7 |
| [Inulin](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/search?q=inulin) | £4.99 total price | [Pure L-Glutamine Powder \| *Note in Description* – Unflavoured / 250g](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/bodybuilding-warehouse-pure-l-glutamine-powder-note-in-description-unflavoured-250g-132572) (Bodybuilding Warehouse) | – | 10 | 37 |
| [Greens Powder](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/greens) | £0.08 /serving | [SuperGreens Powder](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/simply-supplements-supergreens-powder-131695) (Simply Supplements) | – | 8 | 49 |
| [Digestive enzymes](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/search?q=digestive%20enzymes) | £3.99 total price | [Co Enzyme Q10](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/myvitamins-co-enzyme-q10-125693) (Myprotein) | – | 7 | 29 |
| [L-Glutamine](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/glutamine) | £13.98 /kg | [Glutamine Peptides](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/bulk-glutamine-peptides-125395) (Bulk) | – | 8 | 33 |

## One seed coat, four packs, and a pharmacy synonym

The husk is the whole seed coat, the powder is that coat milled finer, and a capsule holds milligrams of it: a jar might print 500 milligrams per capsule and a serving of three capsules, where a tub prints a scoop in grams instead. Tablets are the fourth pack, and capsule and tablet searches carry real British volume, so the format question is not a detail.

Psyllium is found by name, having no category behind it, so the whole pack's price is what stands beside it, and that list is ordered on exactly that amount, cheapest pack first, rather than on what the pack holds. The same tub can also appear inside [fibre](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/fiber), which is ranked per serving.

## What the nutrition panel settles that the front of the pack cannot

A fibre pack states fibre per 100g, and packs that declare a serving state fibre per serving too. Husk, finely milled powder and a mixed preparation fill that row with different numbers, so two tubs of equal weight are not equal purchases. "Highest fibre supplement" is a British search with volume behind it, and that row is the only place on the pack that answers it. Soluble and insoluble name a type of fibre rather than a dose, so no price reflects the difference.

Within the fibre category a tub that states its net weight gets a per-serving price; a jar of capsules gets one only when the listing itself carries a serving count. Doses are not levelled and there is no filter on dosage anywhere, so that part is yours to read. Konjac glucomannan is the fibre counted in capsules rather than scoops, and those jars turn up on [weight loss](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/goal/weight-loss).

## Inulin by weight, digestive enzymes in activity units

Inulin is a chicory-root powder, often sold with FOS on the same ingredients list and searched for under "prebiotic fibre" as well as its own name. Like psyllium it is found by name, so the pack price stands and the division by weight is yours.

An enzyme label works in nothing like milligrams. Each enzyme carries an activity unit: DU for amylase, HUT for protease, FIP for lipase, ALU for lactase. A capsule printing 23,000 DU of amylase and 80,000 HUT of protease is stating two measures that cannot be summed, and two jars are read unit against matching unit. Enzymes have no category either, so the price of the box is what stands.

## Probiotics are ranked on a strain name and a CFU count

[Probiotics](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/probiotics) are the other very large British search here, and they are ranked per capsule. The CFU count is the figure people compare, and it is worth reading twice: first for the asterisk that says whether it holds at manufacture or through the expiry date, then for the code after the species name. That code is the strain designation, and without it a jar has only named a species, which is a broader thing than what is inside it. The same capsules appear on [immunity](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/goal/immunity).

[Greens powder](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/greens) is ranked per serving, on a scoop in grams and a long ingredients list that differs by brand. [L-glutamine](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/glutamine) is the only powder here compared by the kilo, sold both as a weighed bag and as capsules dosed in milligrams, and the capsules earn a kilo price only when the label declares a net weight.

## Where a shop name lands in the arithmetic

Boots, Holland & Barrett and Tesco trail the plain psyllium and fibre terms, and none of the three is read here. No merchant sets the seed coat, the milligrams or the panel row. What a merchant does set is the price, and since that is the variable, it is kept per seller: a tub sold in two places stays two priced rows rather than one averaged entry.

That leaves the words on the front, and how little they fix is set out in reading a supplement label.

## Sources

- [NHS: How to get more fibre into your diet](https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/digestive-health/how-to-get-more-fibre-into-your-diet/)

## Frequently asked questions

### How can I get 30g of fibre a day in the UK?

On a pack, the line that answers that question is fibre per 100g, and fibre per serving where a serving is declared. It is a smaller number than the weight of the powder in the scoop, and it differs between husk, milled powder and a mixed blend, which is why tubs of equal weight are not equal purchases.

### Which is the best fiber supplement?

Psyllium, inulin, konjac and mixed blends all sit under that question, each with the serving its own maker chose, so the comparable step is the fibre in that serving rather than the weight of the tub. We name no winner and take no view on effect.

### Which is better, chia seeds or psyllium husk?

They are bought in different aisles: chia is a food sold by weight, psyllium a supplement sold as husk, powder or capsules. What puts any two of them side by side is the nutrition panel, where fibre per 100g is stated, and after that the serving each pack works in.

### Are fibre supplements good to take?

That is a question for a pharmacist or GP, and neither a price nor a label answers it. What a pack does settle is what is in it: the fibre source, the serving size, and the grams of fibre that serving provides.

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Source: Supplementscanner, https://supplementscanner.co.uk/goal/digestion (live prices per product)

Information for comparison, not medical advice. Ingredients are chosen based on what people often search for, not as a treatment.