Olipop is not proven unsafe during pregnancy, but experts generally recommend caution because several of its ingredients lack sufficient safety data for pregnant women. The honest answer, as one maternal-fetal medicine specialist put it, is that “we don’t know” whether prebiotic sodas are safe in pregnancy. Most dietitians and OB-GYNs suggest that an occasional can is unlikely to cause harm, but they stop short of endorsing it as a regular habit during pregnancy.
Why Experts Are Cautious
Olipop contains a long list of botanical and functional ingredients that go well beyond what you’d find in regular soda or sparkling water. While prebiotics from whole foods like oats, apples, garlic, and onions are generally considered fine during pregnancy, prebiotic sodas bundle those fibers with herbs, plant extracts, and other additives that haven’t been studied in pregnant populations. The lack of research is the core issue. No one has run clinical trials giving Olipop to pregnant women and tracking outcomes, so safety assessments rely on what’s known about each individual ingredient, and for several of them, not much is known.
Ingredients Worth Knowing About
Olipop’s ingredient list varies by flavor, but a few components stand out as potential concerns during pregnancy.
Agave inulin and chicory root fiber: These are the main prebiotic fibers in Olipop. It’s unclear exactly how much of each is in a can. Neither has been well studied in pregnancy specifically. Too much chicory root fiber can cause stomach cramping, gas, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea, and pregnancy already makes your digestive system more sensitive. A small amount is likely fine, but loading up on prebiotic fiber from a beverage on top of a fiber-rich diet could cause real discomfort.
Calendula flower: Found in some Olipop flavors, calendula has raised flags among herbalists and OB-GYNs because of a theoretical miscarriage risk. The FDA considers calendula “generally recognized as safe” when used as a seasoning or flavoring, and the amounts in Olipop are almost certainly tiny. But the exact quantity isn’t disclosed on the label, which makes it hard to evaluate the risk with confidence.
Marshmallow root and slippery elm bark: Slippery elm has a long-standing reputation in herbal medicine as a potential abortifacient when applied directly to the cervix. There’s no reliable evidence that taking it by mouth in small amounts poses the same risk, but most medical references still recommend avoiding it during pregnancy as a precaution. Marshmallow root has less concern attached to it, though it also lacks pregnancy-specific safety data.
Kudzu root and nopal cactus: These appear in certain flavors. Neither has been meaningfully studied for safety during pregnancy, which puts them in the same gray zone as many of Olipop’s other botanicals.
Caffeine in Certain Flavors
Most Olipop flavors are caffeine-free, but four are not. Vintage Cola, Doctor Goodwin, and Cherry Cola each contain 50 mg of caffeine per can, while Ridge Rush contains 60 mg. The widely cited pregnancy guideline is to stay under 200 mg of caffeine per day, with some experts suggesting even less. A single can of caffeinated Olipop won’t put you near that limit on its own, but if you’re also drinking coffee, tea, or chocolate, it adds up. If you do choose Olipop during pregnancy, picking a caffeine-free flavor removes one variable from the equation.
Sweeteners in Olipop
Olipop uses stevia leaf extract and contains only 2 to 5 grams of sugar per can, compared to 39 grams in a regular Coca-Cola. Animal studies on stevia have not shown increased toxicity to embryos or negative effects on fertility or pregnancy outcomes. No human pregnancy trials exist, but regulatory agencies in both the U.S. and Canada have approved stevia as a food additive, and the general recommendation is that non-nutritive sweeteners are acceptable in moderation during pregnancy. The low sugar content is genuinely a point in Olipop’s favor compared to regular soda if you’re managing blood sugar or gestational diabetes risk.
A Practical Way to Think About It
The risk from a single can of Olipop is almost certainly very low. The botanical ingredients are present in small amounts, the sugar content is minimal, and most flavors have no caffeine. The concern isn’t that one can will cause a problem. It’s that the cumulative effect of regularly consuming understudied herbal ingredients throughout a pregnancy is simply unknown.
If you’re craving something fizzy, plain sparkling water or flavored seltzer gives you the carbonation without any of the question marks. If you genuinely enjoy Olipop and want one occasionally, choosing a caffeine-free flavor and keeping it to a few times a week rather than a daily habit is a reasonable middle ground. For the prebiotic benefits specifically, whole foods like oats, bananas, garlic, onions, and asparagus deliver the same types of fiber without the added botanicals, and they come with vitamins and minerals your body can use during pregnancy.