Consumers’ fascination with fiber continues to grow, but as the trend moves beyond social media, the conversation is evolving from “fibermaxxing” to “fibermixing” – creating new opportunities for food companies to combine complementary fibers for targeted health benefits, according to one nutrition expert.
According to Google’s Summergeist, search interest in “fibermaxxing,” which is a social-media-driven push to dramatically increase daily fiber intake, jumped 115% over the past 90 days, but a closer look shows consumer interest in fiber may be moving from quantity to quality.
For example, US Google data from the year ending Aug. 3 shows interest in dietary fiber is up 70% and soluble fiber is up 10%, while search interest in insoluble fiber is down 9%. The data also shows rising interest in specific types of fiber in the past year in the US. For example, search interest increased in inulin fiber by 70%, kiwi fiber by 60%, psyllium 50%, chia seeds fiber 50%, apple fiber 30%, banana fiber 20% and avocado fiber 10%, according to Google.
Consumers want more fiber, but still have questions
This search data is emerging against a backdrop of persistent low fiber intake: Most Americans fall short of recommended fiber consumption, creating an opportunity for brands to help consumers incorporate more fiber-rich foods and ingredients.
Likewise, consumer interest in fiber generally is driven by a desire to support their health.
For example, nearly three-quarters of the 1,006 Americans surveyed by the International Food Information Council last October said they believed fiber benefits their health, with 28% specifically noting support for gut health as a top reason for consuming fiber. In addition, 20% reported consuming fiber to lower blood pressure, 19% to reduce LDL or “bad” cholesterol, 18% to reduce the risk of heart disease, 17% to manage inflammation and 16% to lower the risk of colon cancer.
While this research combined with the search data suggests increased sophistication in consumer understanding of fiber, IFIC research also reveals there is still a significant gap in Americans’ knowledge about fiber, including where to find it and what types to consume to achieve their health goals.
IFIC found fewer than half of Americans identified fruits and vegetables as the best sources for fiber at 46% and 48%, respectively. Even fewer identified grain foods (41%), nuts and seeds (39%) and cereals (38%). At the same time, a notable portion incorrectly said meat or seafood (24%) and dairy (19%) were the best sources, even though they are not naturally significant sources of fiber, according to the survey.
Beneo’s case for ‘fibermixxing’
Food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers can help fill consumers’ gap in knowledge and consumption of fiber by redirecting the social conversation from fibermaxxing to fibermixxing, which focuses on combining different types of fiber based on their unique physiological effects, said Denisse Colindres, senior manager, nutrition communication for the Americas, Beneo.
She explained at Institute for Food Technologists’ FIRST event in Chicago last month that the fast rise of “fibermaxxing” may have helped direct consumers’ attention to a nutrient in which most people are deficient, but she said its message was oversimplified.
“It was a very simple message: More is better. Max out your fiber intake,” she said. This overshadowed “a lot of little details that you need to give when you start a positive nutrition trend so that it is not oversimplified or taken the wrong way.”
In response, she said, Beneo wants to subtly tweak the trend to further boost consumers’ health and, in doing so, create new market opportunities for food and beverage brands.
“Our take on the fibermaxxing trend is an approach to fibermixxing – so getting diversity of fibers so that you can maximize health benefits because not all fibers act the same in the body,” she said. “That is the missing piece of the information for consumers. They feel like fiber is just one thing, but we know that there are a lot of different types of fiber.”
She explained that fibers differ based on properties such as solubility, viscosity, fermentability and their effects on the gut microbiome.
Different fibers for different functions
For example, she said, consumers need viscous fibers, like Beneo’s Orafti B-Fit, a beta-glucan rich soluble fiber that can create a gel network that traps glucose to lower blood glucose response. It also binds with bile acids that are required for fat digestion – prompting the body to make more bile acid from cholesterol and thereby lower LDL levels in the blood, according to the company.
Consumers also need prebiotic fibers, like chicory root fiber, which Beneo also offers and which Colindres said are fermented in the gut where they “feed the beneficial bacteria and help produce short-chain fatty acids,” metabolites associated with multiple physiological effects, including gut barrier function and appetite regulation.
For support, she pointed to a meta-analysis of 32 randomized controlled trials using chicory root fibers that included almost 1,200 people. If found that daily supplementation with 10 grams of chicory root fiber was associated with modest improvements in several weight-related measures, including body weight, BMI and waist circumference, although outcomes varied among studies.
Other research showed a correlation between 8 grams of chicory root fiber consumed daily for four weeks and reductions in feelings of anxiety and depression, reduced cortisol levels and higher beneficial gut bacteria like bifidobacteria, according to Beneo.
From nutrition strategy to product innovation
Fibermixxing can also help manufacturers reach their formulation goals, she said. She argued that Beneo’s prebiotic fiber from chicory root and short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) from sugar beet can help brands replace fat and sugar in some products, ultimately lowering calories and boosting nutrient density.
Mixing fiber with other nutrients, such as plant proteins, could also help brands meet the needs of GLP-1 users, which is a growing population of consumers who want smaller portions but still need complete nutrition.
“Combining fiber with other nutrients like plant-based proteins offers a smart and holistic way to deliver more nutrition per bite,” according to the company.
Colindres added that Beneo’s portfolio of fibers is versatile and can be used across categories and platforms, including beverages, yogurts, dairy alternatives, baked goods and gummies.
Finally, she argued, shifting the conversation from fibermaxxing to fibermixxing is “responsible” because it helps consumers add more fiber to their diet in a way that delivers benefits but reduces the risk of gastrointestinal discomfort if consumers add too much fiber to their diet too quickly.
“You should never go from zero to 100 with fiber because it will create some GI issues. So, it is in the best interest of the industry to try to add those grams of fiber in a serving” in a way that can help consumers build their tolerance so that they buy higher fiber products more often, rather than trying them once, suffering discomfort and never returning, she said.