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From McDonald’s migraine meals to papaya parasite cleanses, every other week there appears to be a new wellness trend emerging from social media platform TikTok. But this latest one might actually make sense: \u201cfibremaxxing\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As its name suggests, fibremaxxing refers to maximising the amount of fibre in your diet. It follows a long line of other online \u201cmaxxing\u201d trends, including sleepmaxxing, flavormaxxing and the more sinister looksmaxxing \u2013 all of which recommend going to extremes to improve certain areas of your life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fibre\u2019s surge in online popularity was sparked, in part, by a video from 25-year-old Tiktok creator Pamela Corral,** whose videos of high-fibre chia seed puddings regularly go viral.<\/p>\n
\u201cFiber is super cool \u2013 I think more people should be eating fiber,\u201d Corral said in an interview with the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s music to many nutritionists\u2019 ears, as for once this is a wellness trend that aligns with health messaging: people should indeed eat more fibre.\u00a0<\/p>\n Found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grain foods, the recommended daily intake for fibre is 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men \u2013 although most adults only average about 20 grams, according to the United Kingdom\u2019s National Health Service (NHS)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s been well documented that eating a lot of fibre is associated with lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar, lower inflammation, [and] it protects against colon cancer,\u201d Boushra Dalile, a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven who studies the link between nutrition and the gut microbiome, told Euronews Health.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, in relation to heart health, [it contributes to the] reduction of cardiovascular disease risk, and, more recently \u2026 supporting brain development and behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n In 2019, a landmark study<\/a> commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that an increase of fibre from 25 grams to 29 grams per day was associated with a 15 per cent to 30 per cent reduction in overall mortality and heart disease death.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMost people struggle to reach the minimum [fibre] recommendations, so it’s really nice to see something trending that could at least help people reach this amount, and potentially even go beyond,\u201d Dalile said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Is fibremaxxing safe?<\/p>\n While increasing your fibre intake is mostly seen as a good thing, any \u201cwellness\u201d advice on the internet should still be taken with a grain (quite literally) of salt. Social media algorithms tend to favour extremes, but as always, moderation is key \u2013 along with lots of hydration.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s really, really important to drink plenty of water when consuming high-fibre foods throughout the day,\u201d said Dalile, adding that this helps to prevent gas and bloating.<\/p>\n People who don\u2019t usually eat a lot of fibre should also be careful not to introduce it into their diet too quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cYou might actually feel pain and be constipated because all of a sudden, your system\u2019s bombarded with a lot of things that it just doesn’t know how to digest\u201d.<\/p>\n A major element of fibremaxxing\u2019s appeal has been its sell as an easy fix for weight loss. Last year, one TikTok user<\/a> shared a smoothie recipe captioned: \u201cWhen you realize fiber can have effects similar to Ozempic so you drink this daily & you see more results in 2 weeks than you have in 2 years”.<\/p>\n While fibre can indeed help people lose weight by making them feel full for longer, it\u2019s important to remember that most health advice online is anecdotal \u2013 and should not be taken in isolation.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who are committing to a healthy lifestyle usually don’t do so on just a single layer, which is diet, but also do that on the layer of sleep, the layer of exercise, the later of lowering their stress level or avoiding stressors where possible,\u201d Dalile said.\u00a0<\/p>\n How can you increase fibre intake?<\/p>\n Adding just seven grams of fibre has been found to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by nine per cent, according to a report by the United States\u2019 National Institutes of Health (NIH)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n A high-fibre diet doesn\u2019t have to be bland. Porridge oats, strawberries, avocados, whole-wheat pasta, and baked beans all fit the bill.<\/p>\n But if you still struggle to get your intake up, Dalile recommends adding one small fibre element to your days and then building up from there.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing that\u2019s easy is using lots of seeds in meals,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you’re having a salad, just sprinkle some nuts and seeds on top of that and it\u2019s a very easy way that doesn’t even require any extra cooking\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other convenient options include swapping white rice for quinoa or couscous, adding lentils to soups, and blending whole fruits \u2013 rather than juices \u2013 into smoothies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dalile said, however, that increasing fibre should be approached gradually and with a focus on variety.<\/p>\n \u201cDon’t stick to just one type [of fibre] if you want to maximise its effects, because every fruit and vegetable contains different types of fibre that is taken up by the body in slightly different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n