Is Fiber the “New Protein?” How Fiber Has Quickly Become the Newest Wellness Trend

Why Now? The Fiber Awakening

Diet trends are nothing new. I could write an entire novel on how they've shaped American eating habits since the inception of grocery stores. But historically, diet trends have been focused on what to eliminate – think: the low-fat movement, Atkins and low-carb, and general caloric deficits. The messaging was always about restriction.

That is, until the protein trend came around in the late 2010s. Over the past few years, Americans have become increasingly obsessed with protein, seeking more and more protein-added products than ever before. Suddenly, the conversation shifted from cutting to adding – how much protein can I pack into this meal? How do I hit my daily target? Brands responded by protein-ifying everything from pancake mix to ice cream. It is (to my knowledge) the first major "additive" diet trend, focused on abundance rather than deprivation. 

But the protein obsession is coming at a cost. When people prioritize hitting protein goals and maximizing convenience above all else, they often miss out on fiber-rich meals. As a result, only 5% of men and 9% of women meet the recommended daily fiber intake, with most Americans getting around 15 grams a day when they should be getting 25-30 grams. The protein-first mentality, combined with our general preference for processed convenience foods over whole plants, has left us operating on half a tank. 

Now, fiber is having its moment on protein’s same additive wave – positioned not as a restriction, but as something to actively pursue. Today, almost 70% of American consumers are trying to increase their fiber intake – a 7% rise since 2023. 

Fiber's rise isn't just riding protein's coattails. It's also inheriting keto's infrastructure. When the ketogenic diet exploded in the early 2010s, it introduced mainstream consumers to the concept of "net carbs" – total carbohydrates minus fiber. Since fiber is a type of carb that can't be fully digested and doesn't spike blood sugar, it gets subtracted from the carb count. To capitalize on the keto craze, packaged food brands started pumping products full of fiber-rich ingredients like psyllium husk, chicory root, and inulin, aka ingredients that kept foods keto-friendly while maintaining taste and texture. What started as a diet hack quietly normalized high-fiber ingredients in processed foods, laying the groundwork for fiber's current mainstream appeal.

Around the same time, gut health became genuinely cool. The better-for-you soda brands – Poppi, Olipop, and their prebiotic-packed counterparts – made gut health fun. Because they sweetened their products with inulin, making them lower sugar and prebiotic, they naturally were also high in fiber. While gut health was suddenly cool, though, the conversation remained pretty broad – prebiotics, probiotics, fermented foods, general microbiome wellness. 

What shifted everything toward fiber specifically was the protein trend's aftermath colliding with the GLP-1 medication boom. As GLP-1 medications became household names for weight loss, fiber found a new urgency. People on these medications often experience constipation because they don’t eat enough food to hit their fiber needs. 

But fiber's connection to GLP-1s goes deeper than managing side effects. Emerging research suggests that certain prebiotic fibers can actually stimulate the gut to produce its own GLP-1, potentially offering some of the metabolic benefits naturally. Social media dubbed psyllium husk "the poor man's Ozempic," positioning fiber as a natural alternative for appetite control.

The conversation exploded on TikTok, where the “fibermaxxing” trend racked up millions of views, with registered dietitian Steph Grasso declaring 2024 the year of fiber. Fiber went from the unsexy stepchild of gut health to the main character – no longer just about prebiotics or general digestive wellness, but about hitting specific fiber targets, tracking grams, and optimizing your intake like people had done with protein.

Why Fiber Actually Matters

A few years ago, if you asked someone why they needed fiber, they’d probably say something about staying “regular.” But fiber does so much more than that, and science is finally catching up.

Fiber isn't digested in the stomach like other foods. Instead, it passes through to the colon where it becomes food for the beneficial bacteria in the gut. Those trillions of microbes are doing serious work: managing inflammation, producing vitamins, even communicating with your brain. Research at the National Institute on Aging found that a high-fiber diet changed the types of bacteria in the gut microbiome, increased the production of short-chain fatty acids, and reduced the expression of certain genes that control inflammation in the brain. Your gut health is literally talking to your brain.

Beyond that, fiber helps keep blood sugar stable by slowing digestion, helps lower cholesterol by binding to it in the digestive tract, and can support weight management by keeping you fuller longer. 

The Brands Making Fiber Cool

For years, fiber supplements meant choking down chalky Metamucil or swallowing horse-pill capsules that left you bloated. But a new wave of brands is rewriting the rules, making fiber something you'd actually want to consume (and even look forward to).