Fibre Maxxing: The Trend, the Science and How to Do It Well

By Steve Brandt, Founder of Coccoo

For years, fibre had an image problem. It was the stuff on your nan's breakfast table. Bran flakes. Prune juice. Nobody was filming it for TikTok.

Then, almost overnight, fibre got cool.

What is fibre maxxing?

Fibre maxxing is exactly what it sounds like: deliberately loading your day with fibre-rich foods. It took off on TikTok and Instagram, where people share their high-fibre plates, smoothies and "fibre count" for the day (Houston Methodist, 2026).

And unlike a lot of viral nutrition trends, this one has health professionals nodding along, with a few sensible caveats.

Why it caught on: the fibre gap

Here's the thing. Most of us are seriously short on fibre.

  • In Australia, guidelines suggest 30 g a day for men and 25 g for women (NHMRC). But fewer than one in three adults actually gets there (Fayet-Moore et al., 2018).
  • In the US, one doctor puts typical intakes at just 10 to 15 g a day against a recommended 25 to 30 g (Houston Methodist, 2026).
  • In the UK, adults average around 20 g against a 30 g target (Speciality Food Magazine, 2026).

So when people started "maxxing" fibre, a lot of them were really just catching up.

Why bother? What fibre actually does for you

This is where fibre maxxing earns its hype. In 2019, the World Health Organization commissioned the biggest look at fibre ever done: 185 long-term studies covering around 135 million person-years, plus 58 clinical trials (Reynolds et al., 2019).

The headline: people who ate the most fibre had a 15 to 30% lower risk of dying from any cause or from heart disease, and of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer, than people who ate the least. In the trials, more fibre went hand in hand with lower body weight, blood pressure and cholesterol.

The sweet spot? Benefits were greatest at 25 to 29 g a day, and the data suggested even more could be better still (Reynolds et al., 2019).

That's population research, not a promise for any one food or person. But it's about as strong as nutrition evidence gets, and it's why we take fibre seriously.

The 2026 twist: fibre diversity

The trend is growing up. Market researchers at Mintel predicted that 2026 would see people move from simply eating more fibre to eating a wider variety of fibres, because gut bacteria thrive on diversity (NutraIngredients, 2025).

In other words: it's not just how many grams you hit. It's how many different kinds of fibre you feed your gut.

That's where coconut gets interesting. Coconut fibre is built mostly from a sugar called mannose, which makes it quite different from the wheat, oat and psyllium fibres most people already eat (Arioglu-Tuncil et al., 2025). Read more in The Fibre Your Diet Is Missing.

Where fibre maxxers go wrong

The internet loves going from zero to a hundred. Your gut doesn't. Health professionals flag a few common mistakes (Houston Methodist, 2026):

  • Going too hard, too fast. A sudden jump can bring gas, bloating and discomfort. Build up a few grams every couple of days instead.
  • Forgetting water. Fibre soaks up fluid, so drink more as you add more.
  • Relying on one source. Variety beats volume.
  • Ignoring your situation. If you have a gut condition, recent surgery or a procedure coming up, check with your doctor first.

How to fibre max, the Coccoo way

Simple, sustainable, and coconut-powered:

  1. Start with the Coccoo Stack†. One serve each of Coccoo Coconut Protein Vanilla Velvet and Coccoo Coconut Fibre gives you 7.4 g of fibre and over 22 g of protein.
  2. Add colour. Berries, kiwifruit, pears, apples with the skin on.
  3. Go legume. Chickpeas, lentils and beans pack fibre and protein together.
  4. Swap your grains. Oats, wholegrain bread, brown rice.
  5. Sprinkle. Chia, linseed and nuts on everything.
  6. Mix your fibres. Coconut, oats, fruit, legumes. Different fibres, happier gut bugs.

Do that most days and you'll be well on your way to the target, without turning your life into a spreadsheet.

Loved by sensitive stomachs. Coccoo has no dairy, no fillers or binders, and no artificial flavours or sweeteners, and it's free from the major allergens (see each label). And it tastes like coconut, not beans. We're not talking about disease, just fussy stomachs. Read why in Loved by Sensitive Stomachs.

Try the Coccoo Stack: Coccoo Coconut Protein Vanilla Velvet + Coccoo Coconut Fibre.

†One serve of Coccoo Coconut Protein Vanilla Velvet plus one 10 g serve of Coccoo Coconut Fibre.

About the author: Steve Brandt is Co-Founder of Coccoo, with 30 years’ experience building leading health brands and turning bold ideas into commercial success.

References

  • Houston Methodist (2026). Fibermaxxing: should you try the high-fiber diet trend? Link
  • NHMRC. Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand: Dietary Fibre. Link
  • Fayet-Moore F et al. (2018). Dietary fibre intake in Australia. Paper I. Nutrients. Full text
  • Speciality Food Magazine (2026). How the fibre trend has changed in 2026. Link
  • NutraIngredients (2025). Fibermaxxing fades as fiber diversity dominates 2026 trends. Link
  • Arioglu-Tuncil S et al. (2025). Coconut and carob flours dietary fibers differentially impact fecal microbiota composition and metabolic outputs in vitro. Food Science & Nutrition. Full text
  • Reynolds A et al. (2019). Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The Lancet. PubMed
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