Fibremaxxing: A trend we WONT be jumping on.

Over the past few months I’ve been hearing more and more about a new trend called fibremaxxing. It’s popping up across TikTok, especially in wellness and nutrition spaces with many professionals saying they would be super happy to jump in the trend!

At first glance, it might sound harmless — even healthy. After all, fibre is good for us, right? It supports our digestion, helps with cholesterol and blood sugar and plays a role in bowel health ( Reynolds 2019). With only 4% of the UK meeting the advised 30g of fibre promoting fibre seems like a no brainer ( Swan 2025). But with fibremaxxing, the idea is to push fibre intake to very high levels, often through things like bran cereals, psyllium husk, fibre powders, beans and lentils, or “high-fibre” snack foods.

The goal? People are using it to feel fuller for longer, to “cleanse” their system, or to help with weight control. Some social posts are even celebrating intakes of 60–80g of fibre per day— which is over double the recommended 30g in the UK. The issue is – there isn’t a specific definition with these ranging from – maximise each meal to meet 30g over the day or mixing lots of fibre rich foods into one meal to help your reach the 30g target per meal . . .

So what’s the problem?

For the general population, going overboard on fibre can cause a few uncomfortable side effects — think bloating, cramping, constipation or diarrhoea and can even effect absorption of minerals. But in people with eating disorders, this trend has a whole extra layer of risk.

Here’s why:

Satiety as a tool for restriction

Fibre expands in the stomach and keeps you feeling full. For someone already struggling with restriction, this can cause a false sense of fullness and not leave room for other nutrients and food so it could be that the ED can convincing someone their body is satisfied.

Digestive discomfort that fuels anxiety

Too much fibre often causes bloating and cramping which can affect someone’s hunger and fullness signals. It can cause someone to misinterpret this as a sign they’ve overeaten or use it as justification to cut back further as the food is causing the negative symptoms.

Interference with nutrient absorption

Excess fibre can block the absorption of important minerals like iron, zinc and calcium — nutrients that are so so key for the body.

“Volume eating”

Because fibre-rich foods are often bulky it can feel like you’re eating a lot and to be eating large amounts of food but still be consuming far too little nutrients. When fibremaxxing this could give the impression that you’re meeting your needs but the reality is that you aren’t.  

Orthorexic undertones

The “purity” and “detox” messaging that comes with fibremaxxing taps right into the rigid rules and perfectionistic tendencies that drive orthorexia and other restrictive eating patterns. It also put Fibre on a pedestool – suggesting it is the superior to other nutrients but in reality it could be another ‘fad diet’ and diet trend that is going to cause more harm than good!

What to look out for as a health professional:

It may be that your clients are meeting fibre needs already – A study in 2006 (Misra et al) highlighted that adolescent girls have high fibre intake vs controls and so it may be that someone is already meeting suggested 30g of fibre in the UK. If you’re working with eating disorder clients, some red flags around fibremaxxing include:

* Sudden use of fibre powders or supplements

* Talking about their fibre intake in grams

* Avoiding foods seen as “low fibre” like white bread, pasta, or peeled fruit

* Ongoing GI complaints despite very high-fibre eating

* Comments like “I don’t feel hungry all day” or “fibre keeps me clean”

So Fibremaxxing might look like the latest harmless wellness fad, but for those with eating disorders it has the potential to reinforce restriction, worsen malnutrition and amplify GI distress. By keeping an eye out for this trend and opening up conversations about it, we can help clients stay on track in recovery and avoid falling into yet another diet trap.

Want to know more and upskill yourself on the managment of gut disorders in Eating Disorders? Join us for our next study day - 'Management of Gut Disorders in Disordered Eating + Eating Disorders"

Join Us

References:

Misra, M., Tsai, P., Anderson, E.J., Hubbard, J.L., Gallagher, K., Soyka, L.A., Miller, K.K., Herzog, D.B. and Klibanski, A., 2006. Nutrient intake in community-dwelling adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa and in healthy adolescents. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 84(4), pp.698-706.

Reynolds, A., Mann, J., Cummings, J., Winter, N., Mete, E. and Te Morenga, L., 2019. Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The Lancet, 393(10170), pp.434-445

Swan, G., 2025. National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2019 to 2023. Nutrition Bulletin.