The 'fibermaxxing' trend has health benefits worth the hype

Adding more fiber to your meals should be a gradual process, nutrition experts say. Go slowly and drink water. Natalia Gdovskaia/Moment RF/ hide caption toggle caption Natalia Gdovskaia/Moment RF/ Fiber is kind of like the Peter Parker of food nutrients. For a long time, most people ignored it as kind of boring. But it's really a superhero when it comes to good health, and now, it's finally having its moment. Social media has fully embraced the concept of "fibermaxxing" – or boosting the amount of fiber in our diets. On Tiktok, you'll find loads of videos with tips on how to maximize the fiber in meals and why it matters for so many aspects of health – from improving digestion to reducing the risk of dying prematurely. Many videos are posted by health professionals like this self-declared "fiber obsessed" gastroenterologist . Hannah Holscher, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, says it's about time fiber stepped into the spotlight. "The truth of the matter is, I kind of appreciate the trend because generally, fiber is just not really a sexy nutrient that people are paying attention to and basically, no one eats enough fiber," Holscher says. Yes, most people need more fiber It's recommended that people eat 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories – which works out to roughly 25 to 38 grams of fiber each day, depending on your gender. But only about 1 in 10 Americans meets those goals. The average U.S. …