Aotearoa New Zealand researchers at the University of Otago are calling for dietary fiber to be internationally recognized as an essential nutrient. If successful, it will be the first addition in 50 years.

Currently, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water are generally supported as essential nutrients. However, researchers argue that increasing fiber intake may have significant health benefits, including lowering the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and colorectal cancer, all of which are on the rise.

They added that many people in New Zealand consume less than the WHO recommended amount of dietary fiber, consuming 20g/day compared to an average of 25g/day. Simple dietary changes, such as increasing whole grains and legumes, can help you reach recommended levels.

The explanation of natural food We argue that recognizing the essential role of fibers has the potential to influence guidelines and health messages and reduce non-communicable diseases.

Nutrition Insight speaks to the study’s lead author, Associate Professor Andrew Reynolds, about how fiber is increasing alongside popular high-protein diets. We also discuss how this nutrient may raise questions about current dietary guidelines, benefits to the gut microbiome, and barriers to increasing fiber intake.

“The main sources of nutrition messages in our society come from people who make money by consuming content, such as lifestyle books, cookbooks, and advertisements on social media,” he points out. “With all the noise, evidence-based messages are harder to hear and take longer to be discussed in public.”

“I think the current state of scientific and social commentary on the benefits of dietary fiber is extremely rare. And for a long time, fiber wasn’t thought of as ‘glamourous’ or all that interesting, and most people talked about it in the context of bulking up stools.”

Reynolds added that fiber has only gained traction in the last seven years, and with its proven benefits for a healthy microbiome, the boring label is changing.

What makes a nutrient essential?

Although there is no universally accepted definition, researchers explain that for a nutrient to be considered “essential,” it must be beneficial to health, must be produced by the body, and lack of that nutrient results in a deficiency disease. For example, the gut microbiome relies almost exclusively on dietary fiber.

Lead author, Associate Professor Andrew Reynolds.Professor Reynolds said: “The term ‘essential nutrient’ is an old term that became very popular at a time when scientists did not yet understand the parts of food that humans needed to survive. For example, when sailors were offshore for many months, they developed scurvy, a deficiency of vitamin C. When we gave them vitamin C, the scurvy resolved. It was a very simple cause and effect process.”

“But now we understand nutrition at a more complex level, moving beyond the state of deficiency to more frequently considering causal relationships and interactive effects between dietary components over the lifespan.”

“Nonetheless, essential nutrients are more closely monitored and monitored than nutrients considered non-essential. Therefore, the ‘deficiency’ aspect had to be considered and addressed to build the case for dietary fiber being essential.”

He says it is essential to make this case. Fiber consumption is usually below recommended levelsAnd increasing intake will benefit the population’s health more than any other nutrient.

Changes due to policy and industry restructuring

Recognizing the nature of fibers makes some changes, Reynolds says. For example, at the policy level, emphasis will be placed on monitoring essential nutrients, which means greater emphasis on fiber as a deficient nutrient.

“This recognition will lead to further government messaging about fiber in schools, workplaces and the general public to raise dietary intake to appropriate levels.”

“Recognizing the essentiality provides an incentive for industry to reformulate current foods to include more fiber. This could be an advantage for industry in terms of how they label and market their products and how their products compare to competing products,” he continues.

Whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables are important sources of dietary fiber that improve gut health and reduce the risk of chronic disease.For individual consumers, evidence-based messages about dietary fiber could increase their interest in understanding how their diet affects their health and enable them to make informed choices, he said.

Dietary Guidelines: Need More Support

Reynolds believes that current evidence-based dietary guidelines are satisfactory. But he stressed that other unsubstantiated messages could drown out the facts.

“Dietary advice doesn’t need to change significantly, but the environment needs to be supportive so people can follow it,” he stresses. “Many foods are preserved, cooked, processed to make them easier to eat, and are made with formulations that we think are incredibly delicious and rewarding.”

“For many people, it’s difficult to stay away from such processed foods, especially when they don’t have the time or the means to prepare healthy, delicious food. Much work needs to be done to change people’s environments so that they can follow evidence-based dietary advice.”

Protein and fiber trends

meanwhile, Protein is trending Especially consistently in the US. Reynolds agrees that by 2025 there will be a huge number of macronutrients. However, messages based on scientific evidence, Most people already consume enough protein No benefit is gained from increased intake, most of it is lost. This is especially true for young, health-conscious people who use social media.

Otago researchers say recognizing dietary fiber as an essential nutrient has the potential to reshape global nutrition policy and health messages.“In 2026, most of the food trends and prediction lists for next year included ‘high-fiber diet’. I had never seen fiber included in these lists, so this is quite a change. In 2025, there were smaller trends centered around fiber, such as Autozenpic for those who can’t afford Ozempic. But the expected focus on fiber this year is truly unique.”

“This is in stark contrast to the focus of the newly released dietary guidelines for the United States. I think the evidence behind these guidelines is good, but what the evidence shows is not reflected in the dietary guidelines as they should be.”

“The message in it is US guidelines are also quite contradictory. – especially in terms of how whole grains are promoted (or not), processed meats, alcohol intake, and saturated fat intake,” he points out.

Reynolds said consumers are likely to become even more confused about what to eat as a result of this discrepancy. Lack of focus on food sustainability is also a problem.

“We are all bombarded with dietary messages every day, most of which are not based on scientific evidence. However, this constant exposure is likely to confuse people and distract them from making the changes that will most benefit their health.”

He praised the new Dutch Dietary Guidelines, published in December 2025, which are evidence-based and reflect current science. A fiber intake of 25 g/day is recommended for women and 30 g/day for men. To achieve this goal, the guidelines encourage higher intakes of whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and whole fruits.