Health Scoop News

1-Wellness trend: Fibremaxxing 🌾

2-Lifestyle for metabolic health🥙🏃‍♀️‍➡️

3-Black Rice for brain health⚫🍚🧠

4-Fitness for mental health🚴‍♀️😸

I always have my nose in new health research, so I’m sharing some of the most relevant studies (and wellness trends) with you in regular editions of “Health Scoop News.”

[This news summary is a bit reminiscent of my old “This week in science for holistic health” newsletters that I used to do circa 2016 (I deleted most, but here’s one post I kept live), as well as the rEATsearch podcast I used to co-host.]

Below are brief summaries and links to a recent wellness trend, plus three health study picks (comment below to tell me which of these four updates are the most interesting/relevant for you!). All of these studies are more clinically relevant than individual studies done using animals, cells, or isolated chemical reactions because these studies were done with people, or they’re reviews/summaries of dozens of previous studies.

1-Wellness trend: Fibremaxxing 🌾

While protein was a popular trend in 2025, this year it’s dietary fibre. People online are sharing their recommendations for: “fibermaxxing” (US spelling).

Here’s some background info:

• Dietary fibre helps promote gut health by feeding the microbiome and aiding digestion, along with a host of other health benefits (helping to regulate blood sugar, feeling full, etc.).
• Fibre is only found in plant foods and is often categorized as being soluble (dissolves in water and is partly fermented in the colon) or insoluble (doesn’t dissolve in water and adds bulk to stool).
• Adults in North America generally don’t get enough fibre every day.
• The “acceptable intake” (AI) of fibre for women is 21-26 g/day, while men’s AI is 30-38 g/day – https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/dietary-reference-intakes/tables/reference-values-macronutrients.html#tbl1 (you might need to scroll the table to the right to see the fibre columns)
  • “These are reference values for normal, apparently healthy individuals eating a typical mixed North American diet. An individual may have physiological, health, or lifestyle characteristics that may require tailoring of specific nutrient values.“
• Diabetes Canada’s Get the Facts on Fibre! – https://www.diabetes.ca/getmedia/a47ccc59-6058-478f-b9b7-be980404cd24/Fibre-Facts.pdf?ext=.pdf
• The Role of Dietary Fiber in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: A Practical Guide for Clinicians – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559033/

How “fibermaxxing” is a wellness trend:

To see some examples, simply go on your fav social media platform and look up: fibermaxxing (US spelling).

• What is fibremaxxing? – https://canadianfoodfocus.org/living/what-is-fibermaxxing/

To address this wellness trend for your health practice, you can create or share your own list of high-fibre foods/recipes/meal plans/supplements, some pro tips on how to increase fibre intake safely (start slow, hydrate), or customize and share related articles, such as:

• Gut microbiome and mental health

2-Lifestyle for metabolic health🥙🏃‍♀️‍➡️

Study title: Comparative Effects of Diet, Exercise, and Pharmacotherapy on Metabolic Syndrome Severity in Overweight and Obese Cohorts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

In light of the increase in medications for obesity and metabolic syndrome, researchers wanted to know what helped improve metabolic health the most: diet, exercise, diet + exercise, or medications. They searched for relevant studies and found 46 (totalling 12,100 participants) to review.

Here’s some background info:

• The number of people with overweight or obesity is growing. These increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.
• Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is when someone has at least 3 of: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and high blood sugar.
• Researchers looked at studies that tried at least 1 of these 4 different interventions for metabolic health:
  • diet
  • exercise
  • diet + exercise
  • medication (pharmacotherapy)
• “Caloric restriction and targeted exercise programs have consistently shown favorable effects on a wide range of cardiometabolic outcomes.”
• “Growing evidence indicates that pharmacotherapy often achieves its greatest and most durable benefits when implemented in conjunction with lifestyle interventions rather than as a stand-alone strategy.”

Here’s what the researchers found:

• For cardiometabolic risk, all four interventions helped, but the diet + exercise group, “demonstrated the most consistent and robust effects.”
• Medication did show large weight loss effects and improvement in at least one metabolic factor, but because medication is usually prescribed along with diet and exercise, it’s difficult to tease out effects specific to the medications.
• More research is needed on the health effects of medications—including longer-term studies.

Here’s what the researchers concluded based on the results of this review:

• “In summary, lifestyle interventions—particularly energy-restricted dietary strategies combined with structured exercise—were associated with the most consistent and robust improvements in overall cardiometabolic health.”

In other words, nutritious food and healthy movement should be the first approach for improving metabolic health.

For more information, here’s a link to read the study for yourself:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12899630/

3-Black Rice for brain health⚫🍚🧠

Study title: Impact of anthocyanin-rich black rice consumption on cognitive function, inflammation and microvascular function in older adults: a crossover intervention trial

This is a clinical trial of 24 older adults (58-72 years old) who were given either 210 g of anthocyanin-rich black rice (208 mg of anthocyanins) or brown rice (0 mg of anthocyanins) every day.

Here’s some background info:

• “Cognitive health is the ability to think, learn, and remember clearly. It is needed to carry out many everyday activities effectively. Cognitive health is just one aspect of overall brain health.” – https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/brain-health/cognitive-health-and-older-adults
• Age-related cognitive decline is due to “biological, genetic, and environmental factors that collectively contribute to the gradual deterioration of brain function.” When we are exposed to those factors, this can contribute to chronic inflammation and issues with our vascular system, which can reduce brain health.
• “There is strong clinical evidence that both acute and chronic consumption of flavonoid-rich foods and supplements, such as cocoa, citrus and berries, have a beneficial impact on human cognitive function.”

Here’s what the researchers found:

• The researchers looked at health effects of daily intake of anthocyanin-rich black rice compared with brown rice that has no anthocyanins. They specifically looked at cognition, inflammation, and vascular function in older adults.
• They found that “8 days of daily black rice consumption improved verbal and working memory, alongside a reduction in the inflammatory marker IL-6, suggesting that the cognitive benefits may be mediated by anti-inflammatory pathways.“
• “These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that flavonoid-rich foods may beneficially influence both cognitive performance and inflammatory status in humans.”

Here’s what the researchers concluded:

• “These findings suggest that incorporating anthocyanin-rich foods into the diet could support cognitive health and reduce inflammatory burden, with potential implications for aging populations and individuals at risk of cognitive decline.“

In other words, eating black rice daily can improve cognition and reduce inflammation.

For more information, here are links to read the study for yourself (online or pdf):

• https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2026/fo/d5fo04351d
• https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/fo/d5fo04351d

4-Fitness for mental health🚴‍♀️😸

Article title: Exercise can be as effective as medication for depression and anxiety – new study

This is an article based on several studies, primarily this one just published a few weeks ago:  Effect of exercise on depression and anxiety symptoms: systematic umbrella review with meta-meta-analysis 

Here’s some background info:

• Many people suffer from mental health concerns.
• Exercise helps to improve mood by contributing to lower stress, better sleep, release of neurotransmitters, enhancing self-esteem, encouraging social support, and reducing inflammation.
• “Our new research . . .  confirms physical activity can be just as effective for some people as therapy or medication. This is especially true when it’s social and guided by a professional, such as a gym class or running club.”

Here’s what the researchers were looking at when it came to exercise and mental health:

• Because there are hundreds of studies that have been done looking at different ways exercise can help improve mental health and they have “diverse results,” researchers wanted to sort through all of the data to figure out “how much exercise is beneficial, what type, and who it helps most.”
• Researchers conducted a “meta-meta-analysis” by systematically reviewing the results of “all the existing meta-analyses – there were 81 – to determine what the evidence really shows.“

Here’s what the researchers concluded based on their review of the 81 meta analyses:

• “We found exercising had a high impact on depression symptoms, and a medium impact on anxiety, compared to staying inactive.”
• “The benefits were comparable to, and in some cases better than, more widely prescribed mental health treatments, including therapy and antidepressants.“
• All forms of exercise reduced symptoms (resistance training, mind-body practices), however aerobic activities (walking, running, cycling, swimming) worked best.
• “Our research shows exercise is a legitimate and evidence-based treatment option for depression and anxiety, particularly for people with diagnosed conditions.“

In other words, this meta-meta-analysis found that exercise can be an effective way to improve mental health for many people.

For more information, here’s a link to read the article and study for yourself:

• https://theconversation.com/exercise-can-be-as-effective-as-medication-for-depression-and-anxiety-new-study-272243
• https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/02/02/bjsports-2025-110301

Signing off and toasting: To keeping up with the latest and greatest wellness trends and scientific research in nutrition, fitness, and health coaching!

Over to you

Which of these updates was the most interesting or relevant to you? Let me know in the comments below!