The Food Desk tackles 2026 trends -- fibermaxxing, walnuts, and weirdness

Happy New Year from your Food Reporter dispatching from The Paper’s Food Desk.

So, pardon me while I sweep aside debris fields of cheeseburger wrappers, Tater-Tot trays, Twinkie stubs, the week-old box of Dunkin Donuts doughnut holes, Poteat’s half-empty bag of barbeque pork rinds, old coffee cups, and the bag of White Cheddar Popcorn so I can reach my keyboard and construct this professional report.

This week we bring you 2026 food trends as reported by credentialed food people and unnamed interoffice health nuts with their little bowls of birdseed, almonds, and dandelion wisps from which they munch constantly.

And we’ll wrap it all up with the emerging super trend we’ll refer to, as you’ll see, fibermaxxing.

Let’s get right to it and start with the important stuff. 2026 Best Snacks for the Brain.

This is very important. I am not sure why. It made sense when I read it the first time, but not remembering what made these delights the best brain snacks, I read it again. I think. I dunno. Can’t remember. Which, I think, is why Best Snacks for the Brain got me interested to begin with.

I subscribe to The Food Institute (FI) newsletter. Don’t ask why. Keep up with the food fads? Professional curiosity? Regardless, it is why I am writing about Brain Snacks and Fibermaxxing.

Our journey into the latest newsletter gets off to a roaring start with this inspiring quote: “I hear a lot about mushroom teas, trail mix, and protein bars as go-to options for mental clarity and focus. These are marketed as convenient brain-boosters, but they’re not always the most balanced choices,” said Lisa Schultz, a nutritionist, personal trainer, and founder of The Verdura Method, a program designed to aid individuals’ health.

So, what are the most balanced snacks that are best for brain health? Schultz reports:

• Walnuts (rich in omega-3s and vitamin E)
• Blueberries (rich in antioxidants)
• Beans (full of fiber and iron)
• Leafy greens (rich in fiber and complex carbs)
• Raw vegetables (i.e. carrots and snap peas)
• Kefir (aids the gut microbiome)
• Green tea (contains L-theanine, believed to aid focus)
• Almonds (rich in healthy fats and omega-3 fatty acids)
• Pumpkin seeds (rich in zinc, magnesium and iron)
• Dark chocolate (has flavanols that aid cerebral blood flow)

Which of those do I consume? To make it easy, I’ll just go down the list, top-to-bottom: NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, YES, YES, NO, NO.

Schultz is also a big fan of beans. “Beans are (some) of the most versatile and underrated ingredients — they’re full of fiber, iron, and brain-friendly nutrients,” she said. “I’ve seen clients make black bean brownies at home, and it would be great to see packaged versions of those.”

Black Bean Brownies. Never heard of them, though a batch was reportedly smuggled into the newsroom recently underneath some genuine Christmas Sugar Cookies. The cookies were consumed forthwith.

The bean brownies? Couldn’t say, other than Editor Emeritus Bill Poteat mused, “Unless a terrorist held a loaded gun to your head, why in the hell would you ever eat a Black Bean Brownie?”

Since Schultz mentioned fiber. I will too.

For more than a decade, protein was the hero ingredient in everything from shakes to snack bars and even desserts. Protein captivated consumers and food companies in 2025, according to FI magazine.

Not anymore. Fiber is increasingly stealing the scene. Conglomerates from CNBC to Pepsi to FoodNavigator.com (a source of informed opinion in the food and beverage sector) are proclaiming headlines, “Fiber is the new protein.” It’s taken hold on social media, where “fibermaxxing” — or the concept of increasing fiber intake — has seen thousands of posts.

This “maxxing” has influencers acting like a handful of pumpkin seeds is a spiritual experience. Maybe they’re right. Maybe walnuts and blueberries really do sharpen the mind, cleanse the soul, and make you the kind of person who keeps kale in the fridge on purpose.

It’s hard to keep up with these trends. Just as soon as you’ve struggled through adoption of a new food fad, say, the Macrobiotic Charcoal Cleanse diet, then Cosmopolitan Magazine declares that diet “so yesterday” and tells you that you are a Class A Nobody unless you embrace the Vision Diet whereby, according to Cosmo, “You eat everything while wearing blue-tinted glasses (because) red/yellow-colored foods are the most palatable (think: meat, french fries, ripe produce, etc.), this diet is designed to make your food look less appetizing.”

Let the record show that the majority of staffers at The Paper are getting their fiber (though not through Black Bean Brownies). As one female staffer said, “Oh, I get my fiber, don’t you worry. I go twice a day. I’m as regular as a sunrise.”