The Protein Boom – and Its Limits
Over the past decade, protein has become the headline nutrient across food and beverage. “High protein” has been positioned as a shortcut to health, performance, and satiety. For manufacturers, adding protein has often felt like a commercial necessity rather than a choice.
But the picture is more nuanced. In most developed markets, the majority of consumers already meet or exceed their daily protein requirements through a normal diet. Beyond specific groups – such as older adults, athletes, or those with medical needs – extra protein does not automatically translate into better health. This has created a growing gap between marketing claims and nutritional reality.
From a formulation perspective, protein enrichment is also expensive and technically challenging. Proteins can impact flavour, texture, solubility, and shelf life, often requiring additional stabilisers, sweeteners, or processing steps to maintain product quality. As more brands jump on the protein bandwagon, differentiation becomes harder, while costs continue to rise.
At the same time, signs of consumer fatigue are emerging. “Protein for everything” is losing its novelty, and shoppers are becoming more sceptical of one-size-fits-all nutrition messaging. This is opening the door to a broader conversation about balance, functionality, and ingredients that deliver everyday health benefits without overcomplicating formulations, setting the stage for fibre to take a more central role.
Why Fibre Is Having a Moment
While protein has dominated headlines, fibre has quietly remained one of the most under-consumed nutrients in modern diets. Across the UK and Europe, average fibre intake consistently falls well below recommended levels, creating a widening gap between nutritional guidance and everyday consumption. In the UK, adults typically consume around 18-20 g of fibre daily; far short of the 30 g target and only a small proportion meet the recommended level.
Public health bodies and regulators are increasingly focused on fibre as part of the solution to rising concerns around sugar intake, metabolic health, and digestive wellbeing. Unlike protein, which many consumers already consume in sufficient quantities, fibre delivers clear, population-wide benefits with fewer trade-offs.
Functionally, fibre plays a critical role in satiety, helping people feel fuller for longer, while also moderating blood sugar response and supporting gut health. These effects align closely with current consumer priorities around energy balance, weight management, and long-term health rather than short-term performance gains.
For manufacturers, fibre represents a quieter but more credible health story. Fibre supports sugar reduction, enables positive nutrition claims, and integrates naturally into everyday foods without the consumer scepticism now associated with overt “high-protein” positioning. In many ways, fibre isn’t replacing protein; it’s restoring balance to the nutrition conversation.
Fibre as a Formulation Tool (Not Just a Claim)
Beyond its nutritional credentials, fibre has become a highly effective formulation tool for manufacturers navigating sugar reduction, HFSS compliance, and evolving label expectations. As pressure increases to reduce free sugars without compromising product appeal, fibre offers a functional way to rebalance formulations while maintaining consumer acceptance.
- From a technical perspective, fibres can replace bulk, viscosity, and mouthfeel traditionally provided by sugar. In reduced-sugar systems, this is critical. Removing sugar often leaves products thin, dry, or hollow in texture. Soluble fibres such as inulin or fructooligosaccharides (FOS) help restore body and smoothness, while also contributing to sweetness perception without adding free sugars, although can also cause gastric bloating with higher quantities.
- Fibre also plays an important role in moisture management and shelf-life stability. Its water-binding properties can improve softness, reduce staling in baked goods, and stabilise sauces, dairy alternatives, and fillings over time. This is particularly valuable in ambient or extended shelf-life products, where texture degradation is a common reformulation challenge.
- In modern formulations, fibre rarely works alone. It is often used alongside sweeteners and starch systems to create balanced solutions that deliver functionality, stability, and sensory performance. Compared to artificial sweeteners, fibre-based systems support cleaner ingredient lists, avoiding the aftertaste, consumer scepticism, and regulatory scrutiny that often accompany high-intensity sweeteners.
In short, fibre has moved from being a passive nutrition add-on to an active, multifunctional ingredient, helping manufacturers meet regulatory targets, maintain product quality, and tell a more credible health story on pack.
Soluble vs Insoluble Fibre – Practical Differences
Not all fibre behaves the same in a formulation, which is why the distinction between soluble and insoluble fibre matters from a technical, not just nutritional, standpoint. Soluble fibres like FOS and Tapioca Fibre dissolve in water and contribute viscosity, body, and sometimes mild sweetness. They are commonly used to support sugar modulation, improve mouthfeel, and deliver prebiotic benefits, making them well suited to beverages, dairy and plant-based alternatives, sauces, and reduced-sugar products where smooth texture and stability are essential.
Insoluble fibres, like Wheat Fibre and Cellulose by contrast, do not dissolve in water and instead contribute physical structure.They add bulk, texture, and fibre enrichment without significantly affecting viscosity or sweetness. This makes them particularly useful in bakery, snacks, cereals, and meat alternatives, where bite, structure, and nutritional density are the primary goals.
From an application perspective, the right choice depends on what the product needs to do: whether that’s replacing sugar bulk, improving softness and shelf life, adding crunch or structure, or increasing fibre content without altering flavour. However, it is important to note that both soluble and insoluble fibre play differing roles in health with both being equally as important from a nutritional perspective. In many cases, the most effective solutions combine soluble and insoluble fibres to balance functionality, nutrition and consumer expectations.
Where Fibre Is Being Used Today
Dietary Fibre, to distinguish it from naturally occurring fibre within fruit and vegetables, is now appearing across a wide range of food and beverage categories, driven by its dual role as a nutritional enhancer and a functional ingredient.
- In beverages, formulation choices often depend on system clarity. Soluble fibres are used in cloudy drinks, smoothies, and dairy-style beverages to add body, improve mouthfeel, and support digestive claims, while low-colour, highly soluble fibres are selected for clear drinks where appearance and clean flavour release are critical.
- In bakery and snacks, fibre is widely used to increase nutritional value while supporting texture and shelf life. Insoluble fibres add structure and bite by increasing water content in breads, biscuits, and extruded snacks. This is because insoluble fibres absorb water and swell. Meanwhile, while soluble fibres help retain moisture, slow staling and improve softness in reduced-sugar or reduced-fat recipes.
- Confectionery and sugar-reduced treats are another key growth area. Fibre helps replace the bulk and mouthfeel lost when sugar is removed, supporting chewiness in bars, gummies, and fillings while enabling lower-sugar and HFSS-friendly formulations without relying solely on high-intensity sweeteners.
- In dairy and plant-based alternatives, fibre contributes creaminess, suspension, and stability in products such as yoghurts, desserts, and flavoured milks. It also supports cleaner labels and allows manufacturers to balance sweetness and texture in reduced-sugar systems.
- Meal replacements and functional foods increasingly rely on fibre to deliver satiety, digestive benefits, and nutritional balance. Here, fibre works alongside protein rather than competing with it, helping create products that feel complete, satisfying, and aligned with long-term health positioning rather than short-term trends.
Fibre vs Protein: A False Competition
Positioning fibre and protein as competing nutrients misses the bigger picture. In practice, they work best together. Protein delivers structure and nutritional value, while fibre also enhances texture, balance, and overall product experience. Many of today’s most successful formulations rely on this combination rather than prioritising one at the expense of the other.
From a formulation standpoint, fibre often improves the palatability of protein-enriched products. High protein levels can introduce bitterness, dryness, or chalky textures, particularly in bars, beverages, and dairy alternatives. Soluble fibres help smooth mouthfeel, retain moisture, and moderate flavour release, making protein-forward products more enjoyable and easier for consumers to consume regularly.
There are also clear nutritional synergies. Protein supports muscle maintenance and satiety, while fibre slows digestion, moderates blood sugar response, and promotes gut health. Together, they create products that feel more filling, balanced, and suitable for everyday consumption rather than niche performance use.
Clean Label, HFSS, and Future Reformulation
As HFSS regulation tightens and clean label expectations continue to rise, fibre has become one of the most effective tools available to manufacturers. It enables meaningful sugar reduction without triggering the same penalties or perception issues associated with artificial sweeteners, making it a practical route to compliance without compromising product appeal.
From a labelling perspective, fibre aligns well with consumer demand for transparency and recognisable ingredient names. Ingredients such as inulin, soluble fibre, or cereal-based fibres are widely understood and trusted, especially when compared to high-intensity sweeteners or modified additives. This makes fibre-based reformulation easier to communicate on pack and less likely to raise scepticism.
Importantly, fibre fits both the regulatory and consumer narratives at the same time. Regulators support increased fibre intake as a public health goal, while consumers associate fibre with digestive health, satiety, and everyday wellness rather than “diet” or restriction. This dual credibility gives fibre a unique advantage in future-facing formulations.
Perhaps most importantly, fibre allows products to be positioned as healthier without looking engineered. It supports softer reformulation strategies where taste, texture, and familiarity are preserved, helping brands evolve their recipes gradually while staying aligned with long-term nutritional, regulatory, and market trends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Foods that naturally combine fibre and protein include legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans), whole grains (oats, quinoa), nuts and seeds, and certain vegetables. Many modern food products also combine plant proteins with added fibres to improve satiety and nutritional balance.
High-protein diets can be low in fibre if not carefully planned. Fibre supports digestion, helps prevent constipation, and moderates blood sugar response, making it essential for gut health and long-term dietary balance alongside protein intake.
Insufficient fibre in a high-protein diet can lead to digestive discomfort, bloating, constipation, and less stable energy levels. Fibre helps slow digestion and supports healthy gut function, improving overall tolerance of protein-rich foods.
Most dietary guidelines recommend around 25 g (WHO organisation) to 30g (NHS) of fibre per day, yet average intake remains well below this. Increasing fibre through whole foods or fibre-enriched products can help close this gap.
Balanced options include oats with seeds and yoghurt, high-fibre cereals with added protein, or breakfast bars formulated with both plant proteins and soluble fibres to support fullness and digestion.
Fruits are generally high in fibre but low in protein. Combining fruit with protein-rich foods, such as nuts, seeds, or dairy alternatives, helps create a more nutritionally complete snack or meal.
Both nutrients serve different roles. Protein supports muscle maintenance and satiety, while fibre is critical for digestive health, blood sugar control, and long-term wellbeing. A balanced diet requires adequate intake of both rather than prioritising one exclusively.
Common signs include digestive irregularity, bloating, hunger shortly after meals, and unstable energy levels. Low fibre intake is also associated with long-term health risks linked to gut and metabolic health.
Manufacturers use soluble and insoluble fibres selected for neutral flavour and specific functionality. These fibres can enhance texture and mouthfeel while supporting sugar reduction and clean-label positioning.
Fibre supports public health goals, enables sugar reduction, improves product texture, and aligns with clean-label and HFSS reformulation strategies. For manufacturers, it offers both functional and commercial advantages beyond simple nutrition claims.
