Health Trends You Should Give Up in 2026

1.     Ditch the Big Protein Push

Protein was big, too big, in 2025. Influencers told you that you weren’t getting enough, food manufacturers added protein to cereal, water, snack foods, and protein supplements.

Get Caught Up on Today’s GDA!

You can revisit my blog post from April 2025 Power Up on Protein: Truth or Trend?  to assess your protein needs and to see if you are getting enough protein from your foods. Chances are, you get enough protein from your foods and don’t need to seek out powered up protein products.

Does it hurt you to get more protein than you need? If you are healthy and don't have any kidney issues, then it’s likely fine to get more protein than you need. But what’s happening to all that extra protein? Once your body has all it needs for its many jobs, your body turns protein fragments into glucose (sugar) for energy, and then, into fat.

2.     TikTok is Not Your Doc

Social media is a gamble when it comes to accurate science-based health and nutrition info. There are people posting on social media who provide solid information. But many of the influencers you see out there are posting click bait that is misleading or just plain wrong.

Researchers at Deakon University in Australia audited nearly 700 Instagram influencer posts. They reported a 44.7% inaccuracy rate. Posts by registered dietitians were nearly 5 times more likely to be accurate than those from brands. Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia evaluated health and nutrition info on TikTok and found that 55% did not provide evidence-based information.

3.     Not Ready for Prime Time: Personalized DNA and Microbiome Diets

These kinds of tests promise you personalized nutrition and medical advice based on DNA or your gut microbiome (your balance of bacteria in your lower intestine). While these tests are interesting and may one day prove beneficial, they are not ready for prime time. The companies make big promises but have no evidence to support their claims.

These tests have not been validated or approved by the FDA and most gastroenterologists will tell you that we don’t know enough about the variability of gut microbes between people or even how to improve the gut biome. The tests can be expensive - starting at several hundred dollars.

How exactly do you do the tests? For the DNA test, you do a mouth swab and for the microbiome, you send in a stool sample. That’s right – poop in a bag.

An upcoming good trend: weight loss research is shifting into a much-needed new phase – weight maintenance.  What happens after you lose weight on your GLP drug and now you want to maintain that loss? New meds are on the horizon!

Quick note: Upcoming Brain Chats in its new location – the Hoover Library!

Ultra Processed foods and Brain Health, presented by Ciara Mitchell, PhD, RDN, LD Saturday, January 10^th at Hoover Public Library 11:00 am to Noon

Beth Kitchin PhD RDN