Actor, director and podcaster Danielle Fishel (L) and singer and former *NSYNC member Lance Bass (C), seen here with Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN (R), have been talking about their fibermaxxing. (Photo: Connor Gaskey, Anaheim Studios)
Connor Gaskey, Anaheim Studios
You could say that some TikTok influencers have been pushing fiber consumption with every fiber of their being. Many have been using the #fibermaxxing hashtag to tell you to, well, maximize the amount of fiber in your diet. You’ve got celebrities like Danielle Fishel and Lance Bass encouraging you to fibermax as well. So how much of this is good nutrition advice and how much of this is, umm, a lot of gas? And how exactly do you fibermax?
Well, the good news is that, amid all the dirt eating, raw milk drinking and other hot air-filled and in some cases even harmful nutrition advice out there on social media, fibermaxxing is actually, for the most part, a good thing. It’s not as if the fibermaxxing trend is telling you to put something new in a new part of your body. Instead, consuming lots of fiber is something that nutrition and health experts have long been encouraging for years. As the singer and former *NSYNC member Bass recently told me, “Apparently, I've been fiber maxing for a while now and didn't even know it. So I'm way ahead of the trend.”
Back in 2024, I wrote in Forbes about a conversation with Bass about his Type 1.5 diabetes diagnosis, which has motivated him to more closely manage his diet and health in general. This time he spoke more about going bye-bye-bye to feeling like he could do whatever he wants. “You know, the older you get, the more you listen to your doctors,” Bass, now 46 years old, explained. “And so, yes, I was highly encouraged to add more fiber to my diet. So I am definitely fibermaxxing, and it has been definitely a game changer.”
He continued by saying, “Just the way I feel, the more regular I am, the more energy that I get back. We’re looking at cholesterol these days, sugar levels, so everything about it is just exactly what I need to be doing at this stage in life.”
Numerous studies have shown how consuming fiber can help lower your bad cholesterol levels, better manage your blood sugar levels, make your bowel movements more regular and improve your gut health in general. Dietary fiber comes in two types, based on how well they dissolve in water — soluble and insoluble.
The soluble type can — guess what — dissolve in water to become a gel-like substance in the stomach. And imagine what having gel-like stuff in your stomach can do. It can slow your digestion, making you feel fuller longer and thus less likely to eat more. It also serves as a nice dinner for the good bacteria in your gut microbiome, which in turn can improve your gut health. Moreover, this soluble type can ultimately bind to bad cholesterol in your gut to prevent it from getting absorbed into your bloodstream and facilitate the excretion of such bad juju via your poo-poo.
By contrast, insoluble fiber won’t dissolve in water because that’s how words work. Insoluble fiber is kind of like that White House tour guide in the 1993 movie Dave, who kept saying, "And we’re walking, we’re walking" to keep the crowd of tourists moving. Insoluble fiber keeps food moving through your gastrointestinal tract all the way down to your poop chute. That’s why it can help you be less constipated.
All of these, in turn, can lower your risk of chronic conditions such as obesity, diverticulosis, colon cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Yes, getting more fiber in your diet can keep things from tearing up your heart, to quote part of an *NSYNC song. That’s why the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends a goal of around 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories consumed, which comes out to 25 to 28 or so grams of fiber for women and 28 to 34 grams for men per day.
Lance Bass, seen here with Odette Annable at this weekend's Kentucky Derby, said, “You know, the older you get, the more you listen to your doctors. And so, yes, I was highly encouraged to add more fiber to my diet." (Photo by Jeff Schear/Getty Images for Churchill Downs)
Getty Images for Churchill Downs
That’s all well and good. But the true fiber optics, so to speak, of what Americans are actually consuming is not good. Well over 90% of Americans fall far short of these recommended levels, with the averages being more in the 10 to 15 grams per day range. The typical American diet simply does not have enough high-fiber foods.
A food is considered high fiber if it can provide 20% or higher of the recommended daily amount. You can find this percentage on the nutrition facts label under “total carbohydrates.” Of course, not all foods will have such a label. So, it helps to know what foods are fiber-rich. For example, avocados are high in fiber, with half of one of those beauts having five grams of fiber. That’s yet another reason to guac your world regularly.
You can find soluble fiber in various beans such as black beans, lima beans, kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans and lentils. You can sow your wild oats too, consuming oatmeal, oat bran, barley and quinoa. It might be fruitful to have more apples with their skin, pears, bananas, citrus fruits, apricots, plums and figs. Eating veggies such as Brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli, okra, sweet potatoes and parsnips can help too. And you know what’s nuts? Nuts and other seeds like flaxseed, sunflower seeds and hazelnuts contain soluble fiber. All of this makes you think twice about dismissing that fruitcake, doesn’t it?
On the insoluble fiber side, don’t go against the grain. Whole grains like wheat bran, corn bran, brown rice, whole-wheat flour, quinoa and cereals are good sources. So are vegetables like cauliflower, green beans, potatoes with skin, zucchini, celery and dark leafy greens like kale. Then there are the beans like lentils, black beans and chickpeas.
Even if you have “bean” there, done that a lot of times each day, you still may not be getting enough fiber. That’s why it may help to supplement your fiber intake with something like psyllium husk. Psyllium husk is a natural, soluble fiber derived from the seeds of the Plantago ovata plant and commonly sold as a fiber supplement like Metamucil.
Fishel, who starred in the Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World sitcoms, described to me her 44 year-old woman–meets–fiber supplement moment in January 2025.
“I had an appointment with my doctor, and I was explaining how I was feeling, that I was having some side effects from medications, and I was really, really sluggish,” she said. “My doctor said, ‘You really need to add Metamucil to your diet every single day. And I was like, ’Wow, really? Like, is there not something I should be trying to get from diet?’ She said diet alone is not enough, you need to be adding a fiber supplement.”
That’s been sort of a light bulb or maybe light gut moment for Fishel. “I now feel so much lighter on my feet,” she explained. “I feel like I’ve had a glow up that’s really started with my gut health, which I was just not paying attention to before.” Fishel described how she integrates taking Metamucil into her daily routine, taking it “while the coffee’s brewing, before I even take a sip of coffee.”
When it comes to any supplements, though, do check the labels and ingredients carefully. You do want to be fully aware of what’s in your supplements. Make sure there isn’t too much extra stuff that you don’t want to be consuming.
Danielle Fishel, seen here at Hulu's Get Real House, spoke of how she integrates taking fiber supplements into her daily routine. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Now, so far as social media trends go, you may feel that this fibermaxxing one seems pretty darn positive. It doesn’t look anything like the looksmaxxing trend, which can clearly lead to a pretty unhealthy obsession with being, well, pretty, however you define that. Looksmaxxing has also spawned trends like bone smashing, which as I detailed in Forbes previously, is about using a hammer on your face to fix your looks.
By contrast, you don’t hear of too many people landing in the hospital because they overdosed on fiber. In fact, there’s no stated daily upper limit of fiber.
There is one warning to air, though, and it’s a gas. Since fiber does pass undigested into your colon, the bacteria there can ferment the fiber, generating gases like hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. Therefore, if you do up your fiber intake too rapidly, you could be left with bloating, discomfort and, yes, farting. So right before a date is probably not the best time to fibermax for the first time.
It’s better to gradually increase your fiber intake. And drink lots of water. The fiber will end up absorbing a fair amount of water that should be replaced. If you have some kind of existing gastrointestinal condition, such as irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease, more fiber could make symptoms worse. Therefore, consult your doctor before changing any fiber habits.
Finally, as with any dietary element, fiber is only one part of good nutrition. Fibermaxxing may bring a bunch of health benefits, but alone will not be enough to solve all issues. It’s always good to have a balanced diet so that you get the full array of good nutrients. In other words, it would be a bit silly to consume nothing but psyllium husk.
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