Top health food trends 2026

At M&S, making healthier choices simple has always been part of who we are.

Our Eat Well sunflower symbol has been guiding customers for over two decades – in fact, it turns 21 this year. Long before health labelling became the norm, we were helping shoppers to spot better options.

But we’re not standing still. We know people are always looking for new ways to feel good, with most saying they’re excited by the latest health and wellness trends. So this January, we’re introducing more than 90 new products designed to make healthy eating even easier and more inspiring. Each one has been developed by our chefs, nutritionists and product developers, who work with the British Nutrition Foundation to make sure they deliver on taste and nutrition.

Read all about what’s new in the world of healthy eating at M&S in our in-depth Health Trends Report, and get the lowdown on the top five health food trends to look out for this year below.

Five food health trends to watch:

1. Fibremaxxing

2. Biohacking

3. Protein for all

4. Gut health

5. Minimal ingredients

Fibremaxxing is about strategically ‘maximising’ the fibre in your meals (like swapping white rice for brown or adding chia seeds to your lunchtime salad), and while we don’t want to overload our systems too quickly or with too much, we do want to help our customers get as close to their recommended 30g of fibre a day as possible – especially since 96% of us aren't getting enough.

Cue our innovative new Nutrient Dense range of nutrient-rich meals, snacks and drinks that contain high amounts of nutrients per calorie. The range is made with delicious whole food, fresh and store cupboard ingredients that are packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals to help all our customers reach their daily targets. Find it in store from 5 January.

Biohacking has become a huge trend in the food world. It can mean all sorts of things, from meal prepping to intermittent fasting or drinking a vitamin-enriched protein shake, but for M&S Food, it means making small dietary changes to support your health and wellbeing.

“We know from the huge sales of our gut health shots how much our customers like easy hacks to help their health,” says M&S lead product developer Claire Richardson. “Our customers are also telling us that healthy eating should feel good, not hard, so our new biohacking shots and snack ranges, featuring the latest on-trend ingredients, from collagen to sea moss, mean it couldn’t be easier to hack your health. ” Look out for them in store from 5 January.

Gone are the days of protein only being important for fitness addicts tracking their macros. Even those of us who wouldn’t call ourselves gym bunnies are paying attention to our protein intake.

M&S head of innovation Annette Peters says, “We understand now, more than ever, that we have agency over our health and food has power, so let’s help ourselves and the planet by upping our plant-based protein intake. Protein is essential for so many things, one of which is helping to support the ageing process – for example, older people understand they need to eat protein to maintain muscle mass.”

It’s no wonder our bestselling High Protein range of meals, snacks, drinks and store cupboard essentials is growing in popularity. Find new additions to the range in store from 5 January.

When people prioritise health, it’s likely they’re paying close attention to what they’re putting in their bodies, and this can mean looking for ‘clean’ ingredients. This goes further than not having additives, added sugars or artificial ingredients, but also using minimal, quality ingredients. It’s a trend that’s been popular in previous years, but it’s going even bigger in 2026.

Our Only…Ingredients range is all about bringing new versions of more everyday products to customers, made with minimal ingredients and with the quality expected from M&S Food – watch this space for more new additions to the range this year.