2026
10
The Future of Nutrition, Health and Wellness 2026
2026-03-03T16:01:52+00:00
REPFCE13DB6_8813_467B_A13D_B68813367B70
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191677
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In the future, nutrition must be designed around real-world constraints, delivering health, value and nourishment when people eat less, spend less and expect more. Michelle Teodoro, Global Food Science Analyst…
Global
Health and Wellness
simple

The Future of Nutrition, Health and Wellness 2026

In the future, nutrition must be designed around real-world constraints, delivering health, value and nourishment when people eat less, spend less and expect more.

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  1. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

    • Where we are now
    • In the next two years
    • In five years and beyond
  2. IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS

    • Mintel’s perspective
    • Longevity will enter daily function
    • Make longevity relevant now, not later
    • Longevity-related claims are expanding beyond supplements
    • Graph 1: share of product launches with explicit longevity positioning*, by category, 2020 vs 2025
    • Graph 2: share of product launches with functional ageing positioning**, by category, 2020 vs 2025
    • Make everyday strength and mobility a daily priority
    • Normalise performance in daily diets
    • Muscle health will become central to longevity
    • Recovery and mobility will gain urgency across active lifestyles
    • Make cellular health practical and credible
    • Affordable nutrition will become innovation territory
    • Make affordability a design starting point
    • Tangible nutrition will be the new marker of value
    • Graph 3: share of mainstream product launches*, by claims, 2021-25
    • Upcycled ingredients will shift from sustainability to smart formulation
    • Public health guidance will reshape everyday reformulation
    • Affordable indulgence will support emotional sustainability
    • Affordable nutrition strengthens household resilience
    • The GLP-1 effect will reshape everyday food design
    • Design for smaller appetites
    • Digestibility and tolerance will gain importance
    • Portion size will become intentional, not restrictive
    • Ready meals will lead on intentionally smaller portions
    • Nutrient density will replace volume as a value cue
    • Protein quality will matter more than quantity
    • Hydration will become a nutritional priority
    • Ease of consumption will become a competitive advantage
  3. IN FIVE YEARS AND BEYOND

    • Mintel’s perspective
    • Biological individuality will go mainstream
    • Eating patterns will stop being predictable
    • Food will work alongside health technology
    • Sensory engineering will become functional
    • ‘Perfect diets’ will give way to practical adequacy
    • Life-stage nutrition systems replace one-size-fits-all
  4. KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • Key takeaways
Download Report Summary

"In the future, nutrition must be designed around real-world constraints, delivering health, value and nourishment when people eat less, spend less and expect more."

Michelle Teodoro, Global Food Science Analyst

Michelle Teodoro, Global Food Science Analyst

Discover the most important future trends in the global nutrition, health and wellness market with Mintel’s Future Of report. The report identifies the key consumer and industry trends that will impact the global nutrition market over the next five years.

The most important upcoming trends in health and wellness are analysed and succinctly presented alongside relevant insights from Mintel’s consumer data. So you can understand how consumer demands will change and identify future innovation and growth opportunities.

This report also presents Mintel’s analysts’ pick of the most innovative and inspirational launches in the global nutrition, health and wellness market. Understanding the future of the nutrition industry has never been so easy.

The Future of Health & Wellness – Trends to Watch

  • The GLP-1 effect will reshape everyday food design: As appetites shrink, value shifts from volume to nutrient density, digestibility and portion precision. Smaller, gentler formats that deliver more per bite – protein quality, fibre and tolerance – will redefine everyday adequacy.
  • Affordable nutrition will become innovation territory: Affordability becomes a design principle. Nutrition must prove its usefulness per serving, balancing fibre, protein and function in accessible formats.
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