Top Diet Trends in 2019

As more people begin to try out “restrictive” diets, food companies need to shift to make their options more inclusive. Keeping up with health trends is vital to a company’s continued success in a rapidly changing market. Here are the top diet trends we have seen so far this year.

Plant-Based Diet

Not to be confused with veganism, a plant-based diet is comprised of minimally processed foods derived from, you guessed it, plants. While some people may include small amounts of eggs, fish, dairy, and meat into their plant-based diet, the majority of nutrients come from a large variety of fruits, vegetables, and legumes. To cater your product to this crowd, avoid filler ingredients and animal products. Consider replacing sweeteners with fruit sources such as mangoes or dates, and be sure to maintain nutrient density.

Keto

One of the biggest diet trends in the past couple of years has been the ketogenic diet. This diet promotes intermittent fasting coupled with high-fat ingredients to maintain a bodily state of ketosis, where your body is converting fat into ketones for energy rather than relying on carbs. To do so, keto dieters must avoid almost all non-fiber carbohydrates (<50 grams net carbs per day), while consuming large quantities of saturated and unsaturated fats. However, it is a misnomer that being keto means your diet should consist of mostly meat. On the contrary, too much protein can take your body out of ketosis. Therefore, fat from plant sources including coconut, olives, avocado, and nuts are incredibly important in a keto diet.

Gut Health Diets

As more people become aware of the importance of the gut microbiome, diets that promote diversity and stability of digestive biota have become increasingly popular. Like plant-based diets, probiotic diets derive nutrients from minimally-processed, whole-food sources. However, these diets eliminate foods like nightshades, dairy, grains, and legumes, with the goal being to reduce inflammation and identify sensitivities that cause pain or bloating. A popular example is the Whole30 diet. For 30 days, people on Whole30 avoid dairy, legumes, alcohol, and sugar to reset their guts and rid of bad consumption habits. After the 30 days, participants slowly add ingredients back into their day-to-day diet to better understand how different foods affect them and which should be avoided.

So which diet-friendly product is right for your food company? At Journey Foods, we believe creating a diverse line of products is the best way to further market penetration. Using JourneyAI, this is easier than ever. By selecting nutrient profiles, companies can tailor products to fit different diet types (e.g. high protein, probiotic blends, etc.). Now, your company can move faster than ever to accommodate the needs of people with all types of dietary restrictions.