Proteinmaxxing vs fibremaxxing: What actually matters?

There used to be a simpler tyranny. It was called the calorie. Every meal became a scorecard: a plate of chole bhature was 600 calories of guilt, a samosa, a small, deep-fried apology made to the body twice a week. Life divided neatly in two—you were either "watching your calories" or "letting yourself go", and everyone at the family function had an opinion on which category you'd slipped into since last Diwali.

Calories haven't disappeared. But they no longer dominate the conversation the way they once did. The spotlight has shifted decisively to protein and fibre. "Maxxing", in the current parlance, is the practice of deliberately boosting a single nutrient until a daily target is met.

Walk into a grocery store today, and entire aisles are devoted to protein chips, protein bars, and protein shakes. Step into a restaurant and the menu promises fibre-rich everything: millet bowls, seed crackers, chia puddings, and quinoa salads.

Not long ago, protein was considered food for gym enthusiasts, and fibre barely registered in everyday wellness conversations. Now both have become nutritional buzzwords, propelled by a mix of rising nutrition awareness, social media trends, aggressive marketing from food brands, and an army of health influencers who have turned nutrient targets into a lifestyle.

So which one actually deserves a place on the plate—or is the real answer messier than picking a side? We put the question to two experts: Nutritionist Rakhee Jain Arora and celebrity fitness coach Prateek Kumar, founder of Fitcru. Neither took a side. What they offered instead was more useful.

It's not a fight. It's two deficiencies sharing a body

Asked whether the protein-versus-fibre debate is scientifically real, Arora doesn't hedge: it's largely manufactured. Protein and fibre, she notes, aren't even competing for the same job. One builds and repairs tissue; the other quietly manages gut health and blood sugar in the background. "They were never meant to compete," she says, though she concedes the debate has done some good by accident by drawing attention to nutrients people otherwise ignore.

Kumar agrees the binary is false, but he arrives at that conclusion with data in hand. Citing figures from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), he notes that the average Indian's protein intake falls below 0.6 gm per kg of body weight, against a recommended 0.83-1 gm, while fibre intake averages just 15-16 gm a day, against a recommended 25-30 gm. "This isn't two camps fighting over a healthy diet," he says. "It's two camps arguing over which deficiency to fix first."

The result is that protein and fibre shortfalls tend to coexist rather than substitute for one another. As Kumar puts it, choosing between them is "like asking whether you'd rather fix your brakes or your engine when both are failing".

Proteinmaxxing

The explosion of protein-focused content has created the impression that Indians are already overdoing it. The experts say the opposite is closer to the truth. "Indians are experts at consuming content about protein," Arora says. "They discuss it endlessly but often don't actually consume enough."

She describes this as an intention-behaviour gap—awareness rising far faster than actual dietary change.

Protein matters across the lifespan, not just for athletes but for children, older adults, women, sedentary adults, and active ones alike. Beyond building muscle, it supports immune function, hormone production, and tissue repair. But prioritising it, Arora argues, shouldn't tip into obsession. "We need protein balancing, not proteinmaxxing," she says.

Kumar believes certain groups warrant particular attention—older adults, women over 35, vegetarians, and those engaged in regular strength training, all of whom face an elevated risk of inadequate protein intake or muscle loss. The ones overthinking protein, he says, tend to be younger fitness enthusiasts stirring powder into every meal while ignoring vegetables entirely.

Arora sees some value in the trend. High-protein recipes have grown genuinely creative online, she notes, but she cautions against leaning too heavily on ultra-processed protein products. Not everything marketed as healthy lives up to the claim, and misleading labelling remains common. Consumers, she adds, frequently pay a premium for branding rather than nutrition, which is why she considers label literacy an essential life skill.

Kumar is blunter still. "When popcorn is marketed as high-protein," he says, "we've officially left nutrition and entered branding." There is, after all, no glossy packaging for "eat your sabzi".

Fibremaxxing

Protein became a cultural phenomenon; fibre is only now trying to catch up. Protein's promises—muscle, fat loss, and athletic performance—make for aspirational content. Fibre's biggest wins, meanwhile, are quieter: better gut health, steadier blood sugar, lower cholesterol, and long-term disease prevention. None of it photographs particularly well.

Still, "fibremaxxing" has entered the race. Search the hashtag and thousands of posts appear, from gastroenterologists to actors to nutritionists, all offering their take.

"You can hit every protein target and still eat meals with almost no fibre," Kumar explains. Eggs, paneer, and chicken deliver plenty of protein but little fibre unless paired with vegetables, legumes, or whole grains.

But fibremaxxing can fall into the same trap as proteinmaxxing: assuming that more is always better. It isn't. Kumar explains, "Chasing a daily number instead of focusing on overall diet quality can do more harm than good."

Too much fibre can cause bloating, gas, cramping, and, if you don't drink enough water, even constipation. Excessive fibre intake may also reduce the absorption of minerals such as iron and zinc over time.

He adds, "For most adults, about 25-30 gm of fibre a day is a good target, with a balance of both soluble and insoluble fibre. Whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds should be the primary sources."

Arora cautions that fibre should come from varied food sources rather than supplements alone. Because digestive systems respond differently, she recommends increasing intake gradually and staying well hydrated along the way.

The real priority is neither proteinmaxxing nor fibremaxxing

Despite approaching the question from different angles, the two experts land in the same place. Neither believes Indians should spend the next five years chasing a single nutrient. Instead, they advocate rebuilding everyday meals around whole foods—complete protein sources, pulses, legumes, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds—while limiting ultra-processed foods, excess cooking fat, salt, and alcohol.

Arora argues that nutrition education matters more than the next viral trend: learning to read labels, understand portion sizes, experiment with what suits one's own body, and build habits that hold up over decades rather than weeks.

Kumar puts the philosophy more simply. "Eat more whole foods. Full stop."

Do that consistently, he says, and both the protein gap and the fibre gap begin to close on their own.

The internet may keep searching for the next nutrient to maximise. Nutrition science keeps returning to the same advice: stop building diets around isolated nutrients, and start building better plates.

Lead image: Pexels

Also read: Move over, protein—wellness has a new obsession: 'fibremaxxing'

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