Health and Wellness Trends for 2020

The health and wellness sector continues to grow in 2020, with the unexpected impact of COVID-19 shifting the focus of personal health and hygiene away from more aesthetic aspect of our bodies towards our real physical health and longevity.

Supplement-rich beverages are increasing market share, with high-end speciality teas, coffees and even water products becoming popular for busy individuals looking for added health benefits. Manufacturers are attempting to improve the nutritional content of food products in the same vain, adding higher vitamin, fibre, and supplement content while lowering salt and sugar levels throughout many foods, in an attempt to appeal to health-conscious consumers. This has been mirrored by the improvements in convenience foods, with healthier pre-made meals, dry snacks and bars increasing in popularity.

Plant-based food consumption is continuing to take market share from both the meat and dairy sectors, with more and more consumers moving away from animal products for both health and ethical reasons. This is also linked to improving our gut-health, with many people looking to improve or alleviate symptoms of intolerances, allergies and general digestive conditions such as IBS or GORD. Plant-based super-foods and oils (including hemp and CBD) are being introduced to food and drinks, as well as retailed separately for consumers to add into their diets themselves. Powdered supplement products that were once focused on the weight-loss and fitness market have expanded beyond these limitations to target general consumer health.

Despite the increase in plant based products, diets such as Keto and Paleo are still a popular choice. Focusing on the science of digestion and nutrition, consumers aim to balance and improve diets by excluding certain products (such as grains), while including important animal proteins.

In addition to adjusting what we’re eating, we’re also adjusting when we are eating. As physical and mental health continues to be a focus of consumers, the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) in the USA have released what they believe to be the top 10 wellness trends for 2020.

Top of the list was sleep, with a focus on linking back to our natural circadian rhythms. In the modern world, we struggle to keep in tune to these rhythms due to our schedules, light saturation, electromagnetic fields and our reliance on technology.

Within this trend is an aspect related to food consumption, with many people wanting to lose weight choosing to perform intermittent fasting and dedicate a specific time frame for eating during each day (with 8 hours during daylight hours a popular starting point for many). This in itself is linked to these natural rhythms and light sources, and how humans would hunt and gather food before we moved to sedentary lifestyles and agriculture. This way of life slowly lead to the regulated ‘work day’ many adhere to today, with many theories being formed on how often we should consumer food products, and how much.

The importance of nutrition and diet will only continue to rise in countries like Australia, as we attempt to change traditional mindsets of food and food behaviours, and improve our overall health and well-being. Simultaneously, the market sector for health and well-being products will continue to rise, with the era of e-commerce providing an opportunity for boutique, emerging brands to enter the category without the fiscal barriers of the traditional retail marketplace.

Sources: https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/press/press-releases/gws-releases-in-depth-report-the-future-of-wellness-2020/ https://www.everydayhealth.com/pictures/top-healthy-food-trends/