Health Update: Precision Wellness Moves Nutrition Beyond One-Size-Fits-All – What Experts Say

Precision wellness represents a natural evolution from functional nutrition. While functional nutrition offers nutrition for all, precision wellness drills down to address an individual’s personalized health needs.

Our various Innova Market Insights surveys show how consumer interests have evolved as consumers become more aware of specific ingredients and their potential for improving individual uniqueness in physical health, metabolic health, mental health, and cognitive function.

A Top Trend

Innova’s Top 10 Trends 2025 acknowledged the prominence of precision wellness by naming it last year’s second leading trend. It focuses on how critical it is to target the nutrition needs of individuals. One size doesn’t fit all. Consumers differ in age, gender, lifestyle, preferred diet, activity level, health condition, and many other factors. Health perspectives and goals help define their diets. So many consumers look for functional foods, beverages, and ingredients to address what they perceive that they alone need for their stage in life, health status, lifestyle, activity level, fitness needs, and so many other factors.

In one of our annual surveys, a majority of consumers told us they believe that customized nutrition plans are more effective. Furthermore, supplement users solidly seek choices that can be personalized to meet their individual needs.

In looking at product launch trends in precision nutrition, we divided nutrition into several different groupings based on profiles and needs: balanced, age-specific, gender-specific, lifestyle, condition-specific, and performance. A majority of US consumers we surveyed name balanced nutrition as their preferred approach. Significant numbers, however, also reported buying age-specific nutrition products. Smaller but significant numbers also turn to nutrition products targeted toward their gender, lifestyle, health conditions, and performance needs.

US consumers lean toward regular foods and drinks as their preferred sources for targeted nutrition, followed by supplements, fortified foods, and fortified drinks.

At the moment, the level of consumer interest in and desire for precision wellness—especially that tailored to lifestyle, performance, and health condition—exceeds the level of actual purchases. That is why manufacturers and brands have an opportunity to expand development of products with targeted nutrition benefits.

Precision Wellness in 2026

As in 2025, our Top 10 trends for 2026 demonstrate the importance of precision wellness. This year’s leading trend is “Powerhouse Protein.” Even though protein has been a nutrition trends leader for the past several years, it does not appear to be slowing down.

Consumers associate protein with wellness and they seek protein in various forms to support overall health and wellbeing. Our consumer trends surveys show the majority of those surveyed are looking for ways to include more protein in their daily diet. What an enviable position for a nutrient!

Consumers name milk and milk drinks as top protein sources, and they look for other sources of protein as well. Labels can improve product positioning and competitiveness by calling out highly desired protein benefits, such as muscle support and support for those consumers on GLP-1 anti-obesity medications.

Labels also can offer nuanced positioning that highlights protein features and other protein benefits such as essential amino acids, complete protein, muscle repair and recovery, and muscle strengthening and support. The protein marketplace is highly competitive, so we are expecting nuanced protein messaging with promoted benefits that match the specific type of protein. For example, a product might highlight the contribution of whey protein to essential amino acids and muscle health support.

Gut health is another enduring trend. Consumers increasingly associate gut health with overall wellness. They know when their gut doesn’t feel right and they look for ways to improve how they feel. The consumers we surveyed demonstrate a high level of knowledge regarding the relationship between gut health and related benefits of immunity, energy, and healthy skin. Related product launches tracked by Innova show growth in claims about probiotics and especially prebiotics. There’s also more on-pack language addresses how biotics work, and that calls out tangible benefits.

A balanced mind is another one of our top trends for 2026. Consumers feel stressed and are looking for ways to achieve better mental health. They want to have more energy, reduce their stress levels, and perform better mentally. Millennials in particular are highly concerned about their mental health. Some product launches we track for mental health benefits have included an energy drink with green tea and nootropic functional mushrooms. There’s also been a host of new products featuring the ayurvedic herb ashwagandha.

Beverages will continue to be big in 2026 as a preferred functional format. They lead innovation for hydration, functional ingredients, and convenient nutrition. Protein-rich beverages are popular—especially in a new wave of soft drinks with protein ingredients that are clear. Don’t overlook dairy-based drinks, which consumers surveyed by Innova say are a healthy snack beyond their protein content.

We also are tracking innovation in products such as indulgent coconut water with electrolytes for hydration and calcium-fortified, protein-rich flavored milk promoted for strong bones, tooth development, and tissue building and growth.

Game Changer: GLP-1

GLP-1 anti-obesity medication users have changed their eating habits. Because consumers on GLP-1 medications are eating much less food during the day, nutrient density is essential.

Key nutrients include protein to maintain muscle; fiber to ensure gut health and regularity; and vitamins and minerals for the body’s daily and long-term nutrition needs. In addition to GLP-1-friendly packaged meals innovation, we are tracking ingredients and supplements that claim to activate and sustain GLP-1 in the body.

Women’s Health Growing

We are closely watching the evolution and expansion of precision wellness positioning for women.

Recent product launches include teas with female health benefits and sports nutrition products targeted to women. Supplement approaches that could cross over into food and beverage include general women’s health, menopause support, and age-specific nutrients. This is not to overlook men, as new products specifically positioned for men also are emerging.

Precision Wellness for Healthy Aging

Healthy aging is extremely important to consumers in the US, who worry about both physical and mental health needs as they get older. While consumers agree regarding the importance of exercise and sleep to healthy aging, they also look for a balanced diet, nutritionally rich food and drink choices, and supplements.

Overall “healthy aging” in food and beverage innovation is relatively low. However, Innova has been tracking launches around specific natural nutrients and their benefits, as well as beauty products to maintain youthfulness of the skin.

Functional Ingredients Flex Their Muscle

Consumers want to perform better physically and mentally. They also are taking action to manage their own healthcare. Functional ingredients can help consumers attain their wellness and performance goals while also helping alleviate mental stress. Products that we tagged in the past as “performance nutrition,” for example, specialty sports powders, ready-to-drink sports drinks, energy drinks, and sports bars, now are in the mainstream marketplace and show solid five-year growth.

Brands may face a flavor challenge when using functional ingredients. The distinct taste of proteins may need to be offset by brown flavors and other flavors that are compatible with protein ingredients. Formulators will know that many functional ingredients can have off-tastes, which must be masked to enhance palatability. Because pleasure is more important than ever, functionality has to be paired with appealing sensory properties.

New Opportunities

When Innova surveyed consumers about health conditions and issues that are most important to them, we learned that priorities vary based on gender, generation, and lifestyle. Overall, however, weight management and heart health are top physical health concerns and stress and anxiety are top concerns regarding mental health.

Brands can take inspiration from areas of opportunity where there are the greatest gaps between level of concern and product purchasing. These include heart health, stress, anxiety, brain health, healthy aging, and weight management. Consumers clearly are asking for more nutrition related to weight control. We also have tracked launches where products tout multiple health benefits and enable consumers to address more than one health concern with a single product choice.

The focus on health benefits should not overshadow the need for quality. Consumers respond positively to quality ingredients and to narratives that support quality with scientific validation. Quality also can include improved delivery systems to aid in the absorption of functional ingredients.

Natural functional ingredients are important in today’s US regulatory environment. Although natural does not carry an official definition, natural ingredients (derived from plants and botanicals) with active nutrients can attract consumers seeking a cleaner approach to precision wellness.

Watch for scientific advances that allow US consumers to pinpoint their nutrition to condition-specific products and ingredients. Consumers can submit fecal samples for analysis of their individual gut health needs or use blood samples or cheek swabs for guidance on individualized nutrient needs. We expect AI to help drive future developments that highlight nutrition shortfalls and customize nutrition strategies.

Looking To the Future

Based on our observations at Supply Side Global 2025, we expect additional trends to emerge. Hero ingredients will be better targeted to allow for precision approaches to wellness rather than a single approach for a broad audience.

Bioactive ingredients will become more prevalent and US companies will have to navigate boundaries between food and beverage ingredients, nutraceuticals, and supplements. It is hard to predict the trajectory of the US regulatory marketplace. We also don’t know the future effects of tariffs on ingredient manufacturing and imports.