Natural Products Expo West is the biggest consumer packaged goods event of the year for all things healthy living.
This year’s show was well attended, with buyers and vendors crowding the aisles and service providers who didn’t want to pay $5,000 (yes, a five with three zeroes) for a badge absolutely swarming the surrounding hotel lobbies. There were more beverages than one person could possibly sample, both on the floor and at the receptions afterward.
Here is a recap of trends, thoughts and observations from the show (created without the use of AI). Thank you to Designs for Health’s senior vice president of research and development, Alejandra Gratson, Ph.D., who provided some of the insights captured here.
Proteinfinity
There are now officially infinite products emphasizing protein, which has left the gym and entered every format: soda, shots, sparkling water, tea, coffee, chips and ready-to-eat meals. Brands without a protein story may appear nutritionally irrelevant within the next 18 months as the protein arms race escalates and 20 grams cements as the new standard.
Within this trend, clear protein in powder and RTD beverages is emerging as a standalone subcategory with brands competing on the basis of dose, functionality and taste.
All this demand means that quality whey protein sources are getting so scarce and expensive that companies are (ironically but almost universally) substituting cheaper, lower-quality proteins like collagen.
Fiberlicious
Staying on the macronutrient level, fiber is having a significant cultural moment. No longer just for old people, fiber is hot and sexy nowadays, with terms like “Fibermaxxing” lighting up the social media accounts of the young and powering a fiber fest. Fiber is indeed the “new protein,” with strong nutritional rationale. Because the average American gets about half of the ~30 grams/day of fiber recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and product development is entering a renaissance of creativity in fiber applications, expect this trend to keep things moving for years to come.
Hydration nation
Just when you thought we couldn’t get any more hydrated … Hydration has become the delivery vehicle, not just the objective. Water and electrolytes are no longer enough to satisfy consumers’ thirst. Products are now designed to simultaneously hydrate and have a functional benefit to boot: building muscle, protecting the microbiome, brightening the skin or sharpening the brain.
The tea at Expo West? Beverages. Including Organic Valley’s protein-boosted milk, Hrb•vor and Bitoic Ferments.
Bevolution
When we created Celsius 20 years ago, the energy drink market was cluttered, and none had actually proven benefits. Fast forward to the present and the world is drowning in “functional” beverages, most still without any proven benefit or function.
This evolution of the beverage market is in the direction of including health-beneficial ingredients in convenient, ready-to-drink formats.
Segments resulting from this “bevolution” now include clear and opaque protein drinks, mocktails that don’t get you buzzed (bug or feature?), alcohol-free beer and wine that actually tastes good and, of course, creatine.
Based on new products, mood modulation is now where energy drinks were 20 years ago, with beverages like Trip, Brez, Recess and others rising to fill the demand for chill.
Brainer
The nutrition industry has a lot going on upstairs, and brain health is front and center. This megatrend is firmly double-anchored by an aging demographic and a much greater awareness of how nutrition can enhance brain functions such as sleep, mood, memory and cognition for almost everyone.
Brain health solutions on offer ranged from specialized ingredients to beverages, teas, bars, probiotics and even kids snacks designed to boost mood and sleep, cut through the fog and preserve brain health for the long term. The consumer has never had so many brainy choices.
Creatine+
Creatine is out of the tub and now in enjoyable formats like gummies, RTD beverages and hydration products. Creatine is even more clearly crossing over into nootropic territory — repositioned for a broader, often female demographic — and paired with collagen, mushrooms and anchoring sleep and recovery formulations.
Watch for more creatine in your future, as this fine white powder becomes an everyday staple that cuts across demographics and use cases.
Special delivery
Delivery systems can differentiate ingredients and products, improve stability (thereby increasing quality and reducing costs), and increase the amount of a bioactive ingredient the body absorbs for maximum benefit.
Technologies that enable superior delivery include liposomes, micelles, Nusomes (a next-generation beyond liposomes adapted from the pharma industry), chelates and emulsions. Often working at the nano (extremely small) scale, these special delivery vehicles are poised to revolutionize nutrient delivery and consumer benefit.
These technologies are exciting for their potential to increase bioavailability, stability and possibility.
Live long and prosper
Not getting old never gets old. Dr. Spock’s famous salutation is evidently guiding the nutrition industry as it rises to serve booming demand for slowing the aging process and make a profit in the meantime.
Most offerings promise to slow aging at the cellular level, which is easier to prove than the 100-plus-year clinical trials that would be required to prove actual longevity enhancement.
The four pillars of cellular longevity are cellular protection, cellular energy, cellular renewal and cellular strength. And there are now ingredients for all four.
There are also plenty of much shorter-term promises being made for better skin/hair/beauty, better sleep and better energy – all related to feeling your best now at any age.
GLP-1 nutrient densification
The explosive adoption of GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) drugs has a strong tailwind effect on the nutrition markets. With people eating less, every bite needs to count making maximum nutrition payload the new goal. Even traditional indulgent formats like chocolate and ice cream must now justify their nutritional existence by adding protein, prebiotic fibers or functional ingredients while still delivering a real joyful experience.
Nutrient densification, delivering maximum satisfaction in minimum volume, is the opposite of providing cheap, empty calories and the future of more-satisfying nutrition for a tsunami of consumers newly committed to getting nutritional value from every bite.
Host Defense Mushrooms launched its Grateful Dead partnership at Natural Products Expo West 2026.
Mushrooming
Mushrooms and their mycelium have become an enduring, fast-growing feature of the natural products industry.
Mushroom leader Host Defense is sponsoring serious clinical research and concurrently launching Grateful Dead mushroom gummies, in the most fascinating one-two punch of the show.
Ingredient leaders like M2 had a line of buyers outside their booth waiting to get in, a sign of further mainstreaming of mushrooms as a functional ingredient set.
The Republic of Tea, a 35-year-old premium tea brand, even had a dedicated full mushroom-led product line for Digestion, Focus, Energy and Calm.
Manly things
After a decade or more of innovations focused on women’s health, men were very much back in the spotlight on this year’s show floor.
From Dude Wipes to T-boosters to blatantly, unapologetically masculine marketing messaging for products ranging from sports nutrition to bedroom boosters to deodorants, manly things were a highly visible element of the 2026 Natural Products Expo West experience.
MAHAnxiety
The consumer movement to make America healthy again was evident on the show floor, with signs and packaging shouting the virtues of MAHA favorites like beef tallow, real meat and natural sweeteners.
More interesting to Alejandra and me was the evident anxiety over formerly acceptable foodstuffs like those with seed oils and more-than-minimal processing, as reflected in packaging for new products.
