Episode 166 | Feb 5, 2026

2026 Wellness Trends Every Health Coach Should Know

Are you curious which health trends are fading away and which powerful movements are taking their place for your clients this year? This week on Health Coach Talk, Dr. Sandi hosts a solo episode to navigate the shifting landscape of wellness in 2026, identifying ten pivotal movements that are redefining how we approach everything from medical testing to the clothes we wear. Drawing on her decades of experience as a health psychologist and her deep roots in functional medicine, Dr. Sandi explains how the transition from passive patient to “health care CEO” is fundamentally changing the practitioner-client relationship.

“This is a fundamental change in how people take charge of their health. As we develop a sense of self-efficacy, that means a sense that you can take charge of your health and you can be the CEO of your healthcare.”

Dr. Sandi

In this episode, Dr. Sandi highlights the “sea change” occurring in direct-to-consumer testing and the mainstreaming of functional medicine through high-profile partnerships. She explores why many people are choosing a “digital detox” in favor of in-person community and why extreme habits like the “5 AM Club” are being replaced by a renewed focus on restorative sleep and protein-rich breakfasts. From the growing demand for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to the importance of choosing sustainable, natural fibers over synthetic athletic wear, she provides a comprehensive roadmap for staying ahead of the wellness curve.

These shifts represent a massive opportunity for health coaches to step in as essential partners for clients navigating new weight-loss medications or seeking to integrate functional labs into their lifestyle. Dr. Sandi discusses how coaches can help clients preserve muscle mass, manage hormonal transitions, and create non-toxic environments that support long-term vitality. By understanding these 2026 movements, coaches can better meet clients where they are and provide the high-level support needed in this evolving health era.

Watch Episode

Listen Now

Episode Transcript

Dr. Sandi: Welcome to this solo episode of “Health Coach Talk.” As I am recording this, we’re about one month into 2026. So, I thought it would be a good time to go through what I believe are the top trends that we are seeing that are often so much more than trends. These are movements. I have 10 of them that I have identified, and so I’m going to share those with you. They are not ranked in any particular order. And I’m also going to share what I believe is on the way out. So, let’s get started.

The first one is the rise of direct-to-consumer testing. This is a fundamental change in how people take charge of their health. As we develop a sense of self-efficacy, that means a sense that you can take charge of your health and you can be the CEO of your healthcare. What does that mean? Years ago, when I would go to the doctor, they would run a panel of labs, they would get the results back, and then they would give me an overview. Often I would get a postcard in the mail, everything looks fine, or this one is off. But often I wouldn’t even see those labs. I didn’t even know the numbers. The doctors interpreted and they just said in general terms what was going on. But now this has been a sea change. You can get almost every type of test that is available on your own. So, you can go online, you can order a test, and you can get the results back. Why is this so important? It means that you can track these numbers and you can make some changes.

And increasingly there are companies like Function Health. I love Function. I was in their beta test as an individual, and I have been getting my labs done with them now for a couple of years. I get my dashboard. I see my biological age versus my chronological age. I can track what numbers are improving, which ones I need to pay attention to. And they have a number of really significant add-ons where you can get early evidence of cancer. You can connect with the companies that do full body MRIs, and that could be an add-on. So, the more that this company grows, the better it will become because they have access to more data. So, we’re very excited about Function Health. This was the vision, the brainchild of Dr. Mark Hyman, who, as you may know, is a key supporter of Functional Medicine Coaching Academy from the get-go. We are friends, and I’m just delighted to see the growth of Function Health, and so many people are getting on board. So, this, I think, is one of the top wellness trends that is only growing.

Function is a full panel of tests, but there are also stool tests you can get for microbiome health. You can get genetic tests. You can get tests on infants and young children. There is a kind of whole variety of tests, hormone testing, and this is only going to grow. So, that is a top wellness trend.

What is the second one? Along with the growth of Function, we are seeing partnerships developed that are developing the growth of functional medicine. So, what are some examples of that? Again, talking about Dr. Mark Hyman, he is now developing menus. There are meals that you can get at Sweetgreen. Sweetgreen was always one of the healthier options for fast food, and I was delighted to see. I went into one the other day, and they had the board of bowls that you can order, and they had several that were developed by Function Health Dr. Mark Hyman.

So, what is happening? This is really a trend. This is significant. This is functional medicine coming into fast food restaurants. We are also seeing Mark Hyman, I want to congratulate him on his now affiliation with CBS News. So, you can turn on your news channel at CBS and you can hear Dr. Mark Hyman. I think this is really, again, a way that this is going into the mainstream.

And another way that we are seeing this is if you go into a grocery store. So, I have always shopped at a whole variety of stores. I was an early shopper at Whole Foods. We were talking in the ’80s when Whole Foods was just opening up, and before that I was going to small mom-and-pop health food stores. I had a food co-op at one point when my kids were babies. So, I’ve seen the growth of organic foods go from large Whole Foods-type stores. But now walk into Costco or any of the big stores, and a lot of things that are available are organic. And I’m really so, so pleasantly surprised to see some of my favorite brands now there every time I go into some of these stores.

And again, it may vary by area, so it may not be in your area. But if you look at, particularly if you ask for it, and I’m always surprised again in a very pleasant way by the offerings in the produce section, which, of course, is where we want to be most of the time anyways. But it is possible to see more and more of this where I’m finding pasture-raised eggs and 100% grass-fed meats and the pasture-raised chickens. And again, organic products are in these big box stores. So, this is a movement that is not slowing down.

And thanks to the Food Babe and the efforts at the national level, we are seeing pledges to remove some of the most harmful chemicals from our food supply, particularly as it impacts children. So, this is a trend in 2026. I’m delighted to see it. And I think this is… Again, this is a big one, and this is going to really continue.

The third one is something that I have been reading about, hearing about, noticing, and that is… We may have reached the point where people are saying, “Enough already. I’m going old school.” A digital detox. I recently heard that in home building, there are people who are getting, or renovations, they are choosing parts of their home to call it the digital-free zone, where they’re stocking it with board games. They are installing landlines. They’re going back to a time when we were not on screens 100% of the day, and we were connecting with one another. So, that digital detox. And I think that this is carrying over into more demand for in-person meetings, in-person conferences, people gathering together, and how nice it is to be together in person as opposed to always connecting online.

For example, I’m in a couple of book clubs. One meets over Zoom and one meets in person. And hands down, the community that we have, the ability to be together in person, it’s a chemistry. It’s a sense of believing that event, feeling just really happy compared to another Zoom meeting where we are all online. And I think it’s… Of course, we need it, and this is wonderful technology. And I’ve certainly benefited. I love connecting with people over Zoom, but it’s a blend, having a mixture.

But adding more real in-person events, I think, is really critical. And so I’m on a mission to do more of that, and I think we’re going to see that. I’ve also read that people are wanting to have company at home. We lost that during the pandemic, but getting together, having people come together and cooking together, for example. So, more hands-on, live, in person. That is trend number three. And the other area in that is live theater, the power of live theater. And so people are not content to just do everything streaming. So, maybe we’re seeing the decline in people going to the movie theater because we can do that in our homes, but live theater has a lot of promise. So, that is my trend for number three.

We already mentioned what we’re seeing in grocery stores, more real, more organic food popping up. And number five has to do with actually what we’re eating. And then you may have seen this, and that is the trend of protein. Protein is big. Protein is the new… Every label was fat-free in the ’80s, for example. And now it’s protein bars, adding more protein where the front of the package is how many grams of protein. A lot of this might be poor quality protein, but we’re seeing a movement where people are aware of the need to have more protein, particularly as you’re getting older. We’re seeing a lot of cookbooks, high-protein cookbooks that are emphasizing the need for protein.

So, what’s out? I think what’s out are juice fasts and raw food. That was me many years ago. I was vegan and raw food for a time and really harmed my health. I didn’t realize how bad I felt. But I think that we’re seeing a shift. We shift back from the strict vegan or the very extreme of that, which was the raw food movement, back to balance, real food, and an acceptance of animal foods with the growth of regenerative agriculture. So, that would be something else that we are seeing.

There’s another area that I want to point out that is a trend, and that is number six. It’s happening slowly, but I think it’s going to be big, and that is real clothes. I recently went through my closet, and I had bags and bags of clothing that I’m choosing not to wear anymore. And these were some of my favorites, Lululemon leggings and all of the athletic wear. And I thought, wow, these were breaking down as I was going to hot yoga classes and sweating in them. No more. And so I get on a search for capsid-free natural fibers. And lo and behold, there are great ones out there. And I think we’re going to see a trend of these companies starting and also going to see the larger companies that are offering this.

I was pleasantly surprised, for example, to see that there are companies that are making organic Pima cotton leggings and sleepwear and underwear. So, some of the companies that I love: PACT, MATE the label. They make fantastic leggings and sports bras and underwear. Skin Organics is another one. The other one is Fair Indigo and Happy Earth. So, we’re going to see more and more of these companies popping up that are really fair trade. They are not the sweatshops in Bangladesh just churning out these synthetic polyester fibers. And a movement for kids is to have organic fibers and real fibers. I think that is a trend that I’ve identified that I am seeing more and more availability. When I was searching a number of years ago, there was like hardly anything, and it was not fitting well. And now we’re seeing some things that are stylish, fit well, and are non-toxic.

What else are we seeing? We are seeing, I’ve identified number seven, that gyms are becoming wellness centers. We’ve had Equinox partner with Function. So, if you’re a member of a certain membership level of Equinox, you can also be a Function Health. You get your lab work done. The gym that is close to where I’m here, they just put in cold plunges. They rebuilt their sauna, their steam room, and so offering a full-service wellness. And I think that is something that is good to see, that we are looking at using these facilities to restore, not just as workout gyms.

Another trend, and this is number eight, that we are going to see continued growth of GLP-1s, but something that we’re going to see adding, because this is what the research is showing, is the importance of lifestyle. So, more and more medical doctors, people who are prescribing these medications for weight loss, for example, because recent research is showing that just those medications alone will not cut it. People need support in terms of building lasting, good lifestyle habits.

What does that mean? It means how you’re eating, the macronutrient distribution, as well as educating about losing muscle and how easy that is to do and how it sneaks up on you when you are losing weight. We’re not talking about, in terms of coaching, like just getting a personal trainer. That may be helpful. We’re talking about lifestyle coaching from a health coach where they will be covering all bases, focusing on what matters most to you, why are you taking these drugs, what you hope to accomplish, and also how can you head off potential disaster.

Where if you go off of them, you’re going to gain back weight, but critically, you have lost muscle, and you are going to then upset that ratio of fat to lean muscle mass. And this has always been a problem. I remember years and years ago with weight loss programs, and I would give talks about this as a health psychologist and helping people see what was happening with, at that time, it was yo-yo dieting. So, I think we’re going to see this as a trend that people will be asking about it, so they’re more informed.

I was with a friend who has been on one of these medications, and she said, “Yeah, I never knew this,” but I’m learning now about the importance of preserving muscle. And so she is now committed to doing strength training. That was number eight.

Number nine is I think another trend is we’re back to eating breakfast. So, there was a time, particularly for women, where intermittent fasting was all the rage. And often you wouldn’t eat until 12, 1, sometimes even 2:00. And you thought, oh, that’s a badge of honor, and it’s really good for me. I’m in autophagy. I’m fasting. It’s good for longevity. And now we’re saying, eh, not so fast. And so I’m hearing that a lot of people are back to eating breakfast. A lot of the blogs, a lot of the influencers are going back to the importance of breakfast.

And also along with that, I think what is out are these brutal regimens where people were forcing themselves to be in the 5 a.m. club. There’s a badge of honor. I get up at 5 a.m., and then I meditate, and I have this whole ritual. Now we’re seeing a lot of satire about that and how that was taken to the extreme. And so experimenting with maybe if you slept in a little bit… So, we’re seeing again, along with that trend to eat breakfast, the importance of getting a bit more sleep. And you may not be just genetically… In terms of, for example, Michael Breus, a sleep expert, talks about you might be somebody where your circadian rhythm is just not right for getting up that early. You may feel better. So, we’re seeing a lot more people saying, I went back to sleeping in a little bit and actually feeling much better. So, that would be number nine.

But along with what is out in terms of intermittent fasting and skipping breakfast, on the other side, at night, what we are seeing as out is late-night eating and going out and drinking late at night. There is a whole trend. In fact, restaurants have been noticing that it is not just “I am 75,” like in Denver, and they like the early bird special and go out to dinner at 4:30, 5:00. Restaurants are noticing that their reservations for these early times book up really fast with younger people, that the Gen Zs are liking eating a whole lot earlier because… And then they don’t order alcohol. They have their mocktails, and they can get up early, have a nice breakfast, go to the gym. And this is a trend now. So, this is another one in terms of how we are changing these habits when we eat. And also alcohol is trending down, less consumption of alcohol.

So, finally, the last one, number 10, is totally do, and this is on the upswing, hormone replacement therapy, bio-identical hormones starting in perimenopause. This has started out slowly. Still many doctors shy away from it. They don’t know how to prescribe it. And many people who are in perimenopause or even in menopause, we were, in my generation, scared off by hormones because of the Women’s Health Initiative study in the early 2000s.

But this is a top trend. We are seeing women waking up, becoming informed. So, I’m going to end with how I started: self-efficacy. This is taking charge of your health. You are the CEO of your healthcare. And if you are a woman, if you are in perimenopause, menopause, or even postmenopause, women in their 70s, my generation, are being put on hormone replacement therapy, bio-identical. This is not the same as we talked about when these hormone replacements first were developed. And so we’re seeing a huge movement.

I was at a conference from A4M, the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. They had a women’s health summit in the fall. I attended, and it was sold out. And half of the people who were there were practitioners. Often they were OBGYNs. They were not trained in how to prescribe hormones. But they were there anxious to learn. And I think we’re seeing conferences like this fill up quickly. A whole new generation of doctors are wanting to learn this, and a whole generation of women are waking up and demanding hormone replacement therapy. So, I think this is a big trend, 2026, that we will see continuing.

So, there you have it. That is what I have identified as the wellness trends for 2026, as well as some of the trends that are on their way out. So, thank you all for listening.