There have been big online trends and health crazes before, but none of them has lived up to its name like maxxing.

When someone, usually 25 or younger, talks about “maxxing” a quality or activity, they mean going all in on it, reorganising their lives to do it or accentuate it as much as possible.

The idea started in gaming communities as a way of making powerful characters. Now, though, social media has brought us looksmaxxing, booksmaxxing, moneymaxxing, cosymaxxing, and, for when you need to be your own Italian grandparent, Nonnamaxxing. Maxxing itself has been maxxed.

But what does any of this have to do with Cancer Research UK? Well, many of the most popular maxxing trends are sold as ways of maximising or optimising health. That idea – “healthmaxxing” – raises lots of important questions. Can turning anything all the way up really be good for you? How much can we actually optimise? And, most importantly for us, does it mean anything for preventing cancer?

For this article, our health experts have weighed up the evidence on five types of maxxing that come with the biggest claims about health.

1. Fibremaxxing

We’re starting with a good one. If there’s one type of maxxing dietitians might be thankful for, it’s fibremaxxing. Most people need to eat more fibre, which comes with lots of health benefits, including reducing your risk of cancer. 

Health guidelines recommend that adults eat at least 30g of fibre a day. The UK average is about 20g, so there’s lots of room for improvement, but there’s no need to go as far as many fibremaxxing influencers, who claim to eat as much as 100g each day.

For most people, aiming that high is likely to be demotivating and distracting. It could also cause some uncomfortable bloating and digestive issues, without bringing any extra benefits.

Eating 30g of fibre (and especially wholegrains) a day is much more realistic. It supports regular bowel movements and helps keep the gut healthy, both of which can reduce cancer risk.

2. Sleepmaxxing

This is one of the most tempting types of maxxing. Who couldn’t do with a few more minutes (or hours) of sleep? 

But sleepmaxxing isn’t necessarily about staying in bed longer. Instead, sleepmaxxers focus on combining multiple habits, products and bedtime rituals to make their night’s rest as close to perfect as possible.  

Like many types of maxxing, this is partly a way to make some simple healthy habits, like going to bed and getting up at consistent times each day, feel a bit more exciting. That game-like element can be helpful when you’re trying to stay away from screens in the evening, which helps your body wind down for the night.

So far, so good. But there can be downsides to sleepmaxxing, too.

Some sleepmaxxers recommend unproven sleep hacks like mouth taping, which can be dangerous for anyone with sleep apnoea. And, more generally, obsessing over getting the right amount or type of sleep can create anxieties that actually make sleeping more difficult.

Since the rise of wearable health and sleep trackers, some researchers have even started describing a phenomenon called orthosomnia, where focusing too much on getting the right sleep can stop people from sleeping at all.

Researchers are still looking into what sleep means for cancer risk.  

Two recent US studies explored some possible associations between a lack of sleep and the rise in the number of under-50s being diagnosed with cancer. After looking at millions of health records, researchers found that people diagnosed with insomnia were more likely to develop early-onset bowel, breast, uterine or ovarian cancer than others their age.

Even so, there were lots of limitations to these studies and there’s not enough evidence to draw any conclusions. We’ll need more research to understand if the association is real.  

What we can say is that not getting enough sleep could make it harder to keep up other healthy habits that reduce cancer risk. Some of the evidence-based tips sleepmaxxers use can help, but sleep isn’t entirely in our control, so be sure to give yourself a break if you don’t get the rest you were dreaming of.

3. Proteinmaxxing

This trend starts in a good place. Protein is a central part of a healthy diet, helping build and maintain muscle, strengthening bones and creating a feeling of fullness.  

But there’s a reason people tend to talk about healthy, balanced diets. Eating very large amounts of protein won’t necessarily benefit most people, and it could leave less space for other important food groups and nutrients (like fibre). 

And not all sources of protein are equally good for you. Though they can be high in protein, processed and red meat are also associated with a higher risk of cancer. To lower your risk, you can swap them for healthier sources like fish, pulses, and chicken.

4. Strengthmaxxing

Many proteinmaxxers also strengthmaxx, lifting weights and doing resistance training to support health and longevity.

Strengthmaxxing isn’t quite the same as strength training. As the name suggests, it’s about building maximum strength, which calls for lifting heavier weights fewer times. General strength training can also involve lifting lighter weights for more repetitions, which is better for strength endurance. 

As healthmaxxing trends go, this is one of the better ones. Research has shown that better strength tracks with lower mortality, better mobility and more independence in later life. It can help slow or stop the loss of muscle mass and strength that tends to happen as we age (sarcopenia), and it keeps bones strong, lowering the chances of breaks and fractures.

There’s no clear link between strength and cancer risk. Currently, researchers think the main way exercise lowers cancer risk is by helping people maintain a healthy weight. Running, cycling and team sports are better for that than strengthmaxxing exercises, and less formal physical activities, like gardening and housework, can also make a big difference.

Intriguingly, there’s also evidence to suggest these types of exercise may also have a more direct influence on cancer risk, including by keeping the immune system working well.

This doesn’t mean strength and resistance training don’t have value, but it’s best not to max out on them at the expense of exercises that can make you feel a little out of breath.  

You can read our guidance on exercise for more.

5. Tanmaxxing

We’ve saved the worst till last. Tanmaxxers try to tan as much as possible by maximising time in the sun and on sunbeds. This increases their cancer risk. 

The best way to reduce your risk of skin cancer is by making sure you enjoy the sun safely. Sometimes, that can mean doing the opposite of what a tanmaxxer would recommend.

For example, tanmaxxers check the UV index on their weather apps to plan tanning sessions for the times when the sun is strongest. That’s using a powerful tool the wrong way. If you see that the UV index is 3 or above, it means that the sun is strong enough to damage skin, so you should actually be thinking about combining sunscreen, shade and covering up with clothes to protect yourself, especially if you have a lighter skin tone which burns easily.

Tanmaxxing is closely related to looksmaxxing, one of the first types of maxxing to gain mainstream attention, and tanfluencers stress that tans help people look their best. That’s subjective, but many of their other claims aren’t. Base tanning is not an effective way of protecting yourself from sunburn, and products like coconut oil or tan accelerators don’t offer any protection from the sun. 

The fact is, there’s no such thing as ‘healthy’ tanning from UV radiation, whether it’s from the sun or sunbeds. Tanning is a sign that the DNA in skin cells is being damaged by UV rays, and DNA damage is the primary cause of cancer. 

In the UK, up to 9 in 10 cases of melanoma – one of the most serious types of skin cancer – could be prevented by staying safe in the sun. So, when the UV index is 3 or higher, which can happen at any time between March and October in the UK, even when it’s cloudy, you should make use of shade, cover up with clothing and apply sunscreen with at least SPF 30 and four or five stars.  

For more on the facts and fictions of sun safety, read our mythbusting article.

Moderationmaxxing

For something that focuses on extremes, healthmaxxing can be surprisingly nuanced.

It’s not all good, but for the most part, it’s not inherently harmful, either. There are elements of fibremaxxing, sleepmaxxing, proteinmaxxing and strengthmaxxing that can make a real positive difference to your health. But it’s difficult to maximise four things at once, even if you give up everything else. 

That’s why healthmaxxing isn’t the best way to stay healthy and reduce your cancer risk. Going all out for one thing that might be good for you almost always means ignoring something else that’s also beneficial. Maxxing’s unrealistic goals can also create unnecessary pressure, making the thing you’re trying to focus on much harder to enjoy or keep up with over time. 

A lot of this goes back to how maxxing started. Originally, it was min-maxing, an approach to role-playing games where players make characters so powerful in some areas they can hide big weaknesses in others. That might work in a game, where all the rules are written down or programmed somewhere, but your body and the world are much more complicated and chaotic. In this reality, balance is usually best.

Ultimately, there are no guarantees when it comes to cancer, but making healthy changes does help reduce your risk. The best ways to do that are by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and staying safe in the sun.

Beyond that, it’s good to eat a balanced diet with more fibre, find some healthy habits you enjoy doing and keep some time left over to just be you, as minimally and suboptimally as suits you best.

But, in the gaming spirit, if a grand fibremaxxing quest helps you swap bacon for chickpeas, then sally forth, brave bean knight. Just take heed as ye go: the wonders influencers peddle are not worthy of thy coin.

Tim