If you haven’t heard of TikTok’s “Dinosaur Diet” or Khloé Kardashian’s new “guilt-free” popcorn, we’re here to break it down for you—from a non-diet nutrition perspective.
Check out our full breakdown here on Patreon! Listen here, or watch here on youtube!
If you haven’t heard, this new dino trend involves stuffing raw leafy greens in your mouth first thing in the morning to allegedly “set your cravings and energy tone” for the day. Spoiler alert: it’s nonsense.
These trends may be grabbing attention for their bold claims or celebrity backing, but they often recycle the same old diet culture wrapped in trendier packaging. As non-diet dietitians, we’re not here to shame your snack choices or rain on your Jurassic parade—but we are here to help you spot the red flags, decode the wellness marketing lingo, and figure out what actually supports your health without spiraling into restriction or guilt.
Let’s break it down:
- This trend is not grounded in any scientific evidence. The idea that eating raw spinach before anything else “reprograms your taste buds” is a flat-out myth. There’s no physiological mechanism that supports this.
- The real spike in this trend came from a random TikToker, not a nutrition expert. No shade to influencers, but this is not nutrition advice — it’s anecdotal behavior being repackaged as fact.
- The viral spread is deeply problematic. People are quoting this video as gospel, despite the creator literally saying, “I saw someone do this, so I tried it.”
- NPR even got it wrong. Their headline implies RDs are endorsing this trend, when in fact, the RD quoted is just affirming that leafy greens are nutritious — not that they should be consumed raw and alone like a T. rex with IBS.
- This trend reeks of disordered eating. The original creator, an elementary school science teacher, admitted it started during her time in competitive CrossFit while struggling to meet “nutrition goals” (translation: likely undereating and overexercising). Listen – we LOVE teachers. But they are also not nutrition experts who are saying everyone should be eating like dinosaurs to “fix” their taste buds.
- It’s also a gut health nightmare. Anyone with IBS, SIBO, or prone to kidney stones should not be eating raw greens in volume like this — especially on an empty stomach.
- It’s performative wellness at its worst. There’s no added nutritional benefit to eating your spinach cold and unseasoned straight from the box. In fact, pairing spinach with olive oil or lemon improves absorption of nutrients like iron.
The tl;dr –
The real “fun fact”? Nutrition is context-specific. Your taste buds don’t get reprogrammed by a handful of raw kale. You’re allowed to enjoy vegetables and want a Snickers at 3 PM. That’s called being human, not broken.
Links mentioned:
- NPR Article: “Be the dinosaur. Gobble up leafy greens for fiber and nutrients, nutritionists say”
- Huffpost Article: “Khloe Kardashian Launched a Guilt-Free Popcorn: and got the messaging all wrong”
- Tiktok Video: Dinosaur diet (this is not the original creator, but this is the video we’re referencing)
