‘Dinosaur Time’ Trend Encourages Healthy Eating
Leafy veggies are widely considered to be a healthy and refreshing food choice. These nutritious veggies are packed with fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Eating enough leafy greens supports your overall health.
“Dinosaur time” is an emerging TikTok trend that is helping all sorts of people, from busy moms to picky kids, get the leafy greens their bodies need, NPR reported. This trend encourages people to get their daily serving of leafy greens by gobbling them up dino style. It’s a simple, yet silly, way to make healthy eating feel fun.
The Dinosaur Time TikTok Trend
The trend originated with former middle school science teacher, CrossFit enthusiast, and stay-at-home mom, Amy Garrett. Garrett shared her unconventional lifehack with her nearly 50,000 followers. Her TikTok videos have millions of views and have inspired others to gobble down on the healthy trend.
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Garrett’s hack consists of eating fistfuls of romaine lettuce, spinach, or other greens, without prepping them or putting them in a salad. Instead, she chomps down on them like she came straight out of the Jurassic era, often with dino-themed music playing in the background.
“Instead of feeling guilty about not eating vegetables, I’m just gonna stuff them down my face and eat what I’d normally have eaten without any guilt,” Garrett told NPR.
Veggies Without the Prep
Garrett’s videos are being embraced by those who want to eat healthier but don’t always have the time to prep and chop their veggies, according to Bustle.
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In a TikTok video Garrett also explains that salads take a long time to make and eat. Rather than having a salad as a full meal, “Dinosaur time” lets her sneak in veggies before her lunch. She also emphasized the importance of washing veggies before eating them, if they aren’t already pre-washed.
One user commented on one of Garrett’s videos, “You mean I don’t have to make elaborate salads and rage wash and chop and prep all the things each week? You may have just changed my life.” Another said “I’m a brontosaurus,” while carrying out her own version of the trend, with a third sharing that, since joining the trend, she’s eaten more greens this week than she has since the year started.
Healthy Eating for Kids
But it isn’t just grown-ups getting inspired by “dinosaur time,” TODAY reported. Young children naturally enjoy pretending to be dinosaurs and parents are leveraging their little ones’ imaginations to encourage them to eat healthier, using this quirky trend.
“The element of play is what makes it fun and magical for my kids,” Elizabeth Riley, a mother of three, shared with TODAY. “I’m sure the magic will wear off but it’s helping us for a little while … it’s another way to make food more fun,” she added.
Other reactions on TikTok to the trend included “My kids play ‘Giraffe Zoo’ where I sit on the couch and they roam the house and come up to the ‘safari car’ to be fed fresh lettuce,” and “I can confirm this worked on my 5-year-old.”
Alexis Chase, a mom of two, told TODAY that “dinosaur time” empowered her to turn eating greens into a competitive game. She explained that after her 12-year-old saw his mom trying out “dinosaur time,” “He said, ‘I bet I can eat that lettuce faster than you’ and I said, ‘No you can’t.’” The competition for “alpha-herbivore” is encouraging her family to eat their veggies.
How to Do “Dinosaur Time”
“Dinosaur time” isn’t intended to replace meals, according to the New York Post. Garrett shared with the Post that the hack is, “intended to be a supplement to an existing meal to get your greens out of the way so you can enjoy the things you actually like to eat, whether that be a burger, a slice of pizza, a sandwich, tacos, etc.”
Andrea Mathis, a dietician, shared additional tips for aspiring brachiosauruses with NPR. Mathis suggested that if eating veggies without salad dressing isn’t your thing, you can create just as quick and efficient a snack by wrapping the veggies with turkey or blending them into a smoothie.
This trend isn’t for everyone. People who are at risk of kidney stones should be cautious, and those who are on blood thinners should consult their doctors before changing their diet.
By turning leafy greens into a playful, low-effort snack, kids and adults alike are learning that healthy eating doesn’t need to be fussy or formal. From the dinosaur age to the modern day, gulping down veggies is a time-tested way to get nutrients fast — no chopping required.
